New garden bed. Soil fill enough?

[u/Longjumping_Crab_961]

Should I put another bag down or do you think the fill is high enough?

[u/talberter]

I tend to find it will compress over time, so you end up having to top it up again later. So maybe a bit more now.

[u/Longjumping_Crab_961 → u/talberter]

Thanks I went with an extra bag

[u/Rhino_7707 → u/Longjumping_Crab_961]

Should have gone with 2 extra.

[u/sarcastitronistaken]

Add a couple more, it'll sink over the next few months. It does have enough for most veggies already, though.

[u/magi_chat]

Soil level is good, to up with compost as needed, that will refresh/fertilise it

Do yourself a solid though and get rid of that weed mat underneath though

[u/daamsie]

Seems fine to me for a first crop. You'll need some room for mulch as well. When it comes to replanting you can top it up with compost.

[u/Jackgardener67]

It will settle by as much as 20% over the next few months. However, you do need to leave space for some mulch (sugar cane, peastraw, whatever you're going to use. Mulching will make a big difference to moisture levels in the soil and keep some weeds away as well as adding organic matter to the soil.

[u/archangel_urea]

People here mention that the soil will settle and compress. That's true but you also lose soil through microbial respiration. Might be a few g per sqm and day but depends on the soil, moisture and temperature. Microorganisms use the carbon in the soil as energy source and turn it into CO2. New garden soil has lots of compost and probably around 5-10% total carbon. This is a lot of food and the respiration is quite high initially but then flattens over the next few years because first the easily degraded carbon sources are eaten up, such as sugars or cellulose. Lignin or humic acid are more stable and will remain more or less inert.

This means you need to regularly top up your garden bed. More so in the first few years and over time you get soil with more stable carbon and more resistant to microbial degradation.

Another option is to add a mulching layer such as grass clippings. This adds carbon and helps the plants grow through reduced transpiration etc.

[u/Popular_Speed5838]

Yep. It will settle but you’ll have mulch, you’re all set. The mulch will degrade, you’ll add more and wind up with healthy plants.

[u/Midwitch23]

Keep going. It will drop inches within a month or two

[u/Justinlolzs]

It’s never enough….ever

[u/gionatacar]

Put more, will go down