DIY beds in the country: examples of simple and beautiful beds. High beds How to fill high beds

Borders for beds are a practical and necessary fencing around them. The main purpose of artificial walls around the beds is to increase the height of the fertile layer, which can be easily created by frequent mulching with compost soil after watering. Over time, the fence for the vegetable growing area has become an element of landscape design. In an ornamental garden, borders play the role of separators and borders of territories on which cultivated plants grow.

The fence for beds will demonstrate practical benefits already in the first season.

From an aesthetic point of view, the places for planting seeds and seedlings of vegetable crops will look more well-groomed, noticeable, and expressive. They do not need to be periodically put in order, to deal with water leaks during irrigation, to maintain a horizontal plane on the slopes.

From a practical point of view, there are also many benefits:

fenced areas for vegetables will have significantly fewer weeds than uncultivated areas;
less physical effort will be required for manual weeding, digging, mulching, top dressing and other work;
it is more convenient to cover such structures with a film; on high fences it is easier to fix arcs for a greenhouse in order to plant seedlings of vegetables and flowers in it;
it is easier to make natural heating, by creating a layered bed with biofuel, for growing cucumbers, peppers and other warm-loving vegetable plants.

Fenced areas for vegetables will have significantly fewer weeds than uncultivated areas

How to make a garden fence with your own hands

There are certain requirements for the walls:

they should be low (height 10-30 cm) so as not to obscure vegetable plants at the beginning of growth;
neat - emphasizing the straightness or irregular, but attractive shape of the beds;
dense - not allowing the fertile layer to spill out onto the path or spread water outside the border of the zone for growing plants during irrigation;
beautiful to fit into the overall structure of the improvement of the suburban area.

Fencing places for growing vegetables can make the garden not only cozy, comfortable, well-groomed, but also original, maybe even unique.

Boxes from them with a thick fertile layer do not need to be dug up, so soil care in them is the easiest - loosening with a hoe before planting seeds or seedlings.

On flower beds and flower beds, borders made of living plants of the same species (rosemary, calendula, boxwood, hyssop and other undersized perennial flowers planted tightly in 2-3 rows) look spectacular, pretty, stylish. Fences for territories with vegetables are also built from artificial and improvised materials - bricks, boards or wooden beams, stones, sheet metal, plastic, sawn slate and other construction waste. They can always be collected in the right amount in the nearby ownerless territories or bought cheaply in stores. Many summer residents, when asked how to protect the beds in the country inexpensively, unequivocally answer - with material from construction waste, cobblestones, a low picket fence and other items that can be found in construction dumps, on river banks and in other places.

Borders for beds made of wood - it's simple, familiar, natural. Simply - because any . They are easily fastened with nails, screws, glue. The pieces of wood are easy to assemble and also easy to disassemble for transfer to a new place.

Habitual - because there are a lot of wooden buildings around us.

Borders for beds made of wood - it's simple, familiar, natural.

Naturally - because trees grow everywhere.

The fence looks original for beds made of stumps, the same thickness of low logs or low wattle. Most often, wooden border material for beds is a cut and unedged board, which forms a capacious box without a bottom, where all the necessary raw materials are poured.

You can make a box from separate shields, which are knocked down from a slab, a picket fence, an old floor rail, lining, and other types of lumber.

Shields are attached to each other and fixed with stakes hammered from the outside. This design is easy to disassemble and assemble in a new place.
Wooden objects can be treated with protective impregnations from decay and insects, which will increase its service life at times.

Until recently, it was believed that wood is short-lived, and therefore impractical. But now wooden objects can be treated with protective impregnations from decay and insects, which will increase its service life at times.

A good option is considered to be metal walls for boxes from worn-out sieves of a sieve box of combine harvesters. Lightweight, strong, durable with many small holes for ventilation, they are easily cut with metal scissors to the desired size. Craftsmen who have a welding machine can easily weld a metal frame from scrap metal for a plant growing zone from pieces of sheet iron of the required thickness.

Now in construction stores they sell a special multi-layer galvanized steel profiled sheet, with a polymer coating. Its height is 17 centimeters, and the length is different. It is convenient to make roomy boxes from it. Although its price is not cheap, but given the durability, it is worth buying. From it, walls for territories with vegetables will last a long time.

Metal fencing is easy to install.

Metal fencing is easy to install. Places for planting seeds and seedlings of vegetable plants, framed by them, look neat, beautiful (you can choose a profiled sheet of different colors), practical. But iron has a serious drawback - it is a good thermal conductivity. The soil near the iron railings can reach a critical temperature that will inhibit crop plants and dry out the soil. This disadvantage is easy to deal with using any improvised means that have low thermal conductivity. It is possible to overlay metal fences from the inside with cardboard, pieces of slate, stones.

A plastic fence for planting seeds and seedlings of vegetable crops has a number of advantages. It will be light, durable, frost-resistant, not afraid of sunlight, shock loads. You can buy curb tape in the store, which has the optimal balance of rigidity, flexibility, high plasticity, due to which it can be bent at any angle. It is simply installed with your own hands, well supports the geometry of beds, flower beds, lawns. For stability, it is fixed with pegs driven in from both sides.

A plastic fence for planting seeds and seedlings of vegetable crops has a number of advantages.

DIY plastic bottle beds

Plastic bottles are a widely used material at hand. If desired, they can easily be dialed in sufficient quantities. The bottles are filled with any bulk material: earth, sand, small gravel, and then they are simply placed close in one or several rows, into a trench dug around the perimeter of the bed, with the neck down. From plastic bottles, you can make a major fence for a place with cultivated plants, if they are laid horizontally on a cement mortar. If you put plastic bottles on the beds with their bottoms out, then the border will have an original multi-colored look. With the help of a rich imagination, you can realize more

Owners who have just completed the construction of a brick house will be able to make stationary fences for vegetable planting sites with their own hands from the remains of a brick. The beds and flower beds framed by this building material will look like a single ensemble with a residential building. The brick can be dug in in different ways: on the edge at an angle; on edge in a row; the first row is flat, and on top of the solution a row on the edge. A decorative brick border largely depends on the imagination of the owners of the summer cottage.

A decorative brick border largely depends on the imagination of the owners of the summer cottage.

Stones in abundance can be collected anywhere: on the river, on the slopes of hills, in gravel pits. There are many options for making permanent stone curbstones. The easiest and most affordable way is to fill up the space between two mesh metal gratings dug in along the perimeter of the box. Such a fence is called a pergon. In such a stone “bag”, zucchini and tomatoes, cucumbers and beets will feel comfortable. Yes, and other vegetable crops that are grown in the beds will be comfortable inside a natural, environmentally friendly fence.

There are many options for making permanent stone curbstones.

Fences of beds from wave slate

Wave slate, like roofing for roofs, has already gone out of fashion. It is everywhere replaced with a professional sheet, different types of tiles, soft roofing. But sheets of wave slate have become very popular with summer residents, who build durable, convenient, almost free fences and fences for growing vegetable plants from pieces. And if you decide: how to fence the beds in the country house cheaply, then, perhaps, the material cannot be found cheaper than the old wave slate. But first, the slate needs to be prepared for installation as a fence. Each sheet is marked into pieces of the desired size and sawn with a grinder. This work will not take long. The process of fencing beds consists of the following steps:

Marking the boundaries of future beds with strong twine and stakes that are driven into the corners. A trench 20-25 cm deep is made along the stretched cord (on the bayonet of a shovel).
Pieces of sawn slate of the same width are installed in the trench, leveled and slightly buried in the bottom of the trench with a light tap of a hammer.
For the stability of the slate fence, stakes 0.5 m long are driven in from the outside, to a depth of 30 cm. A capacious box is obtained.
For disinfection, the inside of the box is treated with slaked lime.
The bottom of the box is lined with sawdust, dry grass and leaves. Then it is abundantly watered with water and fertile soil is poured on top.
Next, you need to think about protecting the slate from direct sunlight, as it gets very hot in the sun and contributes to the accelerated evaporation of moisture. If possible, slate walls should be watered more often. The buried part of the slate will become an insurmountable barrier against the attack of the bear.

It is not difficult to build multi-tiered flower beds and beds from wave slate, on the tiers of which you can grow flowers, strawberries and other plants. And you can fence off a small plot of the garden, where you can prepare compost from weeds and tops from vegetable crops.

The general procedure for constructing a border for beds from any material

The height of the fence depends on the purpose of the beds, as well as on the convenience of caring for plants:

for fertile garden land - 15 cm;
for infertile soil - up to 30 cm;
for potatoes and other solanaceous - up to 40 cm;
for bioheated compost - up to 50 cm.

The sequence of actions in the manufacture of a border from improvised means;

We clear a place for a zone for growing vegetables. We mark its borders with the help of a cord and pegs, focusing on even sides and right angles.
We build a strong, rigid box from boards or other material. To fasten them together, we use self-tapping screws and a screwdriver, welding or a trowel.
We line the bottom of the fenced area with rubble, gravel, pieces of dishes, stones, bricks for drainage. Then lay out an even layer of leaves, hay, fresh grass.
We fill the prepared fertile soil into the box, level it. It should not contain weeds. From the top edge of the curb to the leveled layer of the earth should be 3-5 cm.
We plant seeds or seedlings of vegetable plants. Mulch with crushed bark of deciduous trees. The goal is to create an optimal microclimate and retain moisture.
If the box surrounds the lawn, then it is advisable to strengthen its bottom with a liquid blind area of water, cement and sand. The layer is small - up to 3 cm. For strength and beauty, bricks can be laid on the hardened blind area with a gap of 1-2 cm. Pour a dry sand-cement mixture into the gaps between the bricks.

Many summer residents are categorically against the use of those materials for the fence of beds, which are many in cities and towns: metal, concrete, brick. It is necessary to make borders from natural flowers, grass, stones and wood. It’s hard to disagree with this, but you shouldn’t forget about practicality either. The main thing is to be useful, not harmful, contribute to high yields and please the eye! Let's also not forget about the durability of the borders and the convenience of caring for plants.

In the field of modern landscape design and landscaping of personal plots, high beds or bulk flower beds are very popular. They are fenced areas of different heights and sizes, filled with soil. In such beds, you can successfully grow vegetables, ornamental trees, flowers and shrubs. In addition, high beds have an attractive and neat appearance.

Advantages and disadvantages of high beds

In comparison with ordinary beds, high ones have a number of undeniable advantages:

you can use any soil, even purchased with all the components useful for plants;
you can independently make the correct drainage;
in the presence of purchased soil, it is possible to avoid the appearance of weeds and plant diseases in the future;
on a high bed it is more convenient to carry out weeding and fertilizing plants, as well as harvesting;
a high bed can be insulated. This will allow you to get a good harvest even in cold climatic zones;
a mobile bed can be arranged anywhere on the site;
a high decorative flower bed can be arranged near the house as a decoration;
high efficiency of insulated high beds. You can grow more vegetables in a small garden than in a vegetable garden;
in high beds, the soil is always loose, which has a positive effect on the vital activity of plants;
high beds can be fenced with cheap and expensive materials.

Flaws:

fast drying. Such beds must be watered frequently with water at room temperature;
plants in high beds need additional feeding with mineral fertilizers;
immature compost is biologically active, so the seeds may not take root in it. For this, it is better to plant seedlings in it;
Medvedka likes to live in high beds. Therefore, during the construction of the beds, it is necessary to take the necessary measures to protect against pests.

Raised bed sizes

Bed height

If you have good quality soil in your backyard, you can limit yourself to a 15-centimeter height to create a bed on the ground. If you plan to construct a bulk bed without contact with the ground, then the height will have to be made up to 30 centimeters. And for planting potatoes - a little higher.

Warm beds should be built 50 centimeters high. It can be higher, as you need enough space for compost insulation.

Everyone can determine the height of the beds independently. The main thing is to be comfortable, and with a large width it is necessary that the height allows you to reach the middle of the bed.

The length and width of the beds

When arranging the beds, their length does not matter. The main thing is to allow the size of the greenhouse or other area where the garden will be located. The only condition is the additional strengthening of the wooden sides of the beds.

The most optimal bed width is from 90 cm to 1.2 m. With these parameters, it will be convenient to get to all corners of the bed to take care of the plants.

Growing crops such as corn and sunflower in high beds is not recommended by agricultural experts due to the fact that it will be inconvenient to harvest.

High beds. The design of beds of this type does not require special skills and craftsmanship, it is enough just to determine the most sunlit place for their location.

If you plan to make a bed on the ground, then you need to apply additional measures:

line the bottom of the future beds with a special mesh to protect against rodents;
to avoid weeds, line the bottom of the bed with polyethylene or newspaper.

Materials for high beds

Wooden boards. This is the most budget option, but short-lived. Under the constant influence of moisture, the tree is prone to rotting. If you treat a tree with a special coating, then its environmental properties will disappear.
Tree branches. In this case, the sides are woven manually from branches. It is quite attractive in appearance, but the option is short-lived.
Masonry. A high bed of stone looks beautiful and spectacular. But this is an expensive pleasure, especially when you have to make long beds.
Brick sidewalls require additional building skills in order to properly complete the masonry. In addition, the option is not cheap.
Plastic raised beds are durable and do not require special care. But you need to choose eco-friendly plastic if you plan to plant vegetables.

A high bed can be built from absolutely different materials, the main thing is that they are resistant to moisture and pressure. It should be noted that beds for planting vegetables are best made from natural materials. And for decorative beds, you can use materials treated with chemical coatings. It is quite possible to build high beds with your own hands. Before starting work, design the size of the future beds and its location. The size and shape of the beds can be different, the main condition is the convenience when caring for plants. The optimal size of a high bed is its width of about 90 centimeters. The length is arbitrary.

How high beds should look can be seen in the photo:

Stages of construction of high beds

To independently build high beds, you must adhere to the following rules:

High beds according to the Lyadov method are made in the form of a box of dense wood bars. First, choose a place for the location of the future beds. Preferably under the sun.
Lay logs on the ground. If the height of the logs allows, then deepen them into the ground for greater stability.
Determine the width of the beds in the amount of 60 to 140 centimeters. The length can be any.
In the places where the boxes of logs are fastened, connect them with screws. The side walls are best made from boards, which are then attached to long logs.
Line the bottom of the wooden box with newspapers or polyethylene. Pour a small layer of sand on top so that the sand covers the bottom.
On the sand, as a future bed insulation, lay out branches and grass (without seeds) to ensure humus.
Fall asleep all this with a 10-centimeter layer of fertile soil.
The bed according to the method of Igor Lyadov is ready. Its sides can be painted.

High garden bed

Such beds are characterized by high yields. They can be designed both in the greenhouse and separately.

Construction stages:

Using the building level, determine the exact height of the wooden sides of the future beds. For structural strength, choose a thick tree and dig it into the ground.
Knock the boards together. Impregnate the wooden frame with a special agent that prevents the destruction of the tree.
Install a metal arch mount above the bed. The distance between the arcs must be at least 75 cm.
Lay a cloth on the bottom of the bed, and fasten it with a stapler on the wooden sides.
Put metal arcs. Experts recommend using polypropylene arcs with a diameter of 20 mm. Insert them into the prepared metal supports.
For strength, fix the upper points of support with an additional arc, which should be located in the center.
Fill in the garden. To do this, pour earth on the fabric with a layer of 10 centimeters. There is a holey cardboard on top, then a layer of grass or hay, as well as part of the sand with mineral fertilizers.
Cover the greenhouse. To do this, stretch and secure the polyethylene on top of the metal frame.

When the seedlings are already in the ground, it is necessary to pour water over it and cover it with a layer of sawdust or a black film. The latter is necessary to avoid drying out and cracking of the soil.

Frequent watering of seedlings in high beds is required. You can water with plastic bottles under the root of the plant, trying to avoid getting water on the leaves of young seedlings.

It is better not to use high beds for tomatoes and cabbage. These plants lack moisture in this type of beds.
Perennial grasses are also not suitable for planting in high beds, as they will freeze.
In order not to loosen the soil of the bed, cover its surface with sawdust, which will regulate the level of moisture and prevent the soil from drying out.

High beds with their own hands. Video

How to arrange beautiful beds for the lazy, high and smart beds - this is what a gardener needs to know who wants to make his life as independent as possible from garden worries. If you wish, you just need to master the way to design lazy beds, which you can see in the following photos. A bed of this type will allow you to enjoy a well-deserved rest in the country and will not require weeding every time. In addition, it is not only convenient, but also increases the productivity of crops.

Everyone knows how much time and effort should be devoted to each planted crop, which, however, sometimes does not even justify the result: seedlings may not germinate or may not eventually yield a normal amount of crop. In this case, you should pay attention to the technology of lazy beds on your site!

Nice and comfortable

The lazy bed is a completely new approach to gardening that will allow seedlings to grow on their own and yield several times more. It is based on the rule that says that it is impossible to dig and weed the earth, except for its preparation and planting itself. Even if constant weeding can remove weeds and fluff up the earth, sooner or later it will dry out and will not be able to provide sufficient moisture for crops.

In this approach, the very preparation for future planting is very important - it is advisable to do this in the fall, when you can collect material for mulching the soil (you need to cover it with straw, sawdust, cones, etc.), which, in turn, will prevent weeds to germinate in an area with such a cover.

Install your own irrigation system. It is not necessary to choose the most expensive systems available in stores. In the case of such vegetable gardens, those from which you only need to press a button are quite suitable - and there will be no need to water with your own hands. Watering will allow you to make beautiful beds: green and lush. Also worth noting: watering can be done infrequently, but plentifully, giving the plants the necessary moisture until your next visit.
A tool for working in the garden is a guarantee of saving time. Therefore, it is worth choosing one inventory and for many years. It can include not only the usual shovel and buckets, but also various little things that will make your work easier. Also find a place for inventory in advance.
At the beginning of the planting season, dig up the ground once, prepare it for future seedlings or seeds. Plant plants and no longer disturb the ground: mulching will do its job and keep weeds out. All that remains for you before the harvest is to water the beds in the country on time.

This is an interesting and effective way that is suitable for both lazy gardeners and experienced, knowledgeable gardeners. A bed of this type will justify the efforts made and can bring a lot of amenities.

High bed as a way to get an intensive harvest

Although this is a very time-consuming process at first - building the frame itself and watering the beds, but it is she who will allow you to forget about the bad climate and low yields.

The high bed is always under the rays of the sun, which contributes to the warming of the earth layer, so it can be planted already in April without fear of freezing, and the lower mesh will prevent the invasion of moles and mice. A not too wide frame (within 150 cm) will allow you to take care of the garden bed on both sides. If you divide it into two strips of 80 cm wide - you can even do it yourself greenhouse by passing the film over both landings. It is worth noting that it is high beds that give the earliest harvest, first of salads, and then of fastidious vegetables. The only problem is more frequent watering, since water does not linger in such soil for a long time.

Despite all the difficulties at the beginning, the landing justifies the efforts invested in it and serves for a long time without bringing much trouble, and the garden bed has a beautiful view.

Digging up a smart bed for fragrant herbs is necessary only once, before planting seedlings. Further, it requires a minimum of attention and care.

A beautiful garden can become a full-fledged part of the overall landscape design of a summer cottage. Let's look at examples of how to make beautiful beds with your own hands of different sizes and shapes.

Beautiful beds - a flower garden with your own hands.

A large garden is not always needed in the country, sometimes there are enough vegetables for summer salads and greens. How to place these beds so that they look organic and appropriate in the garden? Because the site is sunny, it was decided to clear the area under the tree - so the beds received life-giving partial shade in the heat. It was not supposed to dig under the tree, so as not to disturb the root system, so they made small raised beds of wood.

Outside and inside, the tree was treated with lime, agrofibre was placed on the bottom, which will prevent the penetration of weeds. If you know that there are moles in the garden, it is also appropriate to put a piece of chain-link mesh on the bottom.

Because our beds smoothly turn into a flower bed, a smooth transition between the rectangular boxes of the garden into the curvy shape of the flower bed was made using gravel between the rows of beds.

French beds with their own hands.

Beautiful and inexpensive beds can be made with your own hands literally from improvised materials. For these beds we need rods, wire and cardboard. This variant of raised beds is taken from French gardeners who grow herbs in this way near the house.

From the rods we make a small wattle fence - we drive thick pegs into the ground and weave them with thinner rods. We fasten the finished walls together with wire.

Instead of expensive agrofiber for weed protection, let's take cardboard.

We cover the soil at the bottom of the beds with overlapping sheets of cardboard.

Add compost - cut grass.

You can also add hay or rotten leaves.

We need any organic material that will serve as compost for our garden. It can be small branches, needles, organic waste from the kitchen.

Add a layer of soil on top. The question often arises - is it necessary to close the walls of the beds with something so that the soil does not spill out? No, you don't need to do anything extra. Sprinkling the soil, we lightly tamp it down, this is enough.

Despite its fragility, the life of this bed depends mainly on pegs in the ground. Therefore, if you treat the bottom of the pegs with resin or make them lightly fired, the wattle bed will last you several years longer.

How to make fruit beds according to the method of Igor Lyadov.

For those who are more interested in the yield of beds than their aesthetic appearance, we offer another option, which has been tested by many years of practice and has become widely known thanks to the practical experience of Igor Lyadov.

The principle is quite simple: high beds should be narrow (60-100 cm) and long. It is important that the bed is extended along the north-south line - this will provide maximum light and heat to the plants growing on it. First, a box is made of boards, logs, slate or any other material.

Cardboard is placed at the bottom of the box - this partially prevents the growth of weeds.

Then the cardboard is covered with a small layer of sand.

Then the bed is filled with organic fertilizers (compost, manure) and covered with earth. The earth can be taken directly from the passages between the beds.

The passages themselves can be improved so that weeds do not grow on them and you do not have to spend time weeding them. It all starts with lining with cardboard or newspapers.

Only now a layer of sawdust 2-3 cm thick is poured onto the newspapers.

Such regular beds last for many years and allow you to grow amazing crops. You just need to regularly replenish them with compost or other organic fertilizers.

Of course, a good harvest in the beds is the most important thing. But if it's important to you that your garden look modern and beautiful, then here are a few ideas for you.

Beautiful beds with your own hands: plants, fences, paths.

Use different combinations of plants in the beds, combining the colors of the leaves and fruits to create interesting compositions.

Garden fences serve not just utilitarian practical purposes, and make it easier for you to further maintain the beds and plant plants; Bed railings divide the garden into zones and create a neat landscape design structure. For fencing, you can use almost any material that you have at hand.

By raising the beds above ground level, you will make it easier for yourself to care for plants and give your garden an attractive look.

Paths between beds are also very important. In order for them to be comfortable and beautiful, do not forget to protect the aisles from weeds. The easiest way is to lay agrofibre on the track substrate.

If you reach a certain level in the design of the garden, then your summer cottage will change beyond recognition, and at first glance it will even be difficult to say whether it is a garden or a flower garden.

Beautiful beds in the country photo

For some of us, it is still not the most inspiring place in the country. And indeed: there is nothing more tiring than the monotonous rows of cabbage, beets and tomatoes, which constantly require weeding, watering, or pest control chemicals. However, we believe that things can be very different! And we invite you to get acquainted with the photo of beautiful gardens in the country.

It may seem to you that arranging beautiful beds requires too much effort and time. Of course, it is simply unthinkable to equip thirty acres in this way with the help of one or two people. But, firstly, not always and not everyone has such a large garden, and secondly, even if you have almost industrial plantings, you can apply these methods to part of the garden.

Modern vegetable gardens are becoming more productive, smaller and easier to handle. The right beds save a lot of time and effort. It is this fact that allows gardeners around the world to equip their beds in the most fantastic way, creating a whole movement of lovers and enthusiasts. After all, the idea of growing your crop with little effort is very tempting, it’s hard to resist!

Moreover, the right beautiful garden is no less useful than its huge and not so beautiful predecessor.

Isn't it amazing how beautiful ordinary beds can be if you get creative with the process? If you like our ideas, then go for it!

Try it, and you will definitely be able to make fruitful beds with your own hands and turn your favorite garden into a place of stunning beauty.

To have an earlier harvest of crops is a natural desire of all owners of suburban areas. The most common way to grow early crops is to build greenhouses. But this option is not suitable for everyone, it is quite expensive to install real greenhouses with artificial heating and microclimate maintenance. And it is difficult to call simple film shelters greenhouses, the effectiveness of their use does not correspond to the lost time.

Professional summer residents have long known about warm beds, but not all of them used them, the inertia of thinking and the fear of new technologies worked. It is a pity that the method is not only original and allows you to speed up the ripening of the crop by two to three weeks. On warm beds, you can grow completely environmentally friendly products, plants do not require additional fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, they have enough organic matter. In addition, strong seedlings are much less sick and affected by pests, as a result, there is almost no need to use various herbicides, pesticides and other toxic chemical protection agents.

How to make warm beds - scheme

There are several options for arranging warm beds: in a trench, with very high and medium-height sides. We will focus on the latter option, according to experienced summer residents, this is the most optimal solution. Why - we will tell at the end of the article.

As for the dimensions in length and width, here it is necessary to take into account the features of the site and the number of beds. The main condition is that they should be comfortable to work with. Therefore, you should not make them wider than a meter, there are no restrictions on the length.

No need to make a large number of warm beds. Firstly, after a certain time they will have to be transferred, and this will require free space. Secondly, for a large number of warm beds it is difficult to find organic matter. Nowadays, manure is almost an exotic fertilizer even in the countryside. By the way, horse manure gives off the most heat, but it is a great success even for professionals to buy it. Thirdly, in such beds it is advisable to grow only early ripe heat-loving vegetables, all the rest grow well under ordinary conditions.

How to make a box?

Step 1. Prepare materials. For the manufacture of the box, you can use any waste lumber, from unedged boards to scraps of plywood or OSB. Who has an old asbestos slate in the country - and it will do. But we recommend making boxes from edged coniferous boards of the second grade, and in terms of price, quality, and duration of use, they meet the requirements.

In order to increase the service life, it is recommended to impregnate the boards with antiseptics. If there is no desire to contact them, then it is enough to paint with oil paints or proliferate. And this is a problem - soak dry boards several times with ordinary vegetable oil, pay special attention to the ends.

As hardware, you can use ordinary smooth nails or self-tapping screws, there is no difference. Great forces do not act on the structure, the nails will fully withstand them. To assemble the boards into a single structure and fix the box on the ground, you can use wooden blocks, a square pipe or metal bars. We advise using wooden blocks, they are the easiest to work with and such material can always be found in the country. There are no ready-made bars - saw with a saw or split with an ax a few scraps of boards. Appearance does not matter, the elements are installed inside the box and covered with earth.

Step 2 Cutting blanks. If the length of the boards is sufficient for the manufacture of side and end shields - excellent. It is only necessary to align the ends under the square and you can proceed with the assembly. The standard length of the boards is 6 m, this is enough to make two boards one meter long for the end shields and 4 m for the side panels will remain. If the boards are too short, then you will have to dock them. Align the blanks along the length and fix on the reverse side with a vertical stand. It can be made 20–25 cm longer and the end pointed. Such a stand will simultaneously serve as an emphasis in the ground. The height of the box is approximately 40 cm, specific values \u200b\u200bdepend on the width of the lumber. There is no need to do any additional height adjustments, this is extra work.

Step 3 Shield assembly. After the boards are cut to size, you can start assembling the shields. For fixing in the corners, slats 50 × 50 mm or ordinary boards are used, each element is fixed with nails or self-tapping screws. Make sure that thin slats do not crack, drive in hardware at an angle to the fibers and annual rings.

If you plan to make several identical boxes for warm beds, then we recommend making a template and using it to collect all the shields. This will greatly speed up the work, all elements will have the same size. Do not forget that the slats should be 20–25 cm longer than the total height of the box. Sharpen the ends of the rails with a hatchet or make two oblique cuts with a saw.

An example of the assembly of shields - photo

Step 4. Assembly of the box on the site. Mark the exact location of the warm beds on the site, while taking into account the maximum number of factors: from placement on the cardinal points to ease of watering. In place of the beds in the corners, drive in small temporary pegs, they will then be removed. If the ground has a large slope, you can level it a little.

Install the long side shield in place, do not drive the pegs into the ground completely - situations may arise when you have to move it a little. Then there are two options for fixing the side shields, choose the easiest for yourself.

To a long shield at a right angle, fix the end short, and then to it the second long one. Check the corners, do not rush to immediately connect with maximum strength.
Install two long shields on the marked places, and then two end shields in turn.

If the beds are very long, then you need to make several supports to prevent the shields from bursting. To ensure stability, it is recommended to additionally tighten the top with wire. After all the shields are exposed, hammer the pegs to the end and securely fasten the structure with nails or self-tapping screws.

This completes the construction work, you can start filling the box.

How to fill warm beds

Not only manure, grass, straw or fallen leaves are suitable for organic fertilizers. Food waste is an excellent source of nutrition. They can be collected in a hotel container, and then poured into the garden or do it right away. It all depends on the desire and time of residence in the countryside. The thickness of the organic layer must be at least half the height of the box.

If there is humus or compost - excellent, they managed to get horse manure - even better. Carefully spread bird droppings. Firstly, it is a very concentrated fertilizer and, at high doses, can significantly damage plants. Secondly, it does not generate heat.

The first layer is drainage
Second layer - cut grass or compost

The top earth should be as fertile as possible, cover it with an even layer. After backfilling, you need to moisten the bed with plenty of water, in this way natural shrinkage will accelerate. If there is free space in the box after planting, add more land. The more unrotted organic matter, the higher the temperature of the bed. In addition, ammonia is released during decay - a very useful fertilizer for all plants without exception.

How to additionally insulate the beds

We advise you to do this, it will take a little time, and the effect will be very noticeable. For additional insulation, build a small greenhouse above them. Bend the arcs from wire rod Ø 6–8 m, the height of the greenhouse depends on the plants, but in most cases 40–50 cm is enough. The length of each rod is approximately 2.5 meters. There are two ways to bend the arcs of wire rod yourself.

On any flat surface, draw a semicircle. The diameter should be 4-5 cm less than the width of the warm beds - the wire rod is slightly springy and increases in size after the load is removed. Drive in nails along the line after 4-5 centimeters or screw in screws, they will serve as a stop during bending. Find the center of the bar, set it in the center of the arc and start bending first the first and then the second side. Be sure to check the first bent arc directly on the box, correct if necessary. All other elements should be made according to this template.
Find a suitable round object in the country, a metal two-hundred-liter barrel is perfect. Bend the wire rod along it, after trying on, adjust the dimensions a little. Doing so is faster and easier.

Do not be upset if the arcs are not perfectly round, this does not affect the yield of the beds. The main thing is that they are the same, a spread of several centimeters does not play a role.

Important. The ends of the wire rod should be parallel, the distance between them is equal to the width of the beds. These parameters are adjusted after fitting on the box.

The number of arcs depends on the length of the beds. We advise you to make more of them, install them after about 50–60 cm. As the distances increase, the risks increase that the film will sag and break under water pressure, and this is a very undesirable situation. First, nail vertical boards to the short shields of the box at the same height, fix the arcs with nails to them and the side long shields. To do this, you can make special staples yourself: bend the upper end of the nail in a semicircle with pliers and drive it into the board.

First, place two opposite elements, pull a rope between them and fix all the other arcs at the same distance from each other along it. To make the plastic film more stable, we recommend stretching a strong rope at the top of the arcs and on the sides or tying wooden slats with thin wire.

We have already talked about the advantages of warm beds, it's time to talk about the disadvantages, but, unfortunately, they exist.

First drawback. Warm beds will have to be watered much more often. The fact is that in the structure of the soil there are capillaries that supply water upward from a depth of 40–50 centimeters. A thick ball of manure or plant waste breaks the capillaries, with their help water can no longer flow into the upper layers, you only need to rely on frequent natural precipitation or watering. Conclusion - it is necessary to think over irrigation methods in advance, prepare equipment, and resolve issues with water.

Second drawback. The compost layer will sag for a long time in the process of decay. Young thin roots of plants do not have time to increase in length at such a pace and break off or are injured. This negatively affects crop yields. Conclusion - warm beds are best done in the fall, during the winter the soil will have time to shrink, the plants are not so injured in the spring during active growth.

There is another way to reduce the negative phenomenon of compost shrinkage - the top layer of the earth should be at least 25-30 cm thick, this depth is enough for the normal development of the root system of most plants. But in this case, you will have to increase the height of the boxes.

Third drawback. In winter, all rodents are looking for favorable places for wintering, warm beds suit them in all respects. In the future, rodents will damage the root system of plants. Conclusion - it is highly desirable to put a metal mesh on the bottom, it will become an effective obstacle for rodents.

Fourth drawback. Warm beds can be kept in the same place for no more than two years, depending on the design. During this time, the organic matter will completely overheat and the positive effect of heating will become zero. Conclusion - during the manufacture of boxes, it should be possible to dismantle the structure and transfer it to a new location. Dismantling must be done in the most gentle way, all elements must be reusable without prior repair.

You can find advice to heat the earth not to use compost, but to use electrical energy or heating pipes. We consider such methods of creating warm beds to be too "exotic", it is not worth wasting time on describing manufacturing technologies.

Video - How to make a box for a warm bed

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