Content
As a decoration and landscaping of the yard, tall garden beds, as well as bulk flower beds. A simple device is a fence with the sides of a land plot, filled with bulk soil. High the beds allow you to grow ornamental plants and garden crops. Fences are made from the remains of building material. Now we will try to describe in more detail the process of making high beds and consider the variety of designs in photographs.
What is the demand and why high beds are not always convenient
First, it is advisable to find out what the pros and cons of high beds have in order to determine the usefulness of their construction in your yard:
- if the summer cottage is not destined to have fertile soil, the fence allows you to use purchased soil;
- for each type of garden crops and ornamental plants, there is the possibility of arranging individual drainage;
- the sides do not allow the roots to creep weeds penetrate the territory of the fenced area with cultivated plants;
- it is more convenient to weed a high bed, and it is easier to harvest;
- warming and pulling on top of a film for a greenhouse allows you to get an early harvest in cold regions;
- the made of the enclosure of the fence made of boards, plastic or metal allows you to get a mobile bed, which, if necessary, can be moved to any end of the yard;
- from purchased fences it will turn out to organize a decorative flower garden near the house;
- the high efficiency of the insulated garden bed allows you to get a larger crop than from the same plot of land in the garden;
- the soil inside the fence remains loose for a long time, which allows the root system to receive oxygen.
High beds can not always be beneficial, and sometimes they are simply inconvenient for the summer resident. Let's touch on their main disadvantages:
- the higher the embankment is from the ground, the faster its surface dries up, which increases the frequency of watering;
- the soil in limited conditions is quickly depleted and requires additional mineral fertilizing;
- due to the biological activity of unripe compost, crop seeds often do not germinate, therefore, to be sure, it is advisable to plant seedlings in a high bed;
- for the bear, a fenced area with humus is a favorite habitat, and in order to save the plants, it is constantly necessary to fight the pest.
If the listed pluses prevail over the minuses, you need to take the instrument and make high do-it-yourself beds, and our tips will help you in your work.
We determine the optimal dimensions of the beds and their fences
To figure out how to make a high bed in the country, you must first decide on its size. The height of the sides often depends on the quality of the soil at the summer cottage. If the yard is on fertile soil, 150 mm of the height of the fence will be sufficient. When making a bulk bed with purchased soil, it is advisable to avoid its contact with bad soil land, and raise the height to 300 mm. For potatoes, the height of the fence will have to be made even higher.
The "warm bed" technology provides for a multi-layer backfill of different components.In this case, it is necessary to build the sides of the fences at least 500 mm.
Length is the only optional value. The embankment can be made as long as the yard, greenhouse or vegetable garden allows. The only problem can be unstable long sides of the fences, which require additional reinforcement with stakes.
The width of the box is an important parameter. Ease of service depends on it. The optimal width of the enclosed embankment ranges from 0.9 to 1.2 m. Prefabricated collapsible boards in width are most often from 0.5 to 1 m.
Material for the manufacture of fences
Numerous photos of high beds in the country with their own hands prove that the sides can be made from any remnants of building material or bought ready-made in a store. When self-manufacturing fences are most often used:
- Wooden boards are a simple and environmentally friendly option. The disadvantage is the rapid decay of the material. Fences are made not only from boards. Cutting of timber, picket fence, round timber is used. Weave a fence from the branches. Antiseptics and bitumen mastics help to extend the life of wood, but the ecological purity of the material is lost.
- Stones, bricks, cinder blocks and other similar materials allow you to make reliable high beds with your own hands, but they will cost the owner dearly. To hold the elements together, you need a cement mortar. If the fence is made without a foundation, seasonal heaving of soil will tear the masonry.
- Wavy or flat slate is convenient for the manufacture of fences, but the asbestos that is part of the composition gradually poisons the soil.
- Black sheet metal sides are short-lived. The stainless steel is expensive. The market sells ready-made galvanized boxes with a color polymer coating. They will last longer, but their cost is high.
- If you do garden beds design in the yard for flowers, it is better to give preference to plastic boards or border tapes.
There are a lot of options for choosing a material for making garden fences, but it is more comfortable for plants to be near a side made of natural raw materials.
Making a high bed of boards
Now we will look at how to correctly make high-bed fences from boards. Since a tree has a beneficial effect on plants, then we will dwell on it:
- To make the box, you will need boards. If there is a choice, it is better to give preference to oak or larch. Planks from this tree species are the most resistant to decay.
- Wooden blanks are cut with a hacksaw of the required size. To make a box, the boards must be fastened. There are two ways to go here. The first option is to dig in wooden pillars in the corners of the future high bed. The boards are nailed to the resulting supports or screwed with self-tapping screws. The second option is appropriate in the absence of wooden racks. Boards in the corners are fastened with metal corners. Self-tapping screws can be used for fixing, but bolts are better. Through fastening will be more reliable.
- When all four corners of the structure are fastened, the box is considered ready. The presented photo of a high bed gradually displays the manufacture of one of the box options.
The resulting wooden box is placed in a permanent place. The bottom is covered with plastic wrap. Further, there is a layer-by-layer filling of sand, small branches with grass, humus and fertile soil.
Conversion of a high bed into a greenhouse
Now let's look at the device of high beds equipped with a greenhouse. The principle of manufacturing the box remains the same. The frame is knocked out of the boards and installed in a permanent place.Further actions are aimed at making the greenhouse itself:
- Attachments for arcs are screwed to the side long sides of the box. Each pair should be strictly opposite each other. The distance between adjacent fixtures is approximately 750 mm.
- The bottom of the greenhouse is covered with foil. If there is a metal mesh, it can be placed under the polyethylene to prevent rodents from entering the tall bed. A metal mesh laid at the bottom of the greenhouse will save the crop from a mole.
- Layers of sand, wood waste, humus and fertile soil are poured on top of the polyethylene. Each layer is slightly moistened to speed up the decay process.
- For the manufacture of arcs, steel wire or plastic water pipe with a diameter of 20 mm is suitable. Pieces of pipes of the same length are bent in a semicircle and inserted into the fasteners on the sides. From above, the arc is fastened to each other with a cross member made of a similar pipe.
- The finished skeleton is covered with a transparent PET film. The edges are fixed on the wooden sides of the fence.
After planting seedlings under the film, the surface of the soil is densely covered with sawdust. They will prevent rapid evaporation of moisture. Instead of sawdust, some gardeners use black film, in which holes are cut under the plants.
The video shows the making of the garden:
Feature of high Mittlider beds
The American gardener developed his own design of tall beds for strawberries. Their only difference is that the width does not exceed 45 cm. Any material is used for the boards, including boards. The filler consists of a layer of sawdust and fertile soil. The vegetable grower allocated 90 cm of free space to the aisles, and covered it with agrofibre so that weeds did not grow.
Let's summarize
Now you know how to make high beds, and what material you need to work with. As you can see, the work is not difficult, and every vegetable grower can do it.
