How high for raised beds?

[Ohiokim]

HI again!

just thought of another question. I'm doing raised beds. Basically i've picked a patch of land and am just dumping loads of horse manure onto that area. The soil in Ohio has lots of clay and is a real pain to dig and turn over so i'm doing it the lazy way :P about how high should i pile on the manure for a raised bed?

Thanks
Kim

[mla2ofus]

Is the horse manure your using well aged? If not it could burn your plants even next year-more so if you cover them with black plastic-The rain and snow can't help leach it into the soil. I would suggest breaking up the soil under the bed so that plants can get their roots down into if they need to. Also I've never heard of just planting in manure-not that I know everything- but I think you would need to mix some soil in it. Maybe you could rent a rototiller and bust through the clay and mix the two together that way. As far as how high to make your bed-that is a personal decision. Just keep in mind that the higher you build it the stronger it will have to be built. Wet soil weighs a lot and will bow out the sides of a weak structure. Of course that doesn't apply if it is just a raised area without wood or concrete edge.

[Newt]

Hi Ohio Kim,

I agree with everything mla2ofus said. I never heard of planting into just manure either. Besides, that would be waaayyy too rich for many plants. Another thought is that manure is organic matter and will continue to break down and shrink down. In a few years you will be right where you started from. You will need to purchase SCREENED topsoil to work in with SOME manure and compost. If it were my new bed, I'd use 60% soil to 40% compost. I'd also go no higher than 18" so you can sit in the edge comfortably and weed.

Newt