By: Mirela Golec |
Raised beds - the perfect home for your plants |
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Do you want your plants to grow better?
Do you want the plants to provide better air circulation and protect them from the cold and parasites?
Do you have any health problems and find it hard to bend for weeding out the garden?
Here is a solution for you - raised flower beds!
What are raised flower beds
Raised flower beds are raised and fenced areas where you can plant a single or a few species of plants. Flower beds are usually raised 15 -100 cm above ground level. They are open at the surface and at the bottom.
Raised flower beds are a lifeline if you are struggling with infertile soil or if you have health problems. If the flower bed is made right, you can sit on its edge while weeding out or watering your plants.
Construction of elevated flower beds is fun - you can build them in any shape and of any material that best fits into your garden.
Once flower beds are constructed, they are filled with fertile soil mixed with compost and are ready to become a home for your favorite flowers, herbs or vegetables.
Advantages of raised beds:
- earlier planting and earlier harvest
- better drainage
- better air circulation
- plants are protected from the cold
- optimal allocation of nutrients
- simple and easy access to plants
- easier maintenance
-
special microclimate, which hindereds the growth of weeds
How to make raised flower beds made of wood
Step one – choose the location
Consider which plants will be planted in raised flower beds and in what quantities.
Take a good look at your garden and carefully choose a place to build your raised beds. Be sure to pay attention that beds are built in a place that has the most hours of sunshine during the day.
Also make sure you a water access is near, so that you are to able to water the garden without any difficulty, especially during dry periods.
Step two – choose the shape and depth of flower beds
When choosing shape for a raised flower bed, observe its size. Ensure that at all times, from each edge of the flower bed you can access all plants without having to step in to the flower bed.
By trampling the soil you are compressing the soil and thus preventing the air coming into it.
It is very important to leave plenty of space around the flower beds that you can freely walk around it with all the necessary tools.
The optimal size of the flower bed is 4 x 2 meters. Depending on your needs and wishes, you can build larger and deeper beams.
If you are planning to build a flower bed on the edge of a wall or a fence, make it narrower so that you can access every part of the flower bed.
When it comes to depth, it certainly depends on which plants you plan to plant and how deep their roots grow.
The optimum depth of flower beds is 15 - 20 cm, although some plants require bigger depth because of their deep roots.
Depth is also dependent on the quality of the soil. If you have highly fertile soil, 15 cm of depth can be enough for some plants.
If you have soil that is clayey or rocky, and you plan to plant plants that have deep roots, then deeper flower beds are a much better choice.
If you are a gardener who has health problems and find it hard to bend, depth of flower beds can be up to your waist.
Step three - constructing flower beds
Recommended materials for the construction are rough natural wood, natural stone or artificial stone (concrete slabs and bricks).
If you choose a natural wood material, cut planks of wood, make a box in the desired shape and reinforce it.
Planks can be reinforced in various ways - for example, make a simple butt joint at each corner of the frame or stick a wooden stick into the ground to hold the boards.
Flower bed should be open at the top and at the bottom of the enclosure area so the water is not retained, which causes disease and root rot.
Make sure that all sides have the same height, and that your flower bed is flat inside the box.
If there is a slope, there is a possibility that water will run off from one part of the flower bed into the other thus making one part of your flower bed constantly moist and other constantly dry.
Some gardeners make raided flower beds in a very simple way. They simply arrange bales of hay or straw in desired shape then fill it with fertile soil and compost and the plants.
This is probably the simplest and cheapest way to build raised flower beds, but also the worst. This solution will last for only one year because it breaks apart, and the soil will settle.
Step four - preparing for planting
The beauty of raised flower beds is that it gives you the opportunity to create the perfect soil for planting.
Take the opportunity to fill your patch with a mixture of quality soil and compost .
After you have filled flower beds with the mixture, your flower beds are ready for planting herbs or sowing seeds.
What to plant in raised flower beds
You can plant almost anything you can imagine.
You can only plant flowers, and you can plant vegetables and spices and herbs. The possibilities are endless.
If you decide to plant vegetables, raised flower beds are an excellent choice for planting cabbage, lettuce, carrots, onions, radishes, beets and other crops.
To further strengthen plants and increase yield, combine plants according to our table of compatible plants .
Maintaining raised flowerbed
Raised flower beds are not demanding to maintain.
If you have planted a perennial plant, it is enough to fertilize the soil each spring and autumn with fresh compost.
If you only have annuals plants, you fertilize the soil after harvest and dig it up.
Mulching the soil will allow the soil to retain more moisture and prevent weed growth. Retention of moisture in the raised flower beds is very important because raised flowerbeds have much better drainage than classical flower beds in the garden.
Be sure to water raised flower beds regularly.
Useful Tips
Raised flower beds serve as a barrier to many pests - for example, you will not have a problem with snails.
Do not use old and rotten wooden planks when constructing raised flower beds. They increase the risk of ant colonies.
Do not use any recycled timber wooden planks since they can contain chemicals unsuitable for gardening that will go into the soil and from it into the plants.
Once built, raised flower beds can easily be converted to small greenhouse. At the edges of raised beds simply thrust PVC pipes and bend them all the way to the other end of the beams.
Set pipes on every 1 - 1.5 m, and, if necessary, cover them with foil or nylon. In this way you have a greenhouse to protect your plants, which allows you to grow them throughout the year.
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