How beautiful to arrange the beds in the garden. We create a harmonious garden design. Garden: photo of comfortable beds in the country
Probably, every owner of a summer cottage wants his garden to bring not only a harvest, but also aesthetic pleasure. At first glance, it seems that such concepts as a vegetable garden and landscape design have nothing in common.
However, if you move away from the traditional forms of arranging beds and make an interesting layout of the garden with your own hands, then as a result, the plot in the country house will not be inferior to the garden in its beauty. This does not require much effort or expense. All you need is the materials at hand, skillful hands and creative thinking. Examples of beautiful beds can be viewed in the photo gallery below.
Layout of beds for a beautiful garden
To have an idea of the scale of work on arranging the beds, you should determine the place for them and draw a diagram or drawing.
In this case, it will immediately be seen how much material is needed for their arrangement.
The layout of the garden is carried out in accordance with some recommendations:
The shape of the beds can be any. It all depends on your imagination! They don't have to be the right shape. They can be made rectangular or square, in the form of a trapezoid or in the form of some animals and objects.
You can arrange the beds with your own hands in accordance with the natural forms of the relief. This will give the garden not only an aesthetic effect, but also allow you to use garden soil with greater benefit. In the photo you can see how original and beautiful the beds of an unusual shape look in the landscape design.
If the garden is planned to be arranged along the fence, then those located next to the paths can be an interesting solution. narrow beds in the form of rabatki. You can plant fluffy greens on them one by one, and plant undersized flowers below.
At the corners of the site, you can create triangular beds and plant vegetables or greens on them in a tier. That is, place tall crops closer to the fence and gradually lower the height.
Nice garden in the center
In the country, where the garden will be located in a place viewed from all sides, the center of the composition can be spectacular round garden. To create it with your own hands, you first need to markup:
When planting vegetables or green crops on a round bed, it is necessary to take into account similar conditions for their cultivation and a favorable neighborhood.
Beets will look best in such a flower bed, carrots, cabbage and various greens. Do not plant zucchini, cucumbers and other weaving crops on it. They grow to the sides and look ugly among the slender rows.
Do-it-yourself high beds for the lazy
A beautiful garden can be created with the help of high beds, fencing them decorative borders. The cultivation of the land and care of plantings on such structures is minimized, and the harvest exceeds all expectations.
Cleanings, kitchen waste, etc. are placed in them as the first layer. Then everything is covered with a layer of chopped grass or foliage, which is covered with earth.
The resulting "pie" will gradually decompose, while releasing a large amount of heat. Therefore, even on cold days, root crops and plant roots will feel comfortable.
To decorate the sides on high beds, you can use:
- painted boards;
- ready-made plastic fences;
- empty bottles;
- old plastic boxes;
- large stones that are held together with concrete mortar;
- paving stones or bricks;
- a decorative fence woven from willow or vine;
- cut into strips and painted slate.
To make the landscape look complete, do-it-yourself beds should ennoble paths. They can be sown with lawn grass or lined with geotextiles, covered with colored sawdust, bark or decorative gravel.
French beds
Often in summer cottages you can see symmetrical beds regular geometric shape. They are called French and are most often made in the form of a rectangle, which is divided into four squares with the help of stony paths.
In the middle of such a garden, a composition or sculpture is placed. The French garden, as you can see in the photo, is distinguished by the clarity of the lines, beauty and absolute harmony. If you wish, you can build it in your summer cottage with your own hands:
- French beds can be made flush with the rest of the plots or raised to the desired height. The second option will be more difficult to perform, but it will look prettier. Yes, and care for high beds is much easier.
- As borders, you can use metal, wood or stone.
- It is best to locate the garden in a well-lit area with fertile soil.
- The dimensions of the tracks depend on the irrigation system, which can be either manual or automatic. Their width is usually from 60 to 80 cm.
Any culture can be planted on French beds. To make them bright, you can plant them along their edge. beautiful undersized flowers or several varieties of lettuce.
Vertical beds for a small garden
On small personal plots, home craftsmen build vertical beds with their own hands. However, it should be borne in mind that not every culture can grow in such conditions.
Will grow well on vertical structures spices, onions, salads, strawberries. In conditions of constant watering, zucchini and even cucumbers can be grown in them.
Quite easily with your own hands you can turn a wooden fence or an ugly outbuilding into a green wall. For this you will need:
- Nail plastic boxes to a vertical surface, fill them with earth and plant vegetables.
- Screw the plastic bottles, pre-cut a hole in them from above and fill half with soil.
It will look very nice in such containers and grow well remontant strawberry. She gives a lot of whiskers hanging down, decorated with flowers and berries.
Beds from car tires
From tires, a garden bed with your own hands can be arranged in the form of a pyramid. The tires need to be painted first. So that car tires do not get very hot in the sun, they are recommended paint in light colors.
When constructing a pyramid, the lower tier is first installed and immediately covered with soil. The second tier is installed and covered with earth, then the third, etc. Seeds are sown in free spaces with earth. Radishes and greens will grow best in them.
Arch of weaving vegetables
To decorate a beautiful garden with your own hands, you can create decorative arch on which cucumbers or other trailing vegetables will grow (see photo). If there is no suitable building for this in the country house, then the arch or pergola can be welded from thin pipes.
Plastic containers are placed next to the arched structure, in which vegetables are planted. Each bush should be planted in a separate container. As the plants grow, their whip will need tie to a building.
Caring for cucumbers planted in containers is very simple. They require only watering and fertilizing. In this case, spraying against fungal diseases and weed control is not required.
To give the garden a personality, you can use some tips from experienced gardeners:
- On a site with a slope, beds in the form of terraces or tiers will effectively look. Growing only one crop on each tier, as a result, you can get a picture similar to the gardens of Babylon.
- Various undersized crops can be used as fences. Skillfully selected planted plants will please with a combination of various shades and colors. Such bosquet beds can be from rectangular to zigzag shapes.
- A pyramidal bed can be created from boxes of various sizes by planting them on a pipe dug into the ground. Having previously made holes in the pipe and pouring water into it, you can get an irrigation system.
- Small vegetables, strawberries and herbs can be grown in hanging bags or halves of plastic pipes. Plants can be planted in them in early spring, and after warming, they can be taken out into the street and hung almost anywhere in the site.
- Tapestries, which can be of various options, will bring their own flavor when decorating the garden. Climbing plants or tall tomato bushes are planted near them. Tomatoes on a trellis will receive maximum sunlight and will delight you with a bountiful harvest.
- Flowers can decorate not only flower beds and the area around the house. With the help of suitable perennial flowers, you can easily create beautiful beds.
- When choosing plants for beds, do not be afraid to experiment. For example, climbing plants and tied tomatoes can be supplemented with overall watermelons and zucchini that contrast in color and shape.
By connecting your imagination, looking at photo examples, and spending a little effort, you can turn an ordinary summer cottage into a beautiful, harmonious, well-groomed and unique garden. At such a dacha, you can fully enjoy a well-deserved rest and the fruits of your labors.
Most often, a dacha is not only flowers and rest, it is also a harvest. These are seedlings in the spring, shoots, transplanting into the ground and other concerns. If you are a gardener who cares not only about the harvest, but also about a neat, well-groomed plot with fences, then you probably wondered more than once how to arrange beautiful garden beds in the country with your own hands?
Beautiful garden in the country with their own hands
If you started a dacha not only for the sake of flowers and fruit trees, then you definitely have beds. And usually the most difficult work is their improvement. Because you need to provide so many important nuances in order to fully enjoy the harvest afterwards. That is why we want to figure out together with you what kind of beautiful and correct beds they are?
Vertical beds - how to create, what are the features, pros and cons
If you have a small plot, but you want to use it to the maximum advantage, then you should think about creating vertical beds. Thanks to them, with small areas, you can get an excellent harvest, only once making enough effort for this.
These beds are great if you want:
- save space,
- grow more in a limited area,
- grow in open ground
- simplify your care and reduce the number of likely weeds,
- facilitate watering and harvesting.
Thanks to their simple design and mobility, these beds are easy to assemble and move. And at the same time, you yourself can choose how many bushes or seeds you need for seedlings.
Varieties of vertical beds
There are several types of vertical beds:
ladder type- are created from boxes of different sizes, stacked on top of each other according to the principle of a ladder,
tubular- are plastic pipes of a selected diameter, filled with soil, with holes for seedlings,
suspended- where the beds are located one above the other, being suspended or installed on a structure similar to a stepladder,
pyramids- are created according to the principle of stairs, but each new tier is smaller than the previous one on all sides and is located in the center, eventually creating the appearance of a pyramid.
Clear instructions for creating different types of vertical beds
Creating a vertical bed is not difficult, but it all depends on your skills, the tools in your arsenal, and the materials you have at your disposal.
Most often they are made from boards in order to extend the life of their structure and get the maximum benefit. After all, wooden beds last longer, are more stable and harmless to future seedlings. But their arrangement requires more knowledge and experience in using tools such as a drill, screwdriver and jigsaw (if you need to cut the boards to the intended size).
In general, the basic set of materials for creating a wooden vertical garden bed is the same:
- boards,
- beam,
- nails,
- self-tapping screws,
- priming,
- seedlings or seeds.
First, decide on the size of the largest and smallest beds. Saw the boards into the cuts you need, and then assemble boxes from them, which you stack on top of each other and fill with soil.
Do not forget that even experienced craftsmen use a pencil and a tape measure so as not to be mistaken with the size. Wear thick gloves to protect your hands.
Take advantage of a very clear, step-by-step master class by Ekaterina Komkova, who talks about how to build a very neat pyramid for your seedlings.
And if you liked a place near a fence or a wall of a country house, then it’s more suitable for you, as in the relena75 master class:
They take up little space and, which fit perfectly into small areas, and due to their design are also very mobile. After all, they are so easy to carry from place to place or put away for storage at the end of the season. Yes, and they are made no more difficult than their more massive girlfriends. See for yourself by following the instructions from the video lesson of the Country Expert:
However, a pallet can also become a bookcase.
Tubular beds do not require much effort to manufacture. And they take up much less space compared to the previous ones. And the harvest will give a worthy full-fledged garden.
To create it, it is enough to cut pipes of a suitable diameter, make holes on them with a special nozzle for a drill, dig into the selected place, fill with soil and your garden is ready!
They are great for growing strawberries or cucumbers.
If you want to understand the intricacies of creating such compact beds, then you should pay attention to the master class of a country craftsman with the nickname Adek.
Disadvantages of vertical beds
But, like everything else related to the dacha, vertical beds are not a panacea. Indeed, due to all the same design features, they also have disadvantages.
- the soil in them is quickly depleted,
- the soil often has to be watered due to drying with a small volume of the bed itself,
- if your region has severe winters, then the ground will freeze, which is bad for perennial crops,
- you will need to make an effort and stock up on patience, as well as the tools to create them.
In addition, due to limited space, not every crop will take root on a vertical garden - plants with a powerful root system will not be able to fully develop.
Therefore, it is best to grow in such beds:
- salad,
- basil,
- cucumbers,
- strawberry,
- dill.
Warm and high beds - basic requirements, pros and cons
As you can see, vertical beds are not suitable for pumpkin, corn and potatoes. Therefore, it is worth considering other options for growing garden crops. For example, if you have enough space but the ground is cold, then you might like the option of tall, warm beds, great for tender, heat-loving crops.
In fact, a high bed is a mound of fertile soil, bounded on four sides by a fence. She is:
- easy to assemble and disassemble
- does not require much care and attention,
- well suited even for rocky terrain,
- gives an excellent harvest.
In addition, due to the closed nature of the ecosystem, there are many times less weeds in such a bed, which means that weeding will require less effort.
They are divided into permanent and temporary. And, as the name implies, some can be used for several years in a row, while others are more often collected for growing seedlings. But both of them, in their essence, remain ordinary garden beds.
And most importantly, if the idea of \u200b\u200bcreating a warm garden bed for a summer cottage with your own hands visited you, then you do not need to put in a lot of effort.
Very efficient and comfortable...
... and can be made from improvised materials!
General rules for the design and assembly of high beds
The optimal height is considered to be 15-50 cm from the ground (depending on the root system of the crop you want to grow.
The width varies from 90 to 120 cm.
The mandatory composition of each bed includes soil, drainage and biofuel (which will become humus, giving the main fertilizer of the root system).
But the materials for fencing can be completely diverse:
- boards,
- plastic boxes,
- pallets,
- metal profile,
- wooden boxes.
Everything will depend only on your idea and what is now at hand.
The most common and stable are the beds of the boards. If you lay them with roofing material before falling asleep with earth, then they will last a very long time, since they will be isolated from moisture and decay.
Boarding fencing…
...metal...
... and again with boards
And creating them is quite simple if you follow the detailed instructions of Evgeny Afanasyev given in the master class.
If you are not friends with tools or do not have enough time to organize a permanent garden, then you can solve the issue differently. After all, such beds are good because they only require a high fence. Plastic vegetable crates or pallets stacked upright and hastily hammered together to form a square, and even concrete blocks can be a better solution.
Pallet fence...
...and concrete blocks.
Yes, you do not need to have a carpentry education to organize a garden bed. It can be made even in an old barrel.
And even weave!
If you want to plant a couple of seedlings as an experiment, then you can get by with pocket beds.
Here you do not need to be able to saw and plan, but the skill of sewing and sewing is useful. After all, such a homemade product for a summer residence and a garden, created by oneself, will appeal to every needlewoman.
Take an old organizer for small things, combs or other household items, put film, soil and fertilizer into the pockets, sew on strong loops so that it can be hung on any wall or fence, and that's it - your miniature bed is ready!
As you can see, do-it-yourself beds for summer cottages and gardens are created from a variety of materials and varying complexity. For some, you will need an impressive set of tools, but the result will give a good harvest or, for others, only a few boxes and a couple of barrels will be enough, although the result will also be joyful and very pleasant. The main thing you should know at the beginning of the season is that any idea for a summer residence can be brought to life with your own hands - from a garden bed to a personal garden with the most exotic flowers.
Before each owner of a backyard, summer cottage or garden plot, the question arises of the correct placement of the garden on his site. The very word "correct" suggests that there are certain rules, norms or mandatory principles according to which the garden should be equipped. And some general principles, of course, can be identified - but it is precisely some. This is due to the huge variety of conditions in which the sites are located, and besides, the personal preferences of the owners are of no small importance.
At all should not blindly copy someone else's experience, especially if this is experience gained in another soil-climatic zone. But what about? What should beginner gardeners do?
Choosing a place for the garden
Let's start with a question that inevitably arises when planning: where to place a garden on the site, what part of the total area to allocate for it. After the simplest calculation of the need for vegetables (see), it usually turns out that it is enough to allocate a plot for a garden about 3 acres. More or less - will depend on the composition of the family and the desire to experiment with any cultures.
Under the garden allocate the sunniest place, without shading on the south side. Unlike the garden, which is located on the northern slope, it is preferable for the garden southern exposure. This is the case if the garden is only a garden. The garden plot is subject to certain requirements:
- high doses of fertilizers (both organic and mineral) are applied under vegetables;
- provide good air permeability to soils, for which baking powders are introduced in the form of straw cutting, straw manure, coarse-grained river sand;
- create optimal conditions for moistening, remove excess water through drainage or arrange watering with insufficient moisture;
- protect the site from the prevailing winds by planting ornamental or fruit trees on the windward side, but so that there is no shading - all vegetables are photophilous.
Recently it has become fashionable to arrange decorative vegetable garden. Here, vegetable crops also perform design functions, so they are already selected for their decorative qualities. But it's still exotic. If you are interested in the topic of an ornamental garden, read the articles on the principles of its organization from the list of recommended literature for the lesson.
It is undesirable to plant vegetables in the aisles of the garden, where there is shading, competition for water and nutrients, there is a danger of contamination of products with poisons used to protect the garden. Yes, and vegetables work best in open areas.
We place greenhouses and greenhouses
There are a lot of vegetable crops, and they are very diverse in their external characteristics and growing characteristics. The desire of the gardener to provide himself with early vegetables leads to the need to allocate an area for insulated soil. Now there is no problem in acquiring various greenhouses and greenhouses or materials for their independent construction.
In protected ground, heat-loving vegetable crops are grown in small quantities: tomatoes, pepper, eggplant, cucumber, vegetable marrow. To obtain early greenery in insulated soil, they are sown as compactors salad, dill, parsley and other herbs. To meet the need for early vegetables, 4-5 plants of each crop are usually sufficient.
The area under insulated soil is usually no more than 100 sq.m. But in areas with cool summers, growing heat-loving vegetables in the open field is problematic, and they are grown only under shelters. In this case, greenhouses are needed, and their area will already be higher - up to 300 sq.m and even more. Of course, it is better to grow unrelated crops separately, for example: cucumber with zucchini in one building, and tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in another. But if there are few plants, then it is difficult to implement, and not too necessary.
Dedicated to the features of growing vegetables in greenhouses next lesson- . There we will consider in detail all the important nuances.
We build beds
The beds are made in the spring, just marking the paths. The paths between the beds should provide free passage and the ability to get your hand from the path to the middle of the beds. As a rule, for this the track width should be not less than 40-50 cm. The length of the beds themselves can be arbitrary, and the width can be convenient for work: such that the hand can be freely reached a little further than the middle of the bed. This is necessary for manual work - sowing, weeding, harvesting.
Beds for individual crops (like greenhouses) are best placed with a long side from North to South- so the plants will be better lit during the day. The number of rows of plants in the beds is arbitrary.
Usually the beds are made rectangular shape. According to their device, they can be different. So, in the south they try to make them flush with the soil surface or even deepened, and in the center of the country and in the north - raised. The edges of the beds are usually not limited to the frame, but when arranging narrow ridges according to the Mittlider or warm steam beds, a frame is made of boards or flat slate, and other materials.
Various ways of arranging ridges: recessed or raised, in a frame, and so on - it is better to master gradually. For more information about what beds are, how to build them, what are the advantages and disadvantages of various options - read the articles from the reading list for this lesson.
Under large plants (with a large bush) or creepers make wide distances between rows - from 40 to 90 cm, and between small plants, on the contrary, the aisles are reduced to 15 cm or even less. The largest row spacings require pumpkins and climbing squash- more than 1.5-2 m;
- wide aisles are needed for tomatoes, pepper, eggplant, bush squash, beans.
- narrow aisles - for beets, carrots, green crops.
Schemes for placing plants on the beds:
- roots- 6 cm between plants in a row and 10-15 cm between rows; it is also convenient to place most of green and aromatic plants;
- nightshade support will be required for each bush; place them according to the scheme 50 × 50 or 70 × 70 cm;
- early cabbage placed according to the scheme 40 × 40 cm;
- late cabbage- according to the scheme 50 × 70 cm;
- cucumber: when growing on a support, leave 25-30 cm between the bushes; when grown without a garter, 60-70 cm are left between plants, and row spacing is increased to 90-120 cm;
- bush type squash placed after 40 cm;
- climbing squash- after 70-120 cm.
Soil Requirements
The garden area should be fertile. Vegetables were traditionally grown in rural courtyards, where a lot of organic matter was introduced into the soil, but in modern garden plots there is a completely different situation, additional reclamation measures may be required - for example, when groundwater is shallow, drainage is arranged with excess water runoff into arranged reservoirs or wells.
Usually, beginners just need to fertilize in the fall:
- organic(manure, humus, composts from organic waste) at the rate of 60-100 kg per 100 sq.m;
- mineral complex where there is nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (azofoska, nitroammofoska, foskamid, autumn and others) - up to 5 kg per 100 sq.m.
Gives good results sowing perennial grasses(lucerne, clover, sainfoin) for 2-3 years and their plowing. Instead of perennial grasses, you can plow annual herbs as green manure. These can be mixtures based on barley or oats with vetch or peas. Before plowing the grass, it is necessary to grind and apply nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers on top at the rate of 1-2 kg per hundred square meters.
Compost - good organic fertilizer
Fertilization of individual vegetable crops has its own peculiarities. So, organic matter (manure, humus, compost) is added under cucumber, zucchini, late and medium cabbage, and only humus or well-decomposed compost is added under tomato, pepper, eggplant. Only mineral fertilizers are applied under onions and root crops, early cabbage.
Dedicated to fertilizers and top dressings separate lesson: . You can also find more information in the reading list for this lesson.
What is crop rotation, why is it needed and how to organize it
You cannot grow the same crops every year in the same place. Specific pathogens accumulate in the soil, pests overwinter on plant residues, the soil is unilaterally depleted, harmful substances accumulate in it - decay products that are toxic to plants.To avoid these negative consequences, scientists came up with crop rotation- scientifically substantiated alternation of cultures in time and territory. In small areas it is difficult to apply full-fledged crop rotations, here they are more often used fruit cycle- alternation over the years of some crops with others.
During fruit change, one group of crops changes to another in terms of nutritional requirements. It is better if after the crops under which organics were introduced, there are crops that make good use of decomposed organics, and after them - crops with predominantly mineral nutrition.
For example, like this:
- medium and late cabbage;
- tomato;
- carrot.
Or like this:
- cucumber;
- pepper, eggplant;
- beet.
Required for some crops early harvestable predecessor. For example, only cucumber, zucchini and greens are suitable for winter garlic, since garlic is planted in the fall, and it is also necessary to prepare the soil for it. Perennial vegetable crops are grown in open areas, where they can be more than 3-5 years in one place.
Details about the organization of crop rotation (fruit rotation) in the garden, favorable and negative combinations of crops, their correct alternation and other nuances are discussed. in one of the next lessons: .
Organization of watering in the garden
Vegetables are demanding not only for soil fertility, but also for providing moisture. Even in regions that receive sufficient rainfall, there are times when irrigation is required. Therefore, the site should be water source in the form of a centralized water supply system, a well or a container for several tons of water.
If a ground water are located closer than 60-70 cm from the surface, it is better to arrange their removal outside the site or into a drainage well. In arid regions, it is necessary to take care of artificial irrigation, creating a supply of irrigation water on the site in containers or pools.
You can supply water to the vegetable plot with a hose, a stationary pipeline, or using a drip irrigation system. It is better to choose a reinforced or corrugated hose that is resistant to kinks, lightweight polypropylene pipes that are UV-resistant, free-flow low-pressure drip lines.
But with any method of irrigation, it is necessary to determine water quality. Here it is necessary to find out the degree of mineralization, the presence of toxic salts, the pH value. Analysis can be carried out in zonal scientific institutions for agriculture or laboratories that control the quality of drinking water.
If the water meets the requirements, then it can be safely used for irrigation, but if the water is excessively saline, or contains toxic salts, or is very hard, then it is better to collect and use rainwater, use filters (which is of course expensive) - in any case, use it less.
There is rule: the toxicity of water is the less pronounced, the higher the content of organic matter in the soil.
Determine landing time
Each crop is sown and planted at its own time. If possible, insulated soil is often used to extend the time for the crop to arrive: various types of greenhouses, greenhouses. Various films and non-woven materials are used as a translucent coating, and seedlings of heat-loving crops are planted in such facilities: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, cucumber and zucchini, as well as such cold-resistant crops as early cabbage, cauliflower, Beijing - to obtain earlier products.When using insulated soil, it is important that the seedlings are not only of high quality, but also certain varieties and hybrids, capable of recouping as much as possible the cost of structures and films.
Also, vegetables can be sown directly in open ground or planted seedlings. Green crops are usually sown first in the ground, followed by carrots, onions, beets, and then seedlings of heat-loving crops and cabbage are planted.
Selection of varieties- it's complicated. It is better to focus on the assortment recommended for a particular zone. There are many options and each has its pros and cons. We talked in detail about how to choose varieties of vegetables for your garden.
How to care for a vegetable garden
Garden care is loosening row spacing- usually after rains, waterings or fertilizing. As the plants develop, the loosening depth will first increase and then decrease so as not to damage the growing roots.top dressing carried out to correct nutrition. It is better for them to use special brands of complex water-soluble fertilizers containing 5-7 trace elements. When applying fertilizers, the enclosed instructions are usually followed.
There is also a need for protection against pests, pathogens and weeds. The use of herbicides - means of weed control, in small areas is impractical. Still, they are not safe, and it is difficult not to damage the cultivated plants themselves. Manual weeding remain the most effective means of weed control.
Among plant protection products there are not only chemical, but also biological, and they should be given preference. But in the fight against especially dangerous diseases and pests, chemical protection should not be neglected. At the same time, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the regulations for the use of plant protection products, not to exceed the dose and not to shorten the waiting period - the time during which, after processing, it is impossible to work with plants and use products for food. This will be discussed in detail in one of the following lessons -.
Vegetable crops are divided into single collection and multi-collection. For multi-collection, continuous flowering and crop formation are characteristic. In crops such as tomato, pepper, eggplant, zucchini, cucumber, fruits are harvested as they reach removable maturity. Their yield increases with regular harvesting. Cabbage, root crops and onions are harvested once, when fully ripe. Many cultures practice a combination of periodic collections and one-time cleaning. In dill and lettuce, for example, you can first pick off part of the leaves, and at the end of the removable maturity, the whole plant.
Gardening is a fascinating business: as you master some issues, new, even more complex ones appear. This process is creative and akin to art.
More recently, in the last century, the owner of six acres was considered an incredibly happy person. At the end of the working week, it was solemnly announced to colleagues, at home - to households and neighbors about the upcoming wonderful weekend. A trip to the dacha, to your beloved with rectangular beds, broken over the entire area, a vegetable garden.
Today, a garden is not just a piece of land for growing vegetables and herbs, but a part where vegetables, flowers, herbs, and berries are amazingly and harmoniously combined.
The need for planning
A properly planned plot will allow you to effectively arrange the beds, respecting the compatibility of plants. Having decided on the sizes, desired varieties of vegetables, you can begin to create them.
At the same time, we must not forget that vegetable crops should receive enough sunlight and grow on fertile soil. If the goal of the summer resident is not to harvest a large crop for winter harvesting, it is better not to create large beds and limit their number.
Neat, diverse in shape and size, harmoniously fitting into the entire site, they will become much more useful than the usual numerous and randomly dug up rabatok.
The design of the garden requires careful attention not only to the appearance of neighboring plants, but also to compliance with the conditions for the growth of plantings.
Plant selection
To create a beautiful and original garden - the garden needs the right choice of crops. The composition of the soil, the climatic zone in which the site is located should be taken into account.
Remember the degree of illumination and plant tall plants in such a way that they do not block the light of undersized neighbors.
Do not plant seedlings in the same place two years in a row. This can lead to a decrease in soil fertility, resulting in a low yield.
It is important to observe the irrigation regime, it is individual for each type and variety of planted crops.
You should not plant your favorite vegetables, grass flowers together, without finding out their tolerance, with each other. After all, properly selected plant species will be able to protect neighboring plantings from various diseases, and will also scare away insect pests.
Garden style creations
A decorative, hand-made garden - a garden in which a combination of vegetables, healthy herbs and beautiful flowers predominates, is sure to become the center of attention and admiration for your site. A few photos will prove this.
At the dacha of today, the garden has its own style. You will not surprise anyone with beds with narrow passages that fill the entire area. More and more attention is paid to the design of landings, their zoning, the creation of a single ensemble of the summer cottage.
The design of the garden involves the creation of a beautiful appearance of the entire site, not only at the time of raging greenery, the ripening of bright crops, but in late autumn, when the harvest is harvested.
Therefore, framing the beds plays a rather big role in the design of the landscape. It is not only beautiful, the fences bring practical benefits to the beds.
- The area available for weeds is much smaller, so weeding them will be much less common. By deepening the walls of the fence into the ground, an obstacle will be created for the penetration of wild plants into the cultivated area.
- A bed formed on loose sandy and sandy loamy soils will not crumble, as its edges will noticeably strengthen.
- You won’t get a warm bed without a fence, because only a decorated box can be filled in layers with all the necessary components.
- The sides can be used to strengthen greenhouse arcs.
Creating garden fences
There are many materials for fencing beds:
Wavy or flat slate, which has both positive and negative characteristics. The pluses include the fact that for these purposes, they mainly use old, used material, which means it is absolutely free. The minus lies in the great fragility, based on the fact that it is not new, and in the possibility of releasing substances harmful to humans.
Wood, which is an affordable and environmentally friendly material (bar, board). This way to protect your crops is inexpensive and uncomplicated, but short-lived.
Metal barriers (galvanized steel) are beautiful, easy to install, practical, long-term. However, you will have to spend a decent amount.
Concrete and stone are rarely used for this purpose due to the complexity and high cost of creating a fence.
The border tape will allow you to protect the garden bed of any shape, it is common, so it is easy to buy it, it is long-term in operation, but this pleasure is not cheap.
All sorts of improvised, junk materials.
Having shown ingenuity and imagination, it will not be difficult to make parapets for a garden from the above materials with your own hands.
Types of beds
The decorative garden, first of all, is interesting because there is no clear rule for the geometric arrangement of the beds. Their shapes can be as your imagination drew them for you: round, curved, smoothly passing from one to another, or divided by passages. The effectiveness of such a garden lies in the location of crops between other plants. Thus, an ideal composition is achieved that adorns the garden - vegetable garden. Such accents are juniper, thuja, ornamental cabbage.
A container garden is created from various containers. This type is a mobile option for a garden in a small area. Such beds are convenient in that they can be changed every year. If the container is deep enough, its purpose will be tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, eggplants, zucchini, garden greens will grow well in small boxes or barrels.
The method of lazy beds is quite affordable, convenient and allows you to achieve a decent yield of vegetables. The peculiarity of such beds is the free growth of seedlings (by themselves). The basis of the method is that the beds do not dig or weed, they only prepare for planting crops (and the planting itself). They are prepared in the fall, in the presence of the necessary mulching material, which covers the soil, preventing weeds from germinating. The process of creating lazy beds takes only three steps:
- Determine the height of the sides of the beds, make a box out of the boards and prepare a place for its installation (do not forget about the degree of illumination).
- Firmly install a bed in shallow pits, prepare protective equipment for planting material from rodents (cover the rammed bottom with a fine-mesh metal mesh and a layer of geotextile).
- Cover the box (lazy bed) with soil, strengthen the hoses (drip irrigation system), plant seedlings. You can additionally install arcs. Watering is not necessary often, but plentifully.
Dig up the soil just before planting seedlings or seeds and do not touch it again. Mulch comes to the rescue, which will constantly protect plants from weeds. Just water vegetables and herbs in a timely manner.
High beds will allow you to collect a decent harvest. The frame and frequent watering will protect your seedlings from an unfavorable climate. Such a bed is always well lit by the sun, so seedlings can be planted early. Dividing it in half, cover one part with a film (a kind of). These structures bring an early harvest, starting with salads and ending with vegetables. The attractiveness of this type of beds is undeniable. The only drawback is frequent watering, since moisture does not linger in such a structure for a long time.
The garden on which smart beds will be created will become interesting. They are identical to lazy, but differ in the presence of a sufficient amount of fertilizer. The soil on them is created from compost, which I cover with a thin layer of soil. Plants will be ready for planting only in a month. On beautiful beds, vegetables will ripen a couple of weeks earlier than their counterparts.
One of the important points in the ideality of your garden and a high yield will be a selection of garden tools. It should be comfortable and of good quality. Do not forget to build a place for its storage.
Modern garden - aesthetic design of the site. Hand-made crafts will be especially pleasant. Of course, today specialty stores will present you with an incredible amount of garden decor. But every person in his soul is an artist, striving to give his site uniqueness, originality, beauty. And it is not necessary to buy expensive materials, any waste raw materials will do to fulfill your fantasies:
- special pots for seedlings from plastic bottles;
- a stand for weaving plants from an old bicycle wheel;
- decorative flower bed - a train made of boxes;
- watering bottle from the same plastic bottle;
- all kinds of fairy-tale characters from tires, logs;
- garden scarecrows;
- bird feeders;
- beautiful flowers made using the quilling technique to decorate the site in early spring;
- herbal balls.
Your garden will certainly bring you many pleasant minutes and moments.
Photo ideas for decorating a garden with your own hands
A dacha and a garden, instead of a place of rest, often become a place of exhausting work. Water, weed, loosen, water again, weed, loosen and so on in a circle. At the same time, the harvest is not always happy. The situation can be changed. There is a special technology - a smart garden. The cultivated area decreases several times, the amount of water required for irrigation decreases, and the yield increases. This is not a fairy tale. Many have already switched to smart beds and they are all satisfied with the result.
What is a smart garden or smart beds
A smart garden allows you to get maximum yields with minimal labor costs. How? There are several basic rules and techniques: proper planting planning, rotation of planted plants, special growing technologies (in high beds, trenches), drip irrigation, mulching or covering material. All this has been known for a long time and, for sure, is already used by many. But it is in the complex that all these measures give what is called a “smart garden”. Because on the site everything is done according to the mind.
A smart garden is formed, often raised or high beds, in which the necessary conditions for plant growth are created.
The main task of this technology is to do everything so that working in the country is not a heavy duty. This is possible if you approach the organization of the process wisely. And it’s completely in vain that this technology is called a “garden for the lazy”. At the stage of arrangement, you will have to work hard, but then everything will grow almost by itself, but the first stage requires shock efforts.
It's worth starting with site planning. It is necessary to choose the location of the beds, taking into account the illumination. Then develop a scheme for laying a section of water pipes and lay them. At the same time, you can engage in the device beds. Roughly in that order. All this takes time, considerable effort and money. Material costs may not be too large.
We are planning a garden
If you already have a dacha or a plot of land near the house, you have probably already encountered a situation of an overabundance of fruits, vegetables and berries. When the harvest has to be distributed to relatives, neighbors, colleagues. But in order to grow it, it took a lot of effort. To avoid such a situation, it is necessary to plan the harvest. Of course, you will not get great accuracy, but results close to the planned ones are possible.
A smart garden is also a decoration of the site
We consider the area of \u200b\u200bthe beds
The first thing to do is to sit down and think about what and how much you want to grow. The specific quantity is in kilograms. How much do you need to "eat" and "close". Write a list of plants (in a column) and the desired crop.
Having decided on the list of plants that you want to grow at home, we sit down and look at the average yield that can be achieved when growing on smart beds. It is given in the table. Since you are still an inexperienced "lazy gardener", reduce it by half. Next to each of the plants put down the numbers. It must be recorded in kilograms per square meter of area.
Now it is easy to calculate how much area you need to allocate for each type of plant: we divide the desired yield in kilograms by the average yield for each type of plant. We get the footage of the area for vegetables, berries, herbs, etc. If you add up all these areas, we will find out how many beds you need in total. These are the beds that should be placed on your site.
You're probably surprised at how little space you need for your garden beds. And really little. Much less than what we are used to! In processing, you will have very little land. The vacated place can be taken under, rockeries, and other decorations.
Where to locate
When planning smart beds, you need to take into account the degree of illumination. Almost all the plants you need prefer sunny places. In partial shade, you can grow rhubarb, sorrel, onions (including feathers). Perhaps everything. There are no garden plants that would grow well in shady places. Rather, they will grow, but the yield will decrease by 3-4 times. Shady areas should be taken under a recreation area or a flower bed with shade-loving plants should be placed there.
Another principle for placing beds: the more care (read watering) a culture requires, the closer to the entrance to the house it should be located:
Why arrange the plants this way? Because at the beginning of the watering / weeding work, gardeners are full of enthusiasm and the plants receive more water, weeds are more carefully removed. Gradually, the ardor subsides, less and less water gets to the square of the area, the processing becomes less thorough. And with the approach proposed above, the amount of water will be “just right” and everything will be in order with the cultivation of the soil.
Orientation to the cardinal points and precise positioning
If you want to get a crop from the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe lazy garden, the location is north-south. Strictly. Only in this way will the entire area bear fruit. Also arrange trellises for climbing vegetables. Although, they can be planted along the southern and eastern walls of buildings.
In order for a smart garden to be also beautiful, you need to think about where to put the beds. To do this, we take a plan of the site on a scale indicating the direction to the north / south. On it we draw all the buildings and capital paths, water supply (we pay special attention to the position of the taps), trees and shrubs. On the plan, we immediately outline the shadow zones - we will not place vegetables here, this is a place for flowers, fountains.
We cut out beds from paper (on the same scale as the site plan). Moreover, we make them of the shape that we plan: a rectangle, a square, a circle, a triangle, etc. The form is selected based on the area planned for the culture. And it doesn't have to be a boring rectangle. Since there will be enough free space (you remember that you need much less beds), then rationalism fades into the background, and we focus on aesthetics. After all, few people work in the country "so that there is something to eat", basically it is also a pleasure. And what could be more pleasant than the beauty of a cultivated area?
So, we sign each piece of paper denoting a smart garden bed - we put the name of the culture or crops (you can grow two or three or more on one bed). Now we are looking for a place for each, taking into account the rules described above. Along the way, you can change the shape of smart beds: for the sake of beauty or convenience. When you have found places, outline the contours, transfer the inscriptions. It remains only to implement the plan.
Irrigation system
A significant part of the work in the garden is watering the plants. If you use lazy beds, you will need to water much less frequently. But even in this case, it is better to do the piping in the area correctly. You already have a plan for the location of beds in your garden. Now add flower beds, bushes and trees there. Get a planting plan for the plants to be watered. Now you should think about how, so that there is no more than 2-3 meters to any "irrigation object". If you do this, then you will have to pull a small hose to each bed, which is much easier.
Homemade drip irrigation system made of polymer pipes, water source - barrel
Even better, if a hose for drip irrigation is laid in the smart garden. This will reduce water consumption and increase yields. Yes, at the same time. A drip irrigation hose is a polyethylene tube with small holes through which water oozes drop by drop. When planting, plants are planted next to the holes. As a result, water is supplied under the root, the plant receives a sufficient amount of moisture, and the gaps between plants remain only slightly moistened (due to the redistribution of moisture in the soil).
When using drip irrigation, you will have very little work. Open the faucet, wait a certain period of time, close the faucet. All. Hoses for drip irrigation are available for connection to the water supply (sold per meter), there are kits with a small pump that will pump water from the tank. The range of prices for hoses for drip irrigation is solid - prices differ significantly. No matter how limited your finances are, do not take the cheapest hoses - they will last no more than one season. It is better to pay a little more for a quality product and use it for several years. When choosing kits for drip irrigation, you also need to look at the irrigated area. But, most likely, it will suit you, since lazy beds are rarely large. Read more about drip irrigation kits and manufacturers.
How to make smart/lazy beds
The principle of building smart / lazy beds is that you need to create ideal conditions for the development of plants and ease of processing for yourself. What do plants need? Nutrients, enough light, air, moisture and the absence of a large number of weeds.
oxygen and nutrients
We provided them with a sufficient amount of sun by arranging the beds from north to south. The next task is nutrients and air to the roots. All this is laid when forming the beds. Depending on the type of soil, we select the components that are missing in the "source material". In Central Russia, the main soils are clay and loam, so humus of varying degrees of “maturity” is usually added (a year, two and three). This is for fertilizing, and for lightening the soil - for better oxygen access to the roots. Together with humus, bacteria and worms enter, which continue to process, enriching the soil and loosening it instead of you.
The yield per square meter will be hoo what ...
If necessary, you can make other fertilizers - in the wells when planting or when watering. Depends on crops or richness/poority of source soils. The most common natural fertilizers are chicken manure and cow manure, ashes. When making only cow dung, you will be annoyed by bears. If you add a little chicken manure, there will be no bear, and the composition of the soil will become richer.
Moisture retention and weed control
Moisture will be partially delivered by rain and dew, and partially will have to be added by irrigation. And so that less water is required, the entire space of the garden bed is not filled with plants, we fill it with mulch. Mulch, by the way, also reduces the number of weeds - there is not enough light for them under it.
Straw, cut grass, sawdust, fallen needles, special mulch made from wood chips can be used as mulch. All this can be used to mulch lazy beds. But all materials are imperfect. Here are their advantages and disadvantages:
There is another good way out: cover smart / lazy beds with a special black covering material. They completely cover the surface of the beds, sometimes in two layers. Small holes are made under the plants. Watering is carried out directly on the material - it does not retain water and air, does not allow weeds to grow, and protects the soil from overheating. In general, everything is good, except that you have to buy it.
How to make them
We figured out the general principles of creating a smart garden, now we will specifically understand how to make beds. You can’t walk on them, so they definitely need to be fenced - with stones, slate, iron, logs sawn in half, boards ... It doesn’t matter what, but the beds must be separated from the paths. And since you can’t step on the beds, their width should be such that you can freely cultivate the soil.
Now about the width of smart beds. It depends on the type: they will be of normal height or raised. If the beds are made at ground level, their width is 80-100 cm. Squatting or bending over, you can process this width. If the beds are raised at least half a meter, it will be even more convenient to work. They do not only high beds. All possible growing technologies can be used:
Now about whether the usual height of the beds is better or raised. For a really lazy garden, raised ones are better: when cultivating the soil, you will have to strain less. But it's hard work and slow. So for starters, you can get high beds only for the most difficult crops to care for. And you can also use various containers / containers - for greens, salads, spicy plants. Suitable sawn along large barrels, boxes. On sale there are plastic containers that are produced specifically for the smart garden. They can generally be placed on the paths, near the entrance to the house.
The only crop under which you should not make raised beds is potatoes. It grows well in trenches, and making them is much easier and faster.
Between beds
The beds in the smart garden are separated, the distance between them is not less than 60 cm (90-100 cm or more is better). A solid distance that needs to be filled with something. Weeding between beds is not the best idea. Why then bother with separate beds in order to fight the weeds between them ... Therefore, you can either lay out / pave or sow with lawn grass. The best grass for our lawn is bluegrass and bluegrass. They grow quickly, form dense greenery that is not trampled down and even tolerates work with a cart.
The grass will need to be cut, so you will need a lawn mower or trimmer. And the cut grass can be used for mulch. Then, by the way, weeds will come out - they do not withstand frequent haircuts.
Some tricks
The technology is called the smart garden for a reason. You can test different approaches, novelties, experience of "colleagues". There are a few tricks that come along with the operation. We have already talked about one - about the covering material. It really simplifies care and mulch is not needed. There are other interesting ideas:
Surely there are more tricks in the processing of a smart garden. If we find out about them, we will definitely update the article.