Hi all,
We have a deep planter bed (perhaps 4 feet deep, though I've never determined how far down the actual dirt goes) off my patio. It's 4' x 18' and bounded by cement cinder blocks. It was part of the original design of the back patio area and filled when I bought the place. At the time, it had plastic sheeting covered with tanbark on top of the dirt. It was populated with some ornamental plants and a tree.
I'm not a gardener and none of this survived. Since then, however, it has annually produced a bumper crop of weeds and other unwanted plants that I have dutifully cleared out each year.
I am now determined to rehab this planter box. But I have no idea of how to approach the project. So I would love any and all advice that you would care to supply. Among the many questions I have are:
1. It's not feasible to remove the existing dirt
2. If so, how far down should I dig into the existing dirt bed?
3. Do I need to replace some of the existing soil with straw, logs, twigs, etc.... and then build on top of that?
4. Can I just add new soil on top of what is there (I have about a foot of vertical room to work with)?
A million thanks
2. Can I just dump a bunch of potting soil on top of what already exists in the planter box and build from there?
3
We have a deep planter bed (perhaps 4 feet deep, though I've never determined how far down the actual dirt goes) off my patio. It's 4' x 18' and bounded by cement cinder blocks. It was part of the original design of the back patio area and filled when I bought the place. At the time, it had plastic sheeting covered with tanbark on top of the dirt. It was populated with some ornamental plants and a tree.
I'm not a gardener and none of this survived. Since then, however, it has annually produced a bumper crop of weeds and other unwanted plants that I have dutifully cleared out each year.
I am now determined to rehab this planter box. But I have no idea of how to approach the project. So I would love any and all advice that you would care to supply. Among the many questions I have are:
1. It's not feasible to remove the existing dirt
2. If so, how far down should I dig into the existing dirt bed?
3. Do I need to replace some of the existing soil with straw, logs, twigs, etc.... and then build on top of that?
4. Can I just add new soil on top of what is there (I have about a foot of vertical room to work with)?
A million thanks
2. Can I just dump a bunch of potting soil on top of what already exists in the planter box and build from there?
3