Corner Raised Beds - Planning and Planting Information
To help you make the most of your raised beds - and most importantly enjoy growing in them - we've compiled a list of factors to consider when siting and filling your beds; Raised beds can be placed directly onto soil, lawn or paving.
The beds can be filled directly with a fertile, organic rich, light & friable topsoil/compost such as the vegetable and fruit mix that we supply via our partnership with Rolawn.
One of the benefits of a raised bed is the fact you can tailor the growing medium to the plants you are wishing to grow. For example you can use ericaceous compost for acid loving plants or you may want to grow carrots in sand.
If you want to increase the drainage of your bed you can add a layer of gravel approximately 5cm / 2” deep at the base, but note that the level drainage will be dictated mainly by the ground that the bed is sitting on. If for example the bed is sitting on a free draining sandy soil you may want to lay down a semi-permeable ground sheet beneath the bed to reduce the drainage.
We've also produced a quick guide to the depth of bed you'll need to grow favourite Kitchen Garden crops. This list is by no means definitive but if you're unsure of how many tiers to go for, the over-riding advice is to go deeper - this gives you the flexibility to grow a wider variation of vegetables in the future and also helps with crop rotation. Here's that list;
Vegetable Type
Depth of Bed Required
Number of Tiers
Carrots
30/40cm
2 Tier at least
Potatoes
Parsnips
Beans
15/20cm
1 Tier at least
Peas
Courgettes
Beetroot
If you’d like further information on the Corner Raised Beds, or would like to discuss any feature of this product, please call our Customer Services Department on 0845 218 5301 or e-mail us at enquiries@harrod.uk.com – we’d be delighted to help!
What The Experts Say... It can be difficult to make the most of the space if you have an awkwardly-shaped plot. Rather than constructing your own custom-sized bed, save yourself some effort and buy one of the many corner raised bed kits now available on the market. Harrod Horticultural stock a range of sizes with prices starting from just £19. 'Off the Peg Raised Beds', July Allotments (in association with the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners Limited), Grow Your Own magazine, July 2009 Listed as a recommended supplier of raised beds in 'Growing Veg for the First Time'; Garden News, January 27th 2009
