Content
For many people, a summer cottage is a place where they can relax from all the worries of the city and feel at one with nature. Of course, growing a good harvest is also an incentive for many to regularly visit their dacha, but most still tend to go to the dacha to relax. And for relaxation, first of all, it is necessary to create comfortable and, importantly, aesthetic conditions. So that the eye has something to dwell on and relax.
Just some time ago, the combination of the words “landscape design of garden beds” would have only brought a smile. But in recent years, more and more people are striving to create, at least on a small piece of land, heaven on earth for themselves and their loved ones. Many people try to outdo each other in decorating their site with all kinds of figures, hanging baskets, flower beds, original paths and fences. Well, garden beds at the dacha are the basis of any dacha plot. The place where it all began...
It is natural to want to not only make them convenient for both the summer resident and the plants, but also beautiful. Arranging garden beds is not such a difficult task, due to the large number of gardening and building materials currently available on the market.Moreover, there are practically no restrictions on design, the main thing is that it is beautiful and safe.
Where to begin
If you are really planning to radically change your plot, and not just design one or two beds, then you need to start with a well-thought-out plan. After all, if on paper it’s not at all difficult to change something, then when everything is finished in reality, you should only experience a feeling of pride and admiration, but not disappointment. Otherwise, there is no point in starting all this.
So, take a large sheet of paper and draw a plan of your site, preferably accurately observing the scale. All existing buildings and paths must be marked on the plan. If the site has a slope or the terrain is not perfectly smooth, then this is only good. Many people specially build slides and embankments on level ground, and terracing even a gentle slope will add additional exoticism to your site.
When developing the design of flower beds and beds on your site, the main thing is to have everything in moderation. After sketching the main objects on the plan, be sure to estimate how many beds you want to design. If the area is very small, then it is necessary to consider vertical and multi-level beds. However, at least one such composition would not hurt in a large area.
Don’t forget that a garden is created not only for beauty - the plants will need care.
The landscape design of your site involves the creation of several zones that will differ from each other in their design. In one zone you can arrange a place for passive recreation, in another - a small playground.And in each zone you can create flower beds and beds. However, it is quite possible to combine them. After all, many flowers serve as excellent protection for vegetables from pests.
Materials for decorating beds
There are a great variety of materials for decorating garden beds.
Beds decorated with a variety of materials are presented below in the photo.
- From boards different texture;
- Made from natural stones. From this material you can create high complex beds with the involvement of specialists, or you can lay out very nice and simple beds yourself;
- From natural or artificial blocks;
- From bricks, including decorative ones;
- From branches that are braided into a decorative hedge, you can create charming garden beds at the dacha with your own hands;
- You can create attractive compositions from plastic strips and containers if you arrange them in the form of various geometric shapes or lines;
- Using special decorative garden borders for flower beds the most varied shapes and shades;
- From slate;
- Made from metal profiles and metal sheets;
- From plastic bottles, after some preliminary preparation, which consists of painting them in different colors, you can create colorful compositions.
Raised beds
No matter how many beds you come up with in your garden, several of them must be high. Firstly, they make caring for plants very easy. Secondly, the most valuable and beautiful plants can be planted in them, because the conditions for the growth and development of plants in these beds will be the most optimal. And finally, design options for such beds can only be limited by your imagination. They can be painted in any attractive color and can be decorated with patterns.You can lay out a mosaic of small decorative pebbles on them.
How can you easily and quickly set up a raised bed? If you decide to lay it out of bricks or stone, then this will take the longest. In this case, it is best to invite a specialist mason to make your structure look professional. But you can easily handle other materials on your own.
The simplest option is to use ready-made boards, 1.5-3 cm thick and 15-20 cm wide. If the height of the proposed bed does not exceed 30 cm, then it is better to first dig a shallow ditch in the proposed location according to the size of the future bed. Its depth may be insignificant - about 10-15 cm.
You can choose the length of the bed at your discretion, and its width can vary from 50 to 80 cm. The main thing is that it is convenient for you to reach any part of it from the outside. Then a box is made from the prepared boards according to the size of the future bed. On the four outer sides it is limited by slats that are driven deep into the ground. Basis for high beds ready. If the bed is supposed to be more than 50 cm high, then at the very bottom a layer of up to 20 cm of coarse organic materials must be placed - branches, boards, twigs, etc. If the height of the bed is small, you can limit yourself to adding a layer of straw and rotted grass up to 10-20 cm.
To protect the boards from rotting, it is recommended to lay a layer of polyethylene around the entire perimeter of the bed from the inside. The last step is to fill the bed with a mixture of soil, compost and humus.All these components can be prepared in advance yourself, or you can buy them. At the last stage, you decorate the outside of the beds in any way that your imagination tells you. The simplest thing is to paint the boards in bright colors.
The contents of the beds are also important
If you are thinking about the question of how to arrange the beds on your summer cottage, then the beautiful design of the plantings themselves will be important. The most indispensable vegetables for creating beautiful compositions are various types of salads and cabbages. After all, there are so many varieties and colors of them. And if you first grow a lot of seedlings of these vegetables, you can use them to create unique colorful patterns that will look even more decorative than flower beds.
Another idea that would be interesting to implement would be to create a small garden of fragrant herbs. If the initially prepared and leveled soil is divided into many triangles or diamonds using wooden slats, then they can be planted with various herbs. If you choose different shades, the result can be impressive. But this garden will also be fragrant.
It is most logical to place such a bed-bed of aromatic herbs near the barbecue area where you receive guests and have picnics at your summer cottage.
Finally, try to master various mixed planting options for vegetables in your garden. This will allow you to use a minimum of chemicals to protect your plants from pests, since they will protect themselves. In addition, mixed plantings provide endless scope for creativity. Your garden will be completely unique and unique.
Vertical beds
Speaking about the design of garden beds at the dacha, one cannot fail to mention such an important area as vertical beds and flower beds. This is a fairly new direction, but its possibilities are truly inexhaustible. For a small area they are simply irreplaceable. But even over large areas, their role is difficult to overestimate. Firstly, they can help divide the area into zones. Vertical beds can serve as a kind of partitions, behind which another functional space begins.
In addition, suspended and vertical structures can play a role in the design of paths and transitions from one part of the site to another. An example would be a garden arch, decorated with cells, with herbs or strawberry bushes planted in it.
In recent years, new materials have begun to be used for vertical beds, such as plastic pipes of different diameters. You can make amazing designs from them thanks to a variety of connections.
Wood, as a material, will never go out of fashion, so vertical structures made of wood look very noble. They only need to provide protection from external influences by covering them with paints and varnishes. In this case, the service life of such structures will increase significantly.
If you have a large closed house wall or a blank fence on your site, then you can’t think of anything better than decorating it with hanging vertical beds.
Conclusion
As you can see, everything is in your power and decorating the beds and the entire plot can be limited only by the flight of your imagination. And ideas and materials for their implementation can now be found in abundance.
