Raised bed for no-dig garden - build on concrete/cement?

by Lisa B
(Richmond, CA)

Can the raised bed garden no-dig be built on concrete slab?
Will the soil stay too moist, is there a problem with doing the box on top of cement?
Thanks.

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Raised bed for no-dig garden - build on concrete/cement?

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Oct 11, 2009

Building a raised bed garden on concrete
by: ~ Megan ~

If you mean a watertight box, it's not a good idea because where will the excess water go? You might end up with ducks flying in for a swim!

Many people line their raised garden beds with plastic or weed mat. The weed mat is porous and plastic needs holes punched in it for drainage, but at least these stop large amounts of soil being washed away.

Can you let the water drain out over the concrete? If not and you have a situation where you don't want water running over the concrete, either because it's pristine or it will ruin an adjacent area, say inside; then you could always do what the builders do for those wonderful roof gardens around the world – have drainage pipes taking the water away.

Hopefully you can find an alternative to a watertight box... unless it is out of the rain and you put a layer of porous rocks on the bottom and control the watering. But otherwise you most likely will end up with a stagnant garden loved by mosquitoes and... maybe ducks.

Nov 02, 2009

Concrete for Soil
by: Frank Aguilar

Hi, I live in Ecuador and we have some of the richest soil in the world. It gets regular renewao from our active volcanoes.
However that is also one of our problems. The volcanic ash is so fine that it compacts almost immediately to concrete. We?ve been having a drought for about the past years where I live in the high Sierra near Quito.
I have a number of Avocado trees and use the leaf fall to loosen the soil. I also use raised bed technology but that isn?t very effective. It?s still concrete. However I am able to raise many things so long as I keep the weeds down.
As you can imagine weeds love the minerals and other nutrients in the soil so they are an immediate problem whenever you are planting.
The good thing is that we get just about exactly 12 hours of sun every day. And, at over 8000 feet it is very concentrated.
I do have access to a little over 70 acres at an altitude of about 4000 feet and it gets about 10 feet of rain per year most of it between the beginning of November and the end of February. I?m going to try raised beds there. Everything that was planted there up until now drowned.
Good luck with you concrete experiment. I hope that adequate drainage will resolve any isues you experience.

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