DIY
Build your own raised bed – building instructions for hobby gardeners
You can grow your own raised bed in just a few steps
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Are you thinking about building a raised bed yourself? With these building instructions you can grow your own fruit and vegetables in no time.
As nice as the idea of growing your own tomatoes and cucumbers is, the gardening that goes with it means one thing above all: hard work. From sowing the numerous seeds to caring for the growing plants to harvesting the cultivated crops, it is a long journey – which involves a lot of time, patience and back problems. It’s hardly surprising why raised beds are enjoying growing popularity: not only do they require less space, but they are also particularly easy on the back.
Other benefits of a raised bed include:
- The natural look – Wooden pallets or stones are particularly suitable for building a raised bed as they blend in naturally with the surroundings.
- The quick construction – The construction requires only a few steps and materials, so building a raised bed hardly takes any time or effort.
- The comfortable height – The raised bed is ideally adapted to your own body size. Depending on whether you prefer to work sitting or standing, the height should vary.
- Fewer pests – Due to the height of the bed, snails only reach the seeds very slowly and can be removed in good time before they reach the plants.
- A rich harvest – Similar to composting, the soil rots, consisting of different layers of organic material. This creates humus and heat, which promote the growth of the seeds.
- The easy management – The raised bed only needs to be refilled with compost or fresh potting soil after five to seven years if the volume has decreased significantly due to increasing rot.
Tip: The width of the raised bed should not be more than 120 centimeters depending on your height – otherwise it will be difficult to work in the middle of the growing area.
Wooden boxes lined from the inside are best suited for your own raised bed
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Garden design: How to create your own raised bed
If you choose a raised bed made of wood, particularly durable boards (approx. 2.5 to 5 centimeters thick) are recommended for the side walls – for example made of larch, robinia or Douglas fir. Make sure that the type of wood is untreated and free of pesticides.
Otherwise you will need these materials:
- four corner posts stabilize the side walls (if the bed is less than two meters long, otherwise six is better)
- four ground sockets protect the corner posts from the damp earth and give the raised bed even more support
- Pond linerprotects the wood from the inside against too much moisture
- Wood stain protects the wood from the outside from weather influences such as sun, wind and rain
- Steel screws are particularly stable and do not rust
- wire mesh protects the seeds from rodents such as voles that attack the plants
Once you have all the materials together, the wooden boards and posts must first be attached glaze be painted. Once the side walls have dried, it can be done Construction of the raised bed move on.
Construction instructions: step by step to your own raised bed
- To markthe place, where the raised bed is to be built later – ideally in a north-south direction for sufficient hours of sunshine. You can use a thin one for this Mason’s cord use or you can mark the area with the posts.
- So that the corner posts are stable in the ground, the turf must be staked out dug at least ten centimeters deep become. Then they will Ground sleeves rammed into the ground and the posts placed on top. Without ground sockets, the posts should be buried 30 centimeters deep.
- The side walls must now be screwed to the posts horizontally and at least five centimeters above the ground. Once the first two rows are installed, it comes wire mesh for use.
- The wire is cut and bent so that it still overlaps the two bottom boards by at least 25 to 30 centimeters when it lies on the bottom of the raised bed. The bent sides must then be stapled to the wood.
- After the remaining boards have been screwed together, you can the entire construction withPond liner should be lined and stapled in place. The film can extend up to 20 centimeters towards the floor.
Tip: If you don’t have your own garden, you can also create a mobile raised bed on stilts on the balcony or terrace. For example, you can get the complete kit for this here.
The selection of plant seeds for raised beds in the garden is huge
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Fill the raised bed correctly: This is what you need to pay attention to
Filling the raised bed correctly is crucial for successful planting. For this reason, the following components should be stacked in the correct order at least three feet high:
First Place coarse material such as tree or hedge cuttings (twigs and branches) on the bottom of the raised bed; it serves as a kind of drainage. On it Layer a thick layer (approx. 20 centimeters) of chopped wood such as branches or bark mulch. Thereafter Pour your garden waste on it, such as grass clippings and leaves – you can also use the previously dug sod here. About it Now layer half-ripe compost (approx. 15 to 20 centimeters) and last but not least the planting layer follows. It consists of humus-rich soil mixed with mature compost. Now you can Plant raised beds. Here too you should choose the seeds carefully.
Tip: In the first year, heavy feeders – plants that extract nutrients from the soil as they grow – are particularly suitable for sowing. These include, in particular, peppers, leeks, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini and celery. After three years, however, other plants are already available, such as spinach, salad and radish or even strawberries.
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