A relatively new direction in the summer cottage industry is the arrangement of high beds. This method has advantages and disadvantages, but most enthusiastic summer residents, having tried installing elevated areas for planting, do not return to the traditional ridges. Experience shows: with the right approach to the installation of elevated barriers for the earth and competent preparation of the soil, the crop is richer. In addition, it is a great way to stay clean when caring for plants in any weather!
To build high and original beds on the site is easy.
Why is it worth doing?
The device of such fences has several advantages over the traditional method of zoning the site:
- The beds take the required shape. In this case, there is no gradual shedding of the walls and erosion of the earth during the rainy season.
- Weeds in the sides grow a little, it is easier to weed. You can reduce the amount of grass by preliminary preparation of the earth: before falling asleep, all unnecessary roots are removed.
- A vegetable garden is created even on an infertile plot with soils unsuitable for gardening.
- Between the beds laid tracks of tiles or bricks, then there will be no dirt even after long rainy periods.
- When laying a drainage layer, prolonged heavy rainfall is not terrible.
- Ease of care for the site: no need to bend low, which is especially important for people suffering from diseases of the back and musculoskeletal system.
- The design is easily assembled from available materials, in our case, from boards that can be found in any private household or purchased inexpensively.
- The original way to design the site.
What to consider
To make the beds from the boards really useful, it is important to take into account several features:
- In order to prevent flooding of the tank during the period of long-term precipitation, it is important to equip a drainage layer that discharges water.
- Timely watering in the absence of rain is a necessity, since moisture evaporates from a high fence much faster than from a low garden.
- The design of the boards is short-lived. It is optimal to install the sides for one season and change them annually. To equip the walls for several years, wood protection is required - impregnation, paints will help prevent decay of the board. When installing plastic walls, this problem does not arise, but you have to weigh the pros and cons of the polymers on the site.
It is better to make a bed in the spring before filling the soil and directly sowing or planting crops.
Material selection
Not every board is suitable for mounting a high bed. Suitable wood species resistant to decay. For example, larch, oak, ash, cedar. Hard acacia will also work. These are durable materials that are not susceptible to damage due to their dense structure. For construction for one or two seasons, you can take a pine or spruce.
Boards should have suitable sizes:
- The thickness is not less than 15–20 cm. The softer the wood, the thicker the board is taken so that deformation does not occur due to soil pressure and softening from getting wet.
- The width is determined by the height of the sides.
If the household has used wooden pallets, they can be disassembled and boards used as the basis for the box. This option will cost much cheaper than buying new lumber.
Sometimes summer residents choose as a basis a beam that you can sit on while working. We do not recommend doing this - the soil practically does not receive oxygen through the walls of the fence, which is why plants hardly breathe roots (which is especially detrimental to root crops). In addition, it is economically disadvantageous: the tree rots from stagnation of water, and this design is enough for just a couple of seasons.
The ideal solution for the manufacture of long-lasting garden fences is terraced WPC boards made of wood-polymer composite. They do not rot due to polymers enveloping wood chips. In addition, the products do not require processing and protection. The only drawback of the material is its high cost.
Wood protection
Regardless of the type of wood chosen, boards need to be impregnated with protective compounds.
- Often, summer residents apply waste machine oil to the sides. This is an outdated method, in addition, harmful substances penetrate the soil, then into vegetables.
- Another way is to impregnate wood with bitumen diluted with gasoline. To avoid the use of the latter, it is worth using a ready-made bitumen primer.
- The safest method of protecting high-grade boards is to soak them with antiseptics. It is important to choose difficult-to-wash solutions "for harsh conditions", that is, for direct contact with the ground.
- For one season, the boards are coated with oil paint or wood varnish.
It doesn't matter what is decided to protect the boards. All the same, they will not be able to save them from rotting 100%, processing will have to be done once every one or several seasons. When painting, the ends of the boards are left untreated - the tree must "breathe" to ensure oxygen access to the roots of plants.
Design of beds
The minimum height of beds on fertile soil is 25 cm. If the base on the garden is stony and marshy, we can safely install fences of 30–70 cm, depending on the size of the root planting system. It is not recommended to build them too high - this is an extra waste of materials (soil, boards).
The width of the beds is determined by the convenience for the summer resident.
It should be comfortable to reach its middle and even a little further for proper care of plants (weeding, cultivation, picking, garter, fertilizer). The average width is 40–80 cm. It is important to consider the size of plants in adulthood and the number of rows of plantings. For single-row plantings of tomatoes or cabbage, a width of 40-60 cm is sufficient, for two-and three-row plantings, the size can reach 120 cm.
The length of the beds is free and is determined by the general layout of the site. The shape of the fence is made rectangular, square, polygonal and even round.
Frame
Fencing for beds consists of a frame and the sides themselves.
As the first are various products and materials:
- processed timber;
- pieces of reinforcement;
- special racks with holders for boards.
The main task of the frame is to fix the boards of the fence. The fittings and special racks made of metal do not deteriorate over time, they will serve as a reliable support throughout the life of the structure. But a well-processed beam looks aesthetically pleasing, it is convenient to fasten boards to it without the need to connect them together.
If a beam is chosen for the frame, its buried part is important to carefully waterproof with bitumen impregnation or liquid rubber, since it is the part that is immersed in the ground that is destroyed first.
Is foundation preparation necessary?
It is not recommended to remove the sod and dig the box into the ground - the wood will quickly begin to rot. A waterproofing device with roofing material will not help - water will accumulate in your pocket from precipitation, and decay will come very soon. Impregnation will not save the situation, and deepening itself is not a necessity.
Under the soil in the garden is recommended to line geotextiles. You can install a box on it - this will be enough. Protect wood with various supports (example in the photo). True, for such a bed, an arrangement of the bottom is required.
In the photo there is a garden bed, protected from decay by a brick stand.
Assembly instruction
Now step by step we will consider how to make a garden bed in a garden plot.
- Pre-prepared boards are cut along the length for the end and longitudinal sides.
- We attach to the racks a height equal to the height of the fence + the amount of penetration. The depth of entry of the rack into the ground is determined by the strength of the base. Optimal to choose from 40 cm.
- Now we fasten the boards to metal or wooden racks. Begin assembly from the corners. It is important to tightly connect the boards so that the soil does not spill out through the cracks and nutrients are not washed out of it with water.
- First we collect one plane, for example, the end, then the second. After we fasten the longitudinal boards, checking the evenness of the angles.
- We transfer the finished structure into place and deepen. It is convenient to simply hammer in metal racks, but you need to do this evenly from all sides with a partner or in small portions from each corner. We also drive wooden racks into the ground, or simply dig them in, densely compacting the soil around the timber for its stability.
If the beds are long, an additional stand is installed for every 1.5–2 meters, which will prevent the boards from bending under the weight of the soil.
The phased process of making beds with metal racks in the video.
They stuff boards on already installed racks, but this option is suitable for completely wooden structures and is not very convenient.
For comfort, you can adjust the seat board. It joins the corners or a fixed additional block, giving the surface rigidity.
Using special racks greatly simplifies the process of assembling beds - just insert the boards into the grooves. In this way, it is very convenient to build flower beds of different configurations:
And this is a visual master class on creating a multi-tiered flowerbed:
After installation
If the geotextile has not been spread before the final installation, put it in a box, pour drainage (crushed stone or pebble) on top with a layer of 10 cm, then fertile soil thoroughly cleaned of roots. You can begin to land.
It is not necessary to cover the walls of the fence with a film - the roots of the plants will not breathe.
Outside it can be decorated with drawings, applications - here the flight of fantasy is unlimited. The photo shows interesting projects of enthusiastic landscape designers and summer residents.
Vertical rails serve as additional structural stiffeners.
Metal plates reinforce corners and decorate the bed.
A high bed can be a wooden box mounted on a base raised from the ground.
In high beds it is convenient to place greenhouse plants under a film or a special coating.
Track solution
When the beds are ready, you can draw paths between them. This will protect the shoes from pollution and complete the appearance of the composition. Options for covering tracks:
- A mound of sawdust is the cheapest way to create a path. Do not use fresh woodworking waste that acidifies the soil. Opil will absorb excess moisture, and at the end of the season it will become a good nutritional supplement to the soil.
- River pebbles are an inexpensive way to design a track. It just needs to be poured with a small layer and well aligned.
- Tiles and bricks laid out without cement mortar are a good temporary option. For the construction of the capital track, it is necessary to remove the sod, lay the geotextile and drainage (crushed stone), lay the coating on the cement mortar.
- Concrete paths are produced on a prepared foundation without fertile soil for drainage from geotextiles and gravel.
Following simple instructions, you can equip a convenient and efficient garden bed for growing any garden crops. According to the above algorithm, fences are created from other sheet materials (slate, metal, plastic).
Wood is the safest and closest material to gardening. Although short-lived, it provides the best conditions for growing plants better than others. In addition, the boards serve as a natural heat insulator for "warm" beds and a good base for a greenhouse and a small greenhouse.