Every gardener knows how tedious it can be to build beds on his site, since giving the beds the required size and shape, preparing the ground and finishing the beds are very labor-intensive steps. One of the favorite types of beds for those who like to "dig" in the ground are high beds made of slate. And we will talk about how to build them in our article.
Advantages and disadvantages of slate beds
Garden lovers try to organize their possessions in such a way as to minimize the labor costs for their construction, while saving valuable seasonal time and their money.
This is where slate shows its best qualities:
- Firstly, this material is very durable, since it is not subject to decay upon contact with organic matter.
- Secondly, slate for beds is also suitable from an aesthetic point of view, as it looks quite attractive on them.
- Thirdly, the material is easy to use.
If we talk about the shortcomings of slate as a material for beds, then some sources insist on the not entirely favorable effect of asbestos cement on soil quality.
It is not entirely clear how harmful such a neighborhood is. However, many gardeners note the fact that slate sheets, due to digging in to a considerable depth, protect the crop from bears.
In addition, the disadvantage can be attributed to the fact that from the heating in the sun of the outer part of the slate (as well as on slate roof) also heats up its inner part, which leads to accelerated evaporation of moisture from the soil.
In other words, when using slate beds, more frequent watering will be required.
Slate for beds can be used in both classic wavy and flat shapes.
Construction of beds from wavy and flat sheets of slate
It is very easy to build beds from wavy slate sheets:
- With the help of a grinder, pieces of slate of the required sizes are cut across the waves.
- Dig a shallow trench around the perimeter of the proposed bed.
- Cut plates are installed in the trench.
- Sprinkle the slate with soil on each side and tamp it down for greater stability. If necessary, the sheets are reinforced on both sides with metal pegs.
A good option when arranging a garden can be a flat slate for beds.It is laid out as follows:
- Flat slate sheet for do-it-yourself slate roofs in length is usually 1.75 m. At the same time, in order to avoid the appearance of waste in work, it is better to divide them in half or into parts of 1 and 0.75 m. Accordingly, your future beds will be of this width.
- To avoid "spreading" of the beds, the sheets of slate must be fastened together. To do this, use scrap metal corner.
- The corners are cut to size, holes for bolts are drilled in them, they are painted to protect against corrosion.
The flat slate beds laid in this way will be raised above the ground by about 10 cm, and this will significantly improve the heating of the earth in the garden, while the slate, deepened by 15-20 cm into the ground, will become a real protection against the penetration of roots into the beds.
It is possible to fasten slate sheets to each other by other methods. For example, using an aluminum corner attached to the slate with self-tapping screws.
And in order to avoid scratching your hands on the ends of the screws sticking out of the corner, you can screw ordinary plastic bottle caps on them.
Advice! To avoid damage to the slate, it should not be driven into the ground, but a trench should be prepared first. . Otherwise, the pebbles encountered in the path of the sheet can destroy it.
How to make beautiful garden beds
In order for the beds to become an ornament to your garden, you must follow a number of simple rules. The components of a beautiful garden bed are its shape, size and color, which are selected at the discretion of the owner.
Rules for arranging beautiful high beds:
- They are arranged in an east-west direction.
- The width of the beds is arranged up to 160 cm, and the height - up to 70 cm.
- The beds also need fencing.They are reinforced with slate walls, pre-painted in some beautiful bright color, deepened into the ground by about 40 cm.
- The space between the completed beds is sown with a lawn.
Next, compost is laid at the bottom of the bed, and then a layer of soil.
It is necessary to take care of such beds in the same way as for ordinary ones.
Such a bed or even a flower bed made of slate is used for growing annual plants and flowers, since the soil in it freezes as well in winter as it warms up in warm weather.
High bed device
Usually, high beds in the garden are made quite long - up to 10-11 m, while their width and height reach 1.3 and 0.7-0.8 m, respectively.
When arranging supports for the walls of a high bed, a recess is made up to 40-50 cm.
Various types of materials can be used as walls, however, wavy slate is still considered more aesthetic, more durable and more affordable.
Before digging a trench, mark the future beds so that it has the shape of a regular rectangle. Moreover, the beds can be made in other forms, depending on the shape and size of the site.
The most fertile top layer of soil is poured into a separate pile for the purpose of its further use in the formation of the top layer of the bed.
At the end of the digging of the trench, a corrugated slate is installed in a vertical position with the overlap of the next sheet on one wave. The trench is covered with earth and, after tamping, metal stakes are driven in on both sides of the sheets to strengthen the walls.
After the construction of the walls, a phased laying of organic filler into the bed begins: first with brushwood, wood chocks and compost, and then with black soil.
As each subsequent layer is laid, the previous one is lightly tamped and watered.
When the soil level in the bed reaches 30-40 cm above the main ground level, holes are made in the opposite slate walls through which steel wire is passed for screeding.
Advice! The twist is pulled until the wire is pulled into a string. However, do not overdo it, as you can break the slate.
The beds made by the above methods will be able to provide a higher soil temperature (by about 2-4 degrees) in comparison with the horizontal layers of ordinary beds.
Through this, the processes of decay in the soil of organic substances will be accelerated, and substances useful for plants will appear more actively in it. All this will certainly positively affect the activity of plant growth in the beds and increase the yield of vegetables.
And before you make this kind of beds, think about whether the future harvest on these beds will pay off the money and effort spent on their construction.
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