Working Over Raised Beds Before Planting Out….

[Hanniball]

Hi Charles,
I have dug over and covered all my 11 raised beds with cardboard and well rotten manure (just finished last week actually) and I plan to start planting out next spring.

Sorry… this is a really basic question; Just before I start planting out (1 – 2 weeks), should I turn over the top 2 – 3 inches of soil? Or just plant through the compost into the soil below?

Thanks.

[charles]

 Good you asked this but once you are used to no dig, it will not occur to you even to wonder about it because seeds and plants are fine in the surface compost, from where they root to whatever level they fancy.

Most plants do a lot of rooting close to the surface which is why the notion of ‘incorporating’ compost and manure, to be "at rooting level", makes little sense. Even tree roots can be found almost at surface level and travel an annoyingly long way out, unlike the inaccurate pictures you sometimes see of tree roots in mirror image to trunk and branches.

So your covered beds just need a light raking in any dry winter and spring weather to break up lumps, especially after frost. Then sow  and plant at the normal depth.

[Author]

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