By now you’ll know that at Gardening With Children we encourage you to pose questions through our ‘Ask The Expert Section’. We’re sure that many of you may be wondering about the same questions so we’ve decided to include them on the Blog where possible so we can all benefit!
Here’s the question Linda, our resident gardening expert was asked and her wonderful response!
Question:
We’re in the process of planning a vegetable plot at my daughter’s primary school. The ground we have available is full of ivy and shrub roots so we think that raised beds will be the best idea. I know the depth of the beds depends on the type of crops you want to grow but as we’re not exactly sure what we’ll be growing yet can you recommend the best depth for us to start with. Thanks.
Linda’s Answer
It is a good idea to grow vegetables in raised beds as it has many advantages, for example, crop rotation is easier to manage, drainage is improved and the soil warms up faster in the spring.
Where topsoil is thin or soil conditions poor, a raised border allows the soil to be built up and improved plus the overall look is one of organised and tidy.
I would recommend before you install the new raised beds that you clear the site of pernicious weeds such as the ground ivy. You can just hand pull at the ivy but digging out the roots as much as possible would give your crops a head start. If you just place the raised beds on top of the ivy you will eventually end up hand weeding any way and it is much easier to do it on a produce free site first. I would also remove the shrub roots as they may impede drainage.
For primary school children I would suggest using a traditional raised bed standing 15cm high. If at a later stage you decide to grow root crops or species requiring deeper soil it is easy enough to add height to an existing bed. Alternatively you could choose to have additional deep wooden raised beds specifically for these crops. Remember to still crop rotate annually though.
If you decide that you may like to grow potatoes, which take up a lot of space in the border, then why not try using the potato grow bags. This is an easy and fun way to grow potatoes and harvesting is simple as the whole lot can be tipped over and the potatoes just fall out. No digging needed!
Good luck with your project and happy gardening.
Kind regards
Linda
If you want to start or extend your own edible playground then why not have a look at some of our simple growing ideas. Our 
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