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If a summer cottage has a small vegetable garden, this does not mean that it is worth giving up growing flowers, strawberries, strawberries and other crops. In this situation, you need to turn on your thinking and expand the landing area. But how to do it? Elementary structure vertical beds will help solve the problem. There are many ideas for creating such a design, but the most popular is the strawberry bed from the pipe, which can be arranged horizontally and vertically.
Positive and negative aspects of using PVC pipes for planting strawberries
There are pros and cons in any technology. As for the construction of a planting space for strawberries from plastic pipes, there are more positive aspects here:
- Space saving should be noted right away. From horizontally or vertically PVC pipes you can collect a huge bed. It will fit up to hundreds of strawberry or wild strawberry bushes, and such a structure will take a small area in the yard.
- The plastic tube structure is mobile. If necessary, it can be moved to another place, and in the event of frost, it can be brought into the barn.
- Strawberries and strawberries grow all at a height. The berries are easy to pick without bending over, and they are all clean without sand. The beds are not overgrown with grass, which makes it easier to care for the plantings.
- Several strawberry bushes grow in each PVC pipe. In the event of an epidemic, it is enough to remove the section with the affected plants so that the disease does not spread to the rest of the plantings.
Of the minuses, one can single out certain costs for the purchase of sewer plastic pipes. However, there is a positive point here as well. PVC pipe is characterized by a long service life. A vertical bed will only require a one-time large investment. Further, the design will only bring profit in the form of delicious berries.
The main disadvantage of PVC pipe beds is their insulation for the winter. The fact is that a small amount of soil in a plastic container freezes during severe frosts. This kills the roots of the strawberry. To preserve the plantings, each pipe is wrapped with insulation for the winter. If the beds are small, they are brought into the barn.
The procedure for making vertical beds
To make vertical strawberry beds it is necessary to purchase PVC sewer pipes with a diameter of 110–150 mm. Plantings need to be irrigated. This also requires a polypropylene pipe with a diameter of 15–20 mm. It should be noted right away that there are two ways to make a garden bed:
- Each prepared pipe is simply driven in vertically. The method is simple and cheap.
- You can assemble a vertical bed using elbows, tees and crosses. This will create a large wall in a V-shape or other shape. The design will turn out to be mobile, convenient and beautiful, but very expensive.
It is better for novice gardeners to stop at the first method, and now we will consider how to make such a bed.
So, having bought all the material, they start making the beds:
- Sewer pipes on sale come in different lengths. Immediately you need to decide on the height of the garden. If it was possible to buy only pipes that are too long, they are cut into pieces of the required size.The ideal height is obtained strawberry bed made of PVC pipes 2 m long.
- When blanks are cut from large-diameter plastic pipes, they begin to manufacture an irrigation system. A thin polypropylene tube is cut into pieces 10 cm longer than thick workpieces.
- The lower part of the irrigation pipe is closed with a plug. Starting from the top, the third part is drilled with a conventional drill with a diameter of 3-4 mm. The holes are made at approximately equal intervals.
- The perforated workpiece is wrapped with a piece of burlap, securing it with copper wire. The fabric will prevent soil from clogging the drain holes. A similar procedure is performed with all thin tubes.
- Next, proceed to the processing of a thick pipe. For work, you will need an electric drill with a crown nozzle with a diameter of 15 cm. Holes are cut out on the side wall of the pipe using a crown. The first is located 20 cm above ground level. Here it is also necessary to take into account the part of the pipe buried in the ground, if this method of installing the beds is supposed. The remaining holes are drilled in 20 cm increments. The number of seats depends on the height of the structure. If the structure is installed leaning against the wall, then the landing nests are drilled only from the front side of the garden bed. In another case, the perforation of the sewer pipe is staggered on both sides.
- The drilled thick workpiece is closed with a plug from below, after which it is vertically installed in its permanent place.
- Inside a vertically standing sewer pipe, insert a thin perforated workpiece strictly in the center with the plug down. The space of a thick pipe is covered with gravel to a height of 10 cm, and then filled with fertile soil to the top. For better stability, it is good if the vertical bed from above is fixed to a reliable support.
- The soil is watered through a drainage tube until it is completely saturated with moisture. Strawberry or wild strawberry bushes are planted in the planting nests.
Further care of strawberry plantations implies only timely watering and feeding through drainage pipes.
The video tells about the strawberry garden:
Growing strawberries in horizontally laid pipes
You can grow strawberries not only in vertical pipes, but also laid horizontally. The photo shows an example of how to make such a structure. Such beds for strawberries are installed, raised to a height convenient for maintenance. The principle of manufacturing the structure is almost the same, as in the case of the vertical analogue:
- The PVC sewer pipe is perforated in one line, forming the seats. Holes in the plastic are cut with a crown with a diameter of 10-15 cm at a distance of 20 cm.
- Both ends of the thick workpiece are closed with plugs. A hole for the irrigation pipe is made in the center of one cover. In the second plug, a hole is cut at the bottom. Here, with the help of a transition fitting, a hose is attached, which descends into a container installed under the bed. Excess water will drain here.
- A horizontally laid thick workpiece is 1/3 covered with expanded clay, washed in water with vinegar. Fertile soil is poured on top of the drainage layer. When it fills half of the free space, insert the irrigated perforated workpiece. It is made in the same way as it was done for a vertical bed. The free end of the irrigation pipe is led out through the hole in the center of the plug. Further, the sewer pipe is filled with soil to the top.
- A similar procedure is performed with all blanks. Under horizontal beds, a stand is welded from rods or a corner. It can be made wide to stack several pieces in one row.
When the horizontal bed is made, the soil is well moistened in the pipes, after which a strawberry bush is planted in each window.
Watering horizontal beds
So, the strawberry beds are ready with their own hands, the strawberries have been planted, now it needs to be watered. This is done through thin irrigation tubes protruding from thick workpieces. In the case of vertical beds, water can be poured manually using a watering can. On large plantations, a pump is connected. Horizontal plantings with strawberries cannot be watered with a watering can. Here, irrigation is organized in two ways:
- If there are not very many horizontal plantings, a tank is installed to irrigate them. It must be at a height so that there is pressure in the system. All irrigation nipples protruding from the beds are connected to each other using fittings and a hose into one irrigation system. It is connected to an installed container with water. A tap is placed at the outlet of the tank to regulate irrigation. When the soil is dry, the owner opens the tap, water flows by gravity under the roots of the strawberries, and its surplus is drained through a drainage hose fixed on the opposite side of the pipe with a plug.
- It is unrealistic to water large strawberry plantations with horizontal beds from the tank. For these purposes, a pump is used instead of a storage tank. Moreover, it is installed in a container for draining excess water. The irrigation system is turned on as the soil dries out. It turns out a kind of water cycle. The pump pumps water under the strawberry roots. Excess liquid is drained back into the container, from where it is again directed in a circle. However, some of the water is absorbed by plants, so you need to monitor and replenish the container in time. If desired, this process can be automated with sensors and the installation of a time relay.
If you need to feed strawberries, the fertilizer is simply dissolved in irrigation water.
If there is an empty heated room at home, you can move a small plantation with strawberries there for the winter. This will allow you to feast on delicious berries all year round.
