Topping up a garden bed
Certainly, spring is in the air and as we all come out of hibernation it is a good time to look at your beds and think soil, soil, soil! Over winter the soil may have lost some of its vigour and sunk down somewhat. So, it would be worthwhile putting something back into it so it is healthy and happy for when you do the spring planting. This is something you should do before each season's planting.
The main things to keep in mind when topping up the bed are to
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Layer, layer, layer.
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Water each layer in as you build it up until the water penetrates that layer and not just pools-up on the top.
Other than that, it is just a simple matter of layering in this order
Straw - pea and bean or sugarcane straw are good. If you can bear the smell, put it in a wheelbarrow and soak in a mixture of water and liquid fertiliser and let it sit for as long as you can. If you can’t bear the smell, just layer the straw as it comes and water in.
With pea and bean straw you will probably see it shooting at some stage. Some get annoyed at this so use sugarcane, but I don’t mind seeing the shoots at all as they are good feed for the soil and can just be cut back and integrated into the soil
Compost and matured animal manure / water in
Potting mix / water in
And repeat as needed and finish with mulch
Then just leave it all for a little while to settle and now you are ready to plant.
If you have ground beds, you can do exactly the same, just use thinner layers
Sounds delicious – if you are a plant, bug or wriggly worm that is.
Enjoy
Peter