How to make slate garden beds with your own hands? Flat and undulating slate - Tips + Videos

The owners of summer cottages and household plots are trying to ennoble their territory, decorating with various flower beds, flowerpots and flower pots. This also applies to the vegetable garden. Neat crate beds look much better than regular beds and are a pleasure to work with.

Various materials such as wood, slate can be used to make such beds. Tall slate beds are a very durable and strong structure, and are also resistant to constant exposure to moisture, unlike wood.

The use of such a structure when organizing garden beds keeps the land within certain limits and gives them a very original look.

Can you grow bountiful crops in high beds?

And use them for many seasons. Such structures are resistant to moisture, do not have properties to expand under the influence of moisture.

Advantages

The main advantages of slate are high strength, fire resistance and moisture resistance. Slate fencing serves as protection from weeds and pests.

If a fragment of the garden is damaged, it can be easily replaced, because the slate has a relatively low weight.

Wooden material, unlike slate, becomes unusable after a certain time, since it is subject to decay. Therefore, slate beds are preferred for their durability. The material is affordable and can be purchased at any building materials store.
The beds can be made of corrugated or flat slate, which will give the site a more well-groomed look.

As a rule, when choosing a place for a garden bed, landscape design acts as a reference point. Depending on this, the shape of the beds is selected. There is a variety of choices - square, rectangular, polygonal shape.
Slate is available in many colors and can be painted and decorated with decorative elements. It is material that is absolutely harmless to human life and health.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of slate fences include the features of rapid heating in hot weather, which is fully compensated for by regular watering. Also, this material is fragile, does not withstand strong blows or bends.

DIY slate beds

To make slate beds, the following materials will be needed: slate itself, stakes, rope, shovel, crushed stone, means for cutting.
Slate, as a rule, is taken in size from twenty to one hundred and twenty centimeters in width, and any length can be. When arranging any beds, it must be borne in mind that their best location will be from east to west for uniform sunlight.

Fences are deepened into the soil at least forty centimeters for stability. To form tall beds, the immersion depth of the sheets must be greater than the width of half of the sheet.

Before planting the plants directly, compost is placed on the bottom of the garden bed under a layer of earth.Sawdust is often used to compact the slate.
The soil should be well compacted between the beds to prevent it from being washed out.

This space can be lawn, concrete, and gravel to prevent weeds from overgrowing.

Features of slate cutting

Slate is produced in large sheets and when arranging beds you have to cut it. It is best to do this with a grinder. Sawing work should be done outdoors with special protective equipment, as it is a very dusty process.

Important : When cutting slate sheets, asbestos dust is emitted, which can enter the respiratory tract and harm health.

To minimize the spread of dust, the cutting area can be moistened with water or pre-moistened. The slate can be cut with a simple saw, but it will take a lot of effort.

Step-by-step instructions for arranging a bed of undulating slate

The material is cut to the desired size. A trench is marked and dug out and abundantly spilled with water. Its size should be equal to half the width of the sheet.

Slate sheets are installed and fixed on both sides with stakes. The bed is checked for evenness. The sheets are overlapped, the trench is filled with soil and compacted.

Important : When the beds are made with a horizontal arrangement of waves, it is possible to launch plant shoots along the grooves in the leaves, which is not very good. Therefore, it is better to position the plates so that the waves are perpendicular to the surface of the earth.

This will also be a more convenient option when digging up beds, since you can damage the fence as a result of careless actions.

Creating a bed from flat slate

For this, sheets with sizes of 1, 75 m are considered more convenient. They are cut into 2 parts: 1 m and 75 cm. Sheets are connected metal plates or using corners.
The corners are painted or treated with an anti-erosion agent, after which the bed is filled with earth.

It is not advisable to drive the slate into the ground, since the material is very fragile and can crack. For its device, it is necessary to dig a trench, which is later covered with earth and compacted.

High slate beds

The use of tall slate boxes for beds is very important in places where the soil is less fertile. Thanks to this design, it is quite possible to fill the soil with nutrients. This can be done with humus, compost, and fertilizer.

As a rule, high beds are made in the following sizes: up to 1.3 m wide, up to 70 cm high and up to 10 m long.

In such a structure, there is the possibility of constant regulation of the composition and thickness of soil layers ...

Thanks to this, the defeat of diseases and pests is reduced.

Therefore, there is no need to use chemicals for plant treatment.And eating organic vegetables is very important for human health.

Advantages of box beds:

• full control of the soil condition;
• good drainage will not promote water standing, and the location of the garden does not matter;
• higher temperature than the surrounding land, which promotes better plant growth. And also seedlings in such beds can be planted earlier;
• since walking is excluded in such beds, then the soil in it is always loose, which allows good air exchange;
• weaving plants do not need additional tying, may well hang along the edges of the garden.

Note: The optimal size of a high bed is from ten to 11 meters in length, one hundred thirty centimeters in width, and fifteen to thirty centimeters.

The height is selected based on the quality of the soil. For example, in more fertile areas, it is not necessary to raise the structure to this height. In height, warm compost beds are made at least fifty centimeters. In cases of sudden frost, such structures can be covered with plastic wrap.

The high bed is the best solution for uneven terrain.

The earth in them is always in a loose state and is not washed out by precipitation. There is no need to dig the entire garden every year. It is convenient to grow tomatoes, strawberries and various climbing plants on such beds, since there is no need to tie them up.

The only drawback is that it is inconvenient to grow perennials in them.

They need additional space, because over time they will become cramped.

Composition of tall beds:

• First, a metal mesh is laid on the bottom of the box;
• Then wood chips are poured;
• Humus and compost;
• A layer of peat;
• The last to be poured is a fertile layer removed from above when digging a trench.

Conclusions

As mentioned earlier, the temperature in the bed will be higher than the surrounding soil. This is due to the fact that plant residues continue to rot. Typically this soil is changed every five years.

A high bed may well be converted into a greenhouse, for this it just needs to be covered with a covering material.
Beds above forty centimeters can be reinforced with wire around the perimeter for greater strength.

Using warm beds, the yield can be increased several times. Also a positive effect is the protection of plants from accidental frosts. Slate beds are very common in gardening and horticulture now.

This is mainly due to the availability and low cost of the material. In order for such beds to serve you as long as possible, they need to be properly installed and strengthened.

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