With the arrival of spring, many beginning gardeners think about how to make beds. After all, in fact, there are several types of ridges: warm, high, multi-level, box ridges or pits. What type of beds to choose for a particular crop, how to properly organize the structure and what are its advantages? We will try to give answers to all these questions in this article.
Warm beds
Warm beds are built by gardeners who strive to get the first spring harvest of vegetables as early as possible. In a sense, they are an alternative to greenhouses and greenhouses. The operating principle of such beds is to use the heat obtained from the decomposition of organic matter.
A warm ridge can be laid in a trench or box. The height of the sides of the structure should be approximately 50 cm. The width of the ridges can be varied. So, you can create narrow beds 40-60 cm wide, or wide ones 100-120 cm. Each gardener chooses the length of the beds independently. The sides of a warm bed can be made of slate, boards, or timber. A metal mesh should be placed at the bottom of the structure, which will become a barrier to the penetration of rodents.
After warm bed box created, you need to fill it with layers in the following sequence:
- Sawdust is placed at the bottom of the box. Before use, they are scalded with boiling water and doused with manganese solution.The thickness of the sawdust layer should be at least 15 cm. During the use of the ridges, the sawdust will retain moisture and feed the plants with it. It is worth noting that when constructing warm ridges on clay soil, the bottom layer should be drainage consisting of large wood debris.
- The second layer is organic debris, for example, leaves or turf mixed with manure or bird droppings. After laying, the layer is compacted, subsequently it will heat the upper layers of the soil. Its thickness should not be less than 15 cm.
- The third layer should consist of quickly rotting organic matter, such as grass or ready-made compost. Its thickness should not be less than 10 cm.
- The fourth layer is the fertile filler. It should be made by mixing 6 buckets of garden soil (peat) and one bucket each of processed sawdust and sand. It is also necessary to add superphosphate, wood ash in a volume of 1 tablespoon, as well as urea, zinc sulfate, potassium sulfate in a volume of 1 teaspoon to the resulting substrate. The thickness of this fertile soil layer should be at least 20 cm.
You can make garden beds in the fall or spring. Autumn beds rot naturally in winter, but you can speed up the process of rotting in beds created in the spring using special preparations, for example, “Baikal-M” or “Siyanie”. They contain a large number of beneficial bacteria, the vital activity of which contributes to the accelerated decay of organic matter.
It is worth noting that warm ridges can be installed not only in open areas of the ground, but also in greenhouses and greenhouses. Information on how to do this is given in the video:
Warm beds can be used for 4 years, after which they should be dismantled. Over time, the microelement composition and intensity of heating of the soil in the box changes. That is why farmers recommend growing the following crops on them:
- In the first year of decay, organic matter releases a lot of heat and contains an increased amount of nitrogen. Such conditions are excellent for growing cucumbers, watermelons, pumpkins, zucchini and squash. Root crops cannot be grown in such conditions.
- In the second year of operation, it is recommended to plant cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, cabbage, peppers,
- In the third year of use, warm beds are suitable for growing all types of crops, including root crops, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplants.
- In the last fourth year, the nutrient content in the soil decreases significantly, which means that the ridges are unsuitable for growing heat-loving crops, however, root crops, legumes, onions and greens will thrive in such conditions.
Heat-loving crops can be planted on warm ridges in early spring. You can additionally protect them from the cold using film covering on the arches.
Raised beds
Another popular type of beds on a summer cottage is high beds. They are designed for growing vegetable crops in areas located in marshy areas and rainy regions, as they provide good drainage.
High ridges are called ridges with a height of 30 to 80 cm. When creating high ridges, it is necessary to build a box. The material for this can be wood board, brick, plastic, metal. The process of constructing high ridges consists of the following stages:
- A metal mesh is placed at the bottom of the box as an obstacle for rodents and geotextiles, which will not allow weedy the herbs will sprout.
- On top of the protective materials it is necessary to place a drainage layer consisting of crushed stone, expanded clay, pebbles or brick fragments. The height of this layer must be at least 10 cm.
- Fill the high ridge box with homogeneous, fertile soil, free of weeds and harmful insect larvae. So, for filling it is better to use purchased soil or clean the fertile soil yourself by sifting and spilling with a solution of potassium permanganate. The layer of soil should fill the entire bed, to a depth below 3-4 cm of the top edge of the side.
Make it high DIY beds not difficult at all. At the same time, any type of plant can be grown on them. You can see an example of an original raised bed in the photo:
High beds are guaranteed to provide good soil drainage, facilitate weeding and caring for plants, and are highly decorative. This type of bed allows you to grow heat-loving plants in regions with an unfavorable climate.
Raised beds
This type of beds is classic and most common. To create such ridges, no special structures are needed. It’s not at all difficult to make such beds in the country with your own hands. All you need for this is a shovel.
Raised beds are considered to be 10-20 cm high, without a special box. Depending on the preferences of the gardener, their width can be narrow 50 cm or wide 100 cm. Trenches between the beds are made using a shovel, digging holes at least 30 cm wide. The edges of such a bulk ridge are compacted with the clap of the same shovel.
Such raised beds are perfect for growing absolutely any crop. They are easy to water, but not very convenient to weed. When arranging the beds, you should take into account the characteristics of different cardinal directions. Thus, heat-loving crops must be placed in the south, where daylight is maximum.
It is worth noting that with the help of raised beds it is easy to create beautiful, original shapes that can become a real decoration of the site.
Other types
In addition to the above types, there are other, more “exotic” beds. The most famous of them are:
- boxes, which differ from ordinary raised beds by the presence of a frame made of wooden boards, stones, slate;
- the pits are intended for growing moisture-loving, tall crops;
- multi-tiered beds are used mainly for growing crops with underdeveloped root systems for decorative purposes.
An example of how an unusual garden bed can decorate a summer cottage is shown in the photo below.
Basic principles of the device
Having determined the required type of bed, the farmer must become familiar with the basic principles of its placement in the garden:
- It is very important to place the beds in the cardinal directions: the most heat-loving crops, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, must be planted in the south, while dill, basil and other greens will feel good in the northern shade.
- To place the ridges, you should choose the most flat piece of land, where streams of water will not wash away the crops, but will be evenly absorbed into the soil.
- Beds in high, hilly areas receive the maximum amount of light;
- By using fertile soil when creating ridges, you can count on a maximum harvest of vegetables;
- The passages between the beds should be wide enough so that human movement is not difficult, and nearby growing crops do not shade each other.
- Beds with a frame are more reliably protected from the penetration of weeds;
- In low areas, when creating beds, it is necessary to provide for drainage; in arid regions, on the contrary, it is recommended to place the beds in recesses.
When creating beds on your garden plot or dacha, you must take into account the above principles. They will make it easier to care for plants and allow you to get the maximum yield of vegetables.
It is impossible to unequivocally answer the question of how to properly make beds in a vegetable garden, because there is a huge variety of different types of structures for growing vegetables. All of them can be used in specific conditions. Thus, you can get an early spring harvest without having a greenhouse or greenhouse using warm beds, while high or multi-level beds will allow you to create a real architectural masterpiece for decorating your garden. The choice of one design or another always remains with the gardener.
