raised bed, bottom or bottomless

[joed2323]

OK I'm going with a few raised beds to go along with my garden this year
I bought weed block, originally was going to attach this to the bottom of my raised beds that are 12 inches deep but thought maybe I shouldn't incase the roots to my vegetables want to explore past 12 inches so they can wonder deeper if they like.

So now I'm confused, should I dig off the grass first before I fill the beds with soil or can I just throw it on top of the grass and the grass will just die because of being buried???

Should I stay away from the weed block? The beds are going in my yard not on concrete if this makes any difference.
I know their has been talk on putting something down on top of grass but I'm not sure what I should do.

Only reason I'm adding raised beds is because I want to grow a few more things like strawberries that I can't fit into my garden.
I may put some carrots or potatoes in these beds as well depending on what I can't fit into my garden

Thanks

[rainbowgardener]

Don't use the weed block. You probably could just put the soil down on top of the grass, 12" of soil should be enough to smother it. If you want to be sure the grass doesn't come back, you can strip the sod off and then put it back upside down. Or you can put down a layer of cardboard and then your soil. The difference between using cardboard and weed block is that the cardboard (if you water it well, before you put the soil down) is going to decompose pretty rapidly. So it will help smother the grass and then it will get out of the way. The weed block doesn't.

[jal_ut]

Yes, it is best to not put a blocker. The plant roots will go quite deep into the underlying layers of soil.
Many types go from 4 to 8 feet deep looking for water and nutrients.

[joed2323]

Thanks guys I will do that.

So I should be OK leaving the grass In the bottom of the raised bed, they won't grow up through the soil and choke out the roots to my vegetable plants

[rainbowgardener]

Probably, but no guarantee:

"You probably could just put the soil down on top of the grass, 12" of soil should be enough to smother it. If you want to be sure the grass doesn't come back, you can strip the sod off and then put it back upside down. Or you can put down a layer of cardboard and then your soil."

[rkunsaw]

I would strip the grass from the soil first. Especially if you have Bermuda grass. It will grow through several feet of soil and when it does it will be impossible to get rid of.

[from the blind]

I only have 6 inch beds and I put down a double layer (2 sheets) of news paper and then soil. No grass has ever come through. Hope this helps.

[joed2323]

Oh boy, well I better dig out the dirt I threw in my boxes and put down either newspaper or cardboard