Feb 2019 Preparing the site

The site for the kitchen garden started out as a dumping ground for builders rubble with old paving stones, bricks, pieces of concrete and iron, bits of pipes and a rusty old wheelbarrow. Beneath all that debris is a solid layer of concrete, laid a few years ago to suppress the Japanese Knotweed on the site. My plan is to create a kitchen garden with a series of raised beds across that area.

Given the risk of a return of the Japanese knotweed, I decided to keep the concrete base in situ, but to supplement it with additional layers for drainage, and to install the raised beds over that.

Step 1 was to remove the builders rubble. This was done by hand, using wheelbarrows to remove the debris. There were some surprising discoveries underneath it all: a mains water point (not yet connected, but with potential), some interesting ceramic fragments I have set aside for mosaics and an ancient pair of double shears (rusty but working).

Step 2 was to cut back and remove all the ivy growing in the area. It was invasive, and had established itself across the site. On the north and west facing walls we cut it back as far as possible, and then used poison on the roots to stop any further growth. It left a number of large roots and stumps that were too large to dig out.

Step 3 was to bring in a local specialist stump grinder to remove as many of the remaining plant stumps as we could. This will prevent any regrowth of the plants. It took a couple of hours, and he successfully cleared all the larger stumps. What it did reveal was the remains of a couple of concrete pillars, about 25cm high. These will be incorporated into the garden plan.

Step 4 was to level out the area, and to lay down a weed membrane to prevent any regrowth of the ivy. I used a heavy duty weed membrane for this, laid as a double layer. It is stronger and less inclined to tear.

Step 5 was to add a layer of 20mm concreting gravel. It is an ideal way of providing a level base for the raised beds, and will provide very good drainage. The gravel is easy to spread using the back of a heavy duty rake.

Lots of prep work, but the result is a level surface with good weed control, ready for the raised beds.