Important nuances: the correct location of the beds on the site according to the cardinal directions. How to make garden beds correctly: useful tips What garden beds should be in your dacha

Country geography: how to properly place beds.

How to properly place beds and fruit trees on your site
The harvest has long been harvested, and it is snowing outside the window. It would seem that it’s time to take a break from dacha troubles, but the thoughts of many gardeners are already devoted to the future dacha season: what to plant and where, what fertilizers and seeds to buy, how much and what kind of film is needed for greenhouses and greenhouses...
And there seems to be nothing complicated here - just place potatoes, cabbage, carrots, beets, onions and garlic, green crops on your acres, because everything else: trees, shrubs, raspberries and strawberries have long had their rightful places.

But in practice everything turns out to be more complicated - you have to compare a lot various factors to accept, it happens, there is only one thing correct solution. Moreover, for this it is not enough to know which crops are light-loving and which are shade-tolerant - you also need to take into account the fertility of a particular area, which crops grew here in the past, and preferably, not only in the past year, and which crops will grow nearby peacefully and without conflicts.

Therefore, truly passionate gardeners and gardeners have to plan and record their gardens no less painstakingly than accountants do their reporting. For example, my grandfather had a huge ledger with detailed plans gardening over several decades, starting from the 50s. In fact, information for so many years is not needed - in most cases it is enough to have data for 3-4 years, but here the grandfather’s truly accounting nature affected.

Everything is simpler for me, fortunately I have a computer at hand, and it’s enough for me to simply record the year on a plan once drawn in the appropriate program and note where and what crops I grew. But the majority probably still have to draw such a plan by hand - in this case, it is more reasonable to draw a plan once indicating trees, shrubs, greenhouses, greenhouses and permanent ridges, then make a dozen photocopies, and on each one mark the crops planted in this or that year - it will be much faster.

How to reconcile all the pros and cons
Even if you have all the necessary information, it can be difficult to find the right solution. You start posting, and it seems like you managed to plan almost everything, but last stage It turns out that, for example, there remains a bed for cabbage in which this same cabbage grew the year before last and at the same time suffered from clubroot. This means that you can’t plant her here, and everything starts all over again. Again we have to redo the plan, look for a new solution and draw it again.

If you are familiar with a similar situation and every year you give yourself a headache planning and re-moving crops around the garden, then try interesting solution, which I recently read about (I don’t need it, since I do everything on the computer, but most gardeners will probably find it very useful). True, to use this approach, you must have rectangular beds that are similar in size, and each vegetable must be planted on its own bed (that is, not in company with others).

In this case, you can plan like this: take last year’s site plan (or better yet, plans for 3-4 years) and a blank sheet of paper. Draw this sheet into identical rectangles and write on them: potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onions, garlic, etc., listing everything you plan to plant. Moreover, if you always occupy two ridges with garlic, then, accordingly, there should be two rectangles with the name “garlic”, etc. Cut the paper into separate rectangles and begin to assemble a puzzle called “entertaining vegetable garden” on your plan, placing rectangular ridges in the desired way in your favorite places on your plan. It's not scary to make a mistake here, because... It’s easy to fix everything by moving the “wrong” rectangle to a new place. Try it, and this method will turn out to be much simpler than playing out all the situations in your head and repeatedly and painstakingly redrawing your plan.

What factors need to be considered when planning a vegetable garden?

First, everyone loves vegetables. sunny place. Only green crops, which include onion on the feather, and perennial onions like chives and slime, partially tolerate partial shade. This means that in the small shade of a house, fence, trees and bushes you can sow and plant onions and some herbs. Although you won’t get much harvest in this case, you still won’t be able to grow anything else in these places.

The second is the compatibility of vegetables: who is good with whom or, conversely, bad. Cabbage cannot live with tomatoes and beans. Cucumber - with potatoes. Tomatoes - with fennel. Potatoes - with tomatoes and pumpkin. Onions and garlic are very unpleasant for peas and beans, and hyssop for radishes. Only carrots get along with everyone, although from the point of view of protection from carrot flies, it is preferable to sow them in company with onions. This was about bad neighbors.
What about the good ones? Here are other examples. All vegetables of the celery family (carrots, parsnips, parsley, celery) go well with the onion family: onions, garlic, leeks, shallots. White and black radishes work well with other vegetables. Radishes grow very well between rows of bush beans - they become very large, tasty and not worm-free. Potatoes are not interfered with by beans, corn, cabbage, horseradish and onions. But each individually, because... There are several irreconcilable couples in this group.
Compatible with cabbage are onions, celery, potatoes, dill and lettuce. Tomatoes can be planted next to green and cabbage crops, asparagus and beans. Peas can coexist with carrots, cucumbers, potatoes, radishes, and corn. And so on.

The third rule is no less important - you need to take into account that the phytoncides secreted by some plants repel pests of other crops or prevent the development of some diseases. For example, onion phytoncides repel carrot fly, and carrot phytoncides - onion. Dill protects cucumbers from diseases, and onions and garlic protect tomatoes. If you plant strong-smelling plants near the cabbage, such as celery, thyme or sage, they will muffle the smell of the cabbage and make it less attractive to pests. It’s a good idea to plant basil near beans to protect against bean weevils, garlic near roses to protect against aphids, and parsley near asparagus.

When planning, you also need to take into account predecessors, that is, whether a suitable vegetable grew last season in the place where you will plant another one in the spring. And here again there are numerous schemes! And the most important thing to learn is that you cannot plant the same crop in the same place. And, in addition, cabbage should not be placed after any cabbage or beets. Beets - after beets, cabbage and tomatoes. Tomatoes - after all the nightshades and peas.

The fifth thing that has to be taken into account is long-term crop rotation, a 3-4 year perspective. It's even more difficult here. Agronomy teaches you to alternate vegetables taking into account their nutritional needs, in particular organic matter. Conventionally, in the first year (i.e. on fresh organic matter) cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin, medium-sized cabbage and late dates ripening, leeks, etc., that is, those crops for which a lot of organic matter needs to be added. In the second year they are replaced by onions, peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes. The third comes the turn of root vegetables (carrots, beets, radishes, etc.), which have to add a fair amount of mineral fertilizers.

Features of garden planning
With the garden it turns out to be even more difficult, because we plant vegetables every year, and if one year your planning was unsuccessful, then perhaps next year everything will turn out much better.
We place trees and shrubs in permanent places for a long time, and once planted apple trees will supply you with fruit for the rest of your life. Therefore, when drawing up a garden plan, it is imperative to allocate separate permanent places for each type of tree, for vegetables, for flowers, and correctly calculate in advance where and what will grow in 10-20 years. And there are a lot of rules here too.

The first rule is that each group of crops (fruit trees, berry bushes, vegetable and ornamental crops) permanent place. A common mistake is the combined arrangement of crops, when vegetables, strawberries, and berry bushes are placed among young apple and pear trees. At first everything turns out well: the trees do not take up much space, there is enough light and nutrition for other plants. But over time, the trees grow, and then the catch crops fall into the shade and their yield becomes low. Therefore, the first rule of site planning is to allocate a separate permanent place for every culture. Of course, you can temporarily grow berry bushes, strawberries and vegetables among vigorous tree species, but then, when severe darkness sets in, they will have to be removed and moved somewhere else, which needs to be thought about in advance.

The second rule is to provide for the possibility of renewing strawberries, plantings of berry bushes, cherry and plum trees. Let's say strawberries bear fruit well in one place for 2-3 years. In the fourth or, at least, the fifth year of fruiting, it must be completely eliminated. Therefore, one bed is cleared every year in order to grow vegetables here the next year, and the vegetable bed is planted with strawberries.

Therefore, it is more convenient to place strawberries not in the garden, but in the vegetable garden and replace strawberry beds with vegetable beds. Currant, gooseberry and raspberry bushes can theoretically bear fruit in one place for a very long time, and it all depends on proper care. It is more profitable (from the point of view of saving your own time) to take good care of these crops and regularly prune and spray them, then in one place, subject to rejuvenating pruning, they can bear fruit for 10, 15 years or more. And everything will be fine. And if you take care of it poorly, then they will not last long, the bushes will weaken from diseases, pests, improper nutrition and thickening, and you will have to look for another place for them and start growing and shaping them again.

The third rule of planning is respect for the rights of the neighbor. Your trees should not greatly shade the neighboring area. The distance from the tree trunk to the boundary should be at least half the generally accepted row spacing: for tall trees 3.5-4 m, for medium-sized trees - 2.0-2.5 m. In the strip between the trees and the boundary you can plant currants, gooseberries, raspberries . And under no circumstances should you plant tall trees and shrubs 20 cm from the border, which, alas, is not uncommon.

The fourth rule of planning is to reduce the height of plants as you approach the house. To keep your home dry and bright, the shortest plants should be placed near the house - flowers, lawn grasses, some strawberries, vegetables, shrubs, and tall trees should be moved further into the plot.

The fifth rule is to take into account the characteristics of certain plants. Of the berry bushes, it is better to plant red currants and gooseberries in drier, but well-lit places, and black currants in lower, more humid (but not swampy) places. Raspberries and sea buckthorn are planted separately in specially designated areas of the site, since the first produces many root shoots, and the second develops long roots that interfere with the growth and development of other plants; Strawberries are planted in places where snow lingers well in winter. Growing strawberries between fruit trees is undesirable.

Chokeberry and sea buckthorn look good when planted in groups closer to home. Schisandra and actinidia are planted near the wall of the house so that there is protection from the wind and it is possible to create reliable vertical supports for them. Barberry and lilac are planted away from all other crops (somewhere apart), because their root secretions do not give life to other plants.

This article discusses beds for the lazy: photos of the easiest structures to make for those who want to get a neat garden with a minimum of effort, the most common materials and technologies for creating structures based on them. The reader will learn how to combine vegetable crops in one bed and prepare the soil for planting cucumbers. The article contains practical recommendations for beginner gardeners.

Design proper beds in the garden will solve many problems and open up new opportunities for the owner of a summer cottage:

protection against soil erosion in the garden when there is a large amount of rainfall or watering the plants. The sides of the bed will keep the nutritious soil in place, preventing it from washing out onto the paths. In addition, the passages between the structures themselves will remain clean, no dirty puddles or streaks;

the possibility of forming the basis for creating a temporary greenhouse on spring period. By installing high sides as fences, a multi-layer bed can be organized inside the structure, which can be used as a greenhouse. To do this, it is enough to install special arcs and stretch the film. The result will be a neat greenhouse house;
improving the appearance of the garden due to orderly and even plantings with beautiful framing;
creating boundaries to prevent the spread of weeds.

Making beds with your own hands from boards and other materials allows you to clearly limit the planting area, thanks to which weeds and harmful plants do not have the opportunity to spread widely. If the garden fence is dug to a greater depth, the level of protection increases and perennial weeds, which are unable to overcome this barrier, can no longer penetrate into the garden bed.

Note! With the help of beds with well-buried fences, the spread of plants such as reeds and creeping wheatgrass is effectively blocked. Their root system is capable of covering large distances underground if left unconstrained.

Photos of interesting bed designs, recommendations for their creation. Tips for designing unusual landscape design on the site.

The best place is an area where there is sun throughout the day. It is allowed to install beds where there is shade in the morning or during the day. If the proposed construction area is dark throughout the day, you should not use this place for arranging a vegetable garden.

How best to make beds in the garden: choosing the optimal design

The design of the beds is selected at an early stage of planning, when a place for the vegetable garden has already been selected.

Each type of beds has certain advantages:

raised or - the most efficient designs that are best suited for growing vegetable crops. Construction Materials they are not expensive to create, and the soil does not need to be dug up. The width and height of the structures determine how much effort and time will be required to build them. Most often, summer residents prefer wooden beds made of boards. On the Internet you can find photos of raised beds with your own hands; such structures do not have fencing. They also fall into the category of elevated structures;

container beds - will be beneficial in cases where site space is limited. Small, large and medium-sized pots are suitable for organizing such beds. Garlic, peppers, lettuce and herbs feel especially good in containers. Mobility is another advantage of container beds, which can be moved to any location if desired;
beds in open ground- the oldest method of growing crops that are planted directly into the ground. In such conditions it is more difficult to get a good harvest, so technology is often used joint landing vegetables in the garden.

Helpful advice! If you plan to plant crops in open ground, it is recommended to determine the quality of the soil, fertilize it and check the compatibility of vegetables in the garden according to the table.

How to make beds from boards with your own hands: useful tips

Raised beds are most often made from wood. This material, in comparison with others, is considered the most practical and environmentally friendly. Such designs look very aesthetically pleasing in the photo. Do-it-yourself beds made from boards have other advantages:

a simple maintenance system involving easy weeding, harvesting and watering of plants;
the ability to grow vegetable crops even where the soil is completely unsuitable for these purposes. A frame is made on the basis of the boards, which is subsequently filled with fertile soil purchased in the store, so there is no connection to the quality of the soil and its composition. Thanks to this, plants can be grown even in areas with rocky surfaces;

Box structures allow you to hold soil inside the bed. In addition, the presence of sides simplifies the process of installing arcs to form a greenhouse. It is much easier to secure these elements to the fence than to dig them into the soil;
Even without knowing how to properly make garden beds, any summer resident can cope with the manufacture of wooden box structures. The boards are easy to process, and the construction and assembly of the frame does not require expensive tools;
there is no chance that plants planted close to the edges will get burned summer heat. Wood, unlike metal, is not prone to overheating.

Note! The environmental friendliness of the material allows you not to worry about harmful substances getting into the soil. Wood is much safer than asbestos cement sheets(slate). The exception is boards treated with chemicals designed to double the life of the material.

Making practical beds from boards: how to make the right choice of material

Summer residents most often create wooden structures based on materials found on the farm. To make beds, timber, round timber, slab, and lining can be used.

When we're talking about about purchasing boards in a store, you should pay attention Special attention The type of wood from which they are made:

a board made of ash or oak will last a very long time. Although the cost of such products is quite high;
pine remains the most favorable in terms of price and processing. But this type of wood is highly susceptible to rotting while in the ground, so its service life is short. By using impregnations and antiseptics, the life of pine can be extended by a couple of years;
boards made of cedar and larch wood are considered the most suitable material for making boxes. Larch is naturally impregnated with resin, thanks to which the product will retain its newness for many years without the use of additional impregnations. Cedar wood is characterized by a lower resin content, but it is not inferior to larch in terms of durability and at the same time has an affordable price;

Boards made from acacia feel good in the ground. It is worth noting that this type of wood is durable and has a solid structure, so its processing will be more difficult. To work with acacia you will need a powerful electric tool.

Helpful advice! It is not recommended to skimp on the quality of the material. Boards made from poor wood are susceptible to rapid rotting. After a few years, holes will appear on the fences of the garden beds, through which fertile soil will be washed away during rains and watering of plants.

Making beds from boards with your own hands: photos, dimensions of structures

Box beds have a rectangular shape and are made of boards. The simplest design does not require special knowledge and skills, so any novice summer resident can handle its production. The main thing is to correctly calculate the dimensions of the boxes.

height– many summer residents strive to create the highest possible sides. However, this approach is erroneous if it is not intended to build a warm bed for cucumbers or other types of crops, where a fence height of up to 0.7 m is acceptable. The technology for manufacturing such structures requires laying multi-layer insulation. For ordinary beds, such high fences are not required; it is enough to limit it to 0.15-0.2 m. Excessive height of the sides is also unprofitable in economic terms, because their construction will require a lot of boards. In addition, wood is susceptible to deformation changes under the influence of moisture, so there is a risk that over time high fences will swell and lose their attractive shape;

width– experienced summer residents recommend choosing a width equal to half the height of the person who will care for the beds. Most often, this parameter is in the range of 0.9-1.2 m, because during work a person should be able to reach the middle of the structure from the side fence;
length– this parameter is practically unlimited. Although excessively long structures reduce the level of rigidity of the side rails, it is therefore recommended to choose a length within 4-6 m.

Helpful advice! When choosing dimensional parameters for wooden beds, you should take into account that between them you need to organize passages 0.4-0.6 m wide. Only after this is considered the layout of structures on the site.

Creating mixed plantings of vegetables in the garden: photo examples and optimal schemes

The method of combining crops is very effective in practice if the companion plants are chosen well. Therefore, plot owners use a special table to calculate the proximity of vegetables in the beds before planting. Some types of vegetables have a depressing effect on each other, others can improve the growth and development of neighbors and provide them with protection from pests.

The correct proximity of vegetables in the beds: compatibility table

Many summer residents note that thanks to the proximity of beans as a seal for the beds where potatoes are grown, the number of Colorado potato beetles is significantly reduced. Marigolds effectively protect cabbage from the white butterfly. Despite this, a certain balance must be maintained. After all, an excessive amount of marigolds in the garden can stifle the growth of cabbage.

Table of vegetable neighbors in the garden that create a successful tandem:

Name of vegetable crop	Plants for successful combination
strawberries	beans, spinach, marigolds, garlic, lettuce
kohlrabi	cucumber, lettuce, onion, beets
peas	carrots, corn, cucumber, calendula, eggplant
onion	tomato, celery, beets, savory, carrots
beans	potatoes, cucumber, tomato, strawberry, eggplant
cucumber	radishes, peppers, peas, cabbage, beans
carrot	lettuce, onion, sage, tomato, peas
salad	strawberries, cucumber, carrots, radishes
pepper	salad, cucumber, beans
tomato	calendula, basil, beans, nasturtium, parsley

The following pairs of plants are characterized by poor compatibility of planting vegetables in the garden:

cabbage and strawberries;
onions and beans;
carrots and celery, dill, parsley;
cucumbers and potatoes.

Helpful advice! In addition to the main crops, it is recommended to spot plant herbs and ornamental herbs in the garden bed. Thus, the garden will not only be beautiful, but also useful.

Examples of mixed planting of vegetables in the garden: popular schemes

A good example of the compatibility of vegetables in the garden is the combination of onions and carrots. As an independent crop, onions can produce about 2.5 kg of yield from 1 m² of bed. Carrots on the same area yield approximately 6 kg of yield. When growing these crops together, 1 m² can produce 9 kg of vegetables. These plants create protective barriers against pests for each other, so the efficiency of the used area increases.

Of course, when planning to grow crops together in a garden bed, you need to group the plants based on their height so that none of them blocks the light for the other. This is necessary because vegetables can not only have different heights, but also grow with at different speeds. It is desirable that the compactors that are planted additionally be lower in height than the main vegetables. The principle of multi-tiered juxtaposition of vegetables in the beds makes it possible to create favorable conditions for the root system of crops, and also promotes the rational use of solar energy.

High yields are collected from the beds where beets and late cabbage are planted. To do this, beets (9 plants) and cabbage (4 bushes) should be planted on an area of 0.8x0.8 m, not forgetting to fertilize the holes with a glass of compost and a handful of eggshells (grind first).

To obtain excellent result When planting beans and tomatoes, it is recommended to place the plants in a row with a step of 0.3 m. Along the row with bush beans, it is installed so that each plant is located at the dropper. Tomatoes are planted in the central part of the garden bed. As a result, the bean and tomato bushes should be arranged in a checkerboard pattern.

Helpful advice! It is better to trim tomato stems for the winter, and as low as possible. On the contrary, it is recommended to leave beans untouched.

Table of crop rotation of vegetables in beds by crop groups

Crop rotation can also affect the yield of beds. If the annual change of crops grown in the same bed is carried out in the correct order, the garden will produce good harvests.

Advantages of proper crop rotation:

the likelihood of soil fatigue on the site is eliminated, since the same vegetable absorbs the same set of nutrients from the soil every year and does it from the same depth;
the spread of diseases and pests that affect plants of the same family is prevented;
it becomes possible to use fertilizers rationally.

The most primitive way of organizing crop rotation in a garden bed involves planting plants from different families in the same area every year. The easiest way is to divide cultures into four groups:

Leaf crops - these include different kinds cabbage, green onions, leaf salads, as well as spinach.
Fruit vegetables - cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, pumpkin.
Legumes - beans, chickpeas, peas.
Root vegetables - potatoes, beets, radishes, carrots.

Table of the simplest crop rotation in the garden:

Sequence of landing by year	Recommended crops for planting
Sequence of landing by year	1st bed	2nd bed	3rd bed	4th bed
1 year	fruit	roots	legumes	leafy
2 year	roots	legumes	leafy	fruit
3 year	legumes	leafy	fruit	roots

Arrangement of beds for cucumbers in open ground: photos and recommendations

To grow cucumbers in open ground, beds are usually prepared in the fall. This should be done before the rains and temperatures drop. The planting area must be carefully dug up and saturated with organic fertilizers. Cucumbers like fertile, light soil that has a good level of air and water permeability. If the soil on the site is heavy, sawdust, peat or sand can be added to the soil to facilitate loosening.

Helpful advice! To get a rich harvest, it is recommended to add a tablespoon of superphosphate and a glass of ash per 1 m² of area. Instead of ash, you can use dolomite flour.

The process of preparing a bed for cucumbers in the spring includes the procedure for disinfecting the soil. To do this, the site of the future garden is spilled with potassium permanganate. The solution must be hot and strong. In addition, soil fertility can be increased by adding chicken manure or manure. This procedure is carried out locally, that is, the fertilizer is placed directly into the trench or hole. After this, the bed is covered with a small layer of soil, where the seeds are then planted.

How to make a bed for cucumbers: agrotechnical secrets

To get a rich harvest of cucumbers from the garden, you must adhere to the basic rules:

There should be no irrigation canals, streams or flowing reservoirs near the beds.
If the planting area is not protected, it is better to place the garden in a quiet place where there are no drafts.
Procedures such as watering and loosening the soil must be performed on a regular basis. Otherwise, a hard crust will form on the surface, and the bed will dry out greatly.
Cucumbers grown in open ground need to be fed much more often than those grown in closed beds.
During harvesting, it is not recommended to change the position of the plant's vines or turn them over.
Weeding plants in open beds must be performed more often than is done indoors.
It is recommended to cover the entire surface of the bed with black film.

Cucumbers need a rich biological composition of the soil. Therefore, it is recommended to fertilize the soil with organic matter, for example, grass, humus, branches, rotted manure, and food waste. In the process of their decomposition, not only does the fertility of the soil increase, but also heat is released, warming the soil. So that the high temperature does not damage root system cucumbers, experienced summer residents advise abundant watering.

Interesting fact! Sometimes decomposition organic fertilizers occurs so actively that the soil in the garden bed warms up to 80° C. Under the influence of such high temperature Many pests, viruses and pathogenic fungi contained in the soil die. As a result, natural sterilization of the soil occurs.

There are several ways to grow cucumbers in open ground. For these purposes, you can form a long ridge bed, a hole, dig a ditch, or build a high structure.

How to make cucumber beds in the garden with a bookmark

To form a bed with a bookmark, you will need to dig a trench. The depth of the ditch should be equal to two shovels. Then branches are laid out across and sawdust is poured in. The next layer consists of straw and garden waste. You can add autumn leaves, cardboard or newspapers, and compost. The thickness of the fertilizer layer should be within 5-7 cm. The layer is poured warm water and covered with a mixture of compost and soil.

A bed with a bookmark can effectively serve for 5 years. In the second year of operation there will be no need to add upper layer compost, because during the decomposition of organic components, the bed itself will produce nutrients.

Advantages of a bed for growing cucumbers with a bookmark:

convenient watering system;
stagnation of water is eliminated;
In the spring there is no need to dig up the soil, just loosen the soil.

Plants can be planted on such a nutrient basis much earlier than is customary in conventional beds. It is not recommended to use beds with filling in low-lying areas and areas where water stagnates.

Warm surface beds for cucumbers in open ground

This type warm beds for growing cucumbers, it is built on the surface of prepared soil. This technology will the best option for areas that are located in lowlands. In order to enhance the heating process, the bed is covered with film. As a result, a greenhouse effect is formed, which has a positive effect on the growth of cucumbers and their productivity.

Surface beds also include structures in the form of boxes made of brick, slate or boards. The bottom of these containers is filled with sand, then with wood waste. Next comes a layer of organic waste and straw. After laying each component, the contents are carefully compacted and filled with liquid manure. Finally, the bed is filled with a mixture consisting of soil.

Helpful advice! Vegetable and fruit skins, fallen leaves, eggshell(ground into powder).

Cucumbers are planted in two rows. Plants are placed along the edges of the box bed, which ensures a sufficient level of illumination. If you plan to plant cucumbers in early spring, the structures can be converted into greenhouses. To do this, you will need to install plastic arcs and pull them on plastic film. Thus, heating is enhanced and it becomes possible to obtain early harvest. Moreover, the result is completely independent of weather conditions.

Raised beds for cucumbers in open ground

Warm beds with a raised structure are used in cases where the site is located in a region with a cold and humid climate. Due to this, the soil is fully warmed up, allowing the harvest to be achieved at early stages. If groundwater comes too close to the garden, the bed is raised high, due to which the plantings do not get wet in soil that is oversaturated with moisture. Stone fruit trees, whose roots are severely damaged, are planted in a similar way. groundwater.

As borders for these structures they are used various materials. The most popular of them are slate and wood. In rare cases, metal is used. This type of bed can even be installed in the middle of the lawn. If you frame it in the form of paving stones or tiles, a raised vegetable garden with cucumbers will become a worthy decoration of your summer cottage.

As alternative solution It is possible to build a bulk hill on the territory that does not have a fence. You can take any length for such a bed; the optimal width is 1 m. Do not lift decorative vegetable garden to a height of more than 1 m. The air that remains in the voids formed between the elements of large organic matter provides good ventilation and contributes to the rapid heating of the soil.

To speed up the decomposition process of fertilizers, the soil is spilled with a solution saturated with special bacteria. The procedure is carried out twice a year. The first time the soil is watered with bacteria is in the spring. After treating the beds, you should wait at least a week before planting plants. The second time the soil is spilled in the fall after the crop is harvested. When the soil has already been treated with the composition, it should be loosened so that the soil is saturated with oxygen and the drug itself is evenly distributed.

How to make beds in the garden: video review of technology

When thinking about how best to decorate a country house, many people forget that the beds on the site are no less important in this matter than other aspects. It is the correct design of the beds that determines how attractive and well-groomed the plot will be and whether it will be able to delight you with its appearance. To create a suitable composition, it is necessary to take into account a number of important factors, each of which has a special meaning. These include the shape of the beds, their height, location and much more. Only by devoting all your attention to this issue can you achieve the desired result, which will delight you for many years.

Creating the shape and determining the size for the bed

Forming beds at the dacha, first of all, requires determining the shape. In this matter, everything depends solely on your imagination, since this is your plot and only you can decide which beds can surround it. These can be classic stripes, round flower beds or some other special forms, which together will create a single composition. It is not at all necessary to adhere to strict forms, dividing the area into squares and rectangles.

On the contrary, the use of irregular shapes allows for more efficient use of free space. For example, you can follow the features of the relief, or even create a shape that repeats an object. The main thing here is not to overdo it, since too much clutter of shaped beds on the site will create a cluttering effect and, most likely, will cause negative emotions.

If we talk in more detail about the size of the beds created, there are also no restrictions here. However, it is important to understand that a garden bed is not only a decoration for a site, but also a functional piece of land on which something grows. The plant will need to be looked after, which means you must be able to reach any place without exerting any effort. special effort. That is why the size of garden beds, as a rule, does not exceed one meter in width. Also, do not forget about the paths, which should be below the beds and provide easy access to any area.

Organizing beds: what features should be taken into account

Despite complete freedom of action, organizing beds on a site involves taking into account a number of rules, thanks to which you can significantly facilitate the process of both the formation of these sites and their further use. Such rules include the following:

It is best to place the beds from north to south, since in this case the soil will warm up better, which will have a beneficial effect on the condition of the plants, which will not experience discomfort.

Situations where the site is located on a gentle slope deserve special attention. In this case, many are concerned with the question of how to design the beds as efficiently as possible? The best solution would be to position it across the slope.

If the slope is too steep, special terraces, also placed across, will help you. This way you can protect the soil from being washed away during floods and rains.

Regardless of the shape you choose, do not forget that the bed must be strictly horizontal. In this case, you can avoid the accumulation of excess moisture in any particular place and protect your plants from unnecessary problems.

Owners of small plots should not be upset because they do not have the opportunity to place the desired number of beds. This problem has a simple solution, because you can make multi-level structures and use various tricks. For example, a suspended structure designed in a recreation area will not only provide an additional garden bed, but also give the site additional attractiveness.

Everyone can adhere to the basic rules. At the same time, you will be able to avoid unnecessary difficulties and create beds on your site that will satisfy all existing characteristics.

Non-standard conditions: how to avoid mistakes

In addition to classic situations, you can always be faced with the need to arrange a garden bed in a low-lying area. What to do in such a situation? There are a huge number of options for designing garden beds and such an important issue has not been overlooked. Low-lying areas tend to be different increased dampness, therefore, when registering them, you must follow the following rules:

The beds should be compact. It is best to make small zones measuring one meter by one meter and no more than 30 centimeters high. This way you can get a functional flowerbed and at the same time protect the soil, which will warm up better and quickly get rid of melting snow. In addition, crops can be planted a couple of weeks earlier than the generally accepted date.

The process of creating such a bed requires a minimum of effort, since it is enough to create a square from the boards the desired shape, lay it on a flat horizontal surface and cover it with soil to which the necessary fertilizers have been added. Then everything depends on your imagination. For example, you can beautifully decorate the resulting borders to make the garden bed more attractive.

In addition to low-lying areas, raised beds deserve attention - these are beds located at some elevation and have sides that prevent spillage.

Every year they become more and more popular. This popularity is due not only to undoubted aesthetic advantages, but also to practicality, because with the help of a raised bed you can get a ripe harvest earlier.

If you want to build a similar structure on own plot, then special attention should be paid to the question of what the garden beds are made of and what is the principle of operation. There are several main stages:

At the chosen location, you need to dig a hole about 40 centimeters deep and put the soil aside.
When it comes to the size of the bed, it is better to follow standard principles and not make the width more than a meter, since otherwise you risk not reaching all the plants placed here.
A frame is installed along the perimeter of the resulting pit at the height you require, up to 50 centimeters. Bricks, beams, stones or anything else can be used as material for the frame.
The frame is covered from the inside with a film, and the bottom of the pit is covered with a wire mesh, which will protect you from rodents.

After the mesh is laid, fill the hole about one third with some long-decomposing materials, be it wood shavings, fabrics or paper. Sprinkle this layer with soil and water thoroughly. You cannot use synthetics in this case, since then you will not be able to achieve the expected effect.
Fill the remaining space with soil mixed with all necessary fertilizers, be it special minerals, compost or manure.
It is also worth leaving fertile soil in reserve, since after a year the soil in such a bed will shrink a little and the top layer will require updating.

The quality and quantity of the harvest, time for processing and care depend on the correct laying of the beds. When dividing plots, you should pay attention to the topography and location of the site, the climatic conditions of the region, soil characteristics, and the cardinal directions. The length of the beds is not significant, but the width of the plots must be taken into account to ensure the safety of the seedlings. There are several types of beds, each of which has its own pros and cons.

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Basic rules for creating beds

In order to optimize work in the garden, before starting sowing, you should:

1. Decide what vegetables to grow on the plot and in what quantity.
2. Calculate the required area.
3. Draw up a site plan and the order of the beds.

Thoughtful work will eliminate unnecessary labor costs and even make it possible to allocate a corner for relaxation. small area.

Area and location of the site

To determine the planting area, you need to take into account the number of family members. According to N. I. Kurdyumov, author of the book “Encyclopedia of the Smart Summer Resident,” 90 square meters of planting is enough for five people, not including the paths between the beds. He prepares beds 0.5 meters wide and about a meter apart. With this arrangement, 4 acres of land are required.

Take into account some nuances when arranging the beds:

1. Vegetables are grown on the south side of the plot, since most crops love sunlight and the earth warms up better.
2. Absence required tall trees, buildings shading the beds.
3. You should remember about flat terrain. Drainage ditches are installed in low-lying areas.

The shape of the beds can be different; you should not focus on rectangular plots. Too wide ridges are not recommended, since during processing you will have to walk between the seedlings, which is undesirable. Ideal plots are those that allow you to do weeding and maintenance while standing on the path. You can care for the bed on both sides or on one side, but across the entire width.

In small areas, vertical, multi-level plantings are recommended. This method is suitable for growing garden strawberries, strawberries, cucumbers, flowers, herbs. But vertical structures can freeze in a harsh winter. Therefore, you should take care of their safety by constructing protective coverings.

It is recommended to keep a notebook to include a site plan with the location of the beds. Allotments are numbered. The year of planting is indicated on a blank sheet. This will help maintain crop rotation in the garden and choose the right location for plants. These indicators are important for obtaining a good crop yield. divide the plot into 4 parts. Plants with different requirements for soil nutrition and perennials will grow in the zones. Demanding foods include cabbage, pumpkin, garlic, and potatoes. Moderately demanding: melon, peppers, radishes, kohlrabi, spinach, onions, carrots, beets, lettuce, greens. The legume family is distinguished by its undemanding nature when it comes to soil composition. Perennials: strawberries, wild strawberries, herbs, allocate a separate place on the dacha plot.

It is important to note the location of the compost pit in the plan diagram. It can spoil the appearance of the landscape, so they install a composter. Plant residues and other waste are better processed in a composter than in regular heap. If bacteriological additives are added to the pit, the contents decompose faster.

Layout on a slope

Mountainous terrain is not an obstacle to growing crops. A number of conditions must be met to facilitate the process of growing on a slope:

1. Place the beds across the slope to reduce erosion.
2. On medium steep slope(50%) place vegetable ones on the top. Shrubs are planted below. If there is excess moisture, then raise the beds.
3. On a slope steeper than 5-10%, terraces are built to accommodate plantings. The length of the beds is 5 meters and the width is about a meter.
4. If the steepness is higher than 70%, then make ditches up to 20 centimeters deep in the middle of the area and a meter from the edge of the terrace. The grooves protect the soil from erosion.

Creating new beds

Raised or deepened and fenced beds are popular among gardeners. They are good because they are easier to process; they can be filled with special soil with a balanced composition. It is convenient to calculate the required amount of fertilizer. A fine-mesh mesh at the bottom of a raised or fenced device protects root crops from small rodents.

The advantage of the structure is its thermal insulation. In them, crops ripen 2-3 weeks earlier.

In virgin lands

There is a method for preparing land on an unplowed virgin plot. First, the turf part of the soil is removed, but not thrown away, but sent to compost pit. The layer of soil freed from grass is dug up, adding fertile soil. Fertilize with manure or humus, peat. Add sand or lime depending on the requirements of the plants.

The edges of the beds are reinforced with sides. In the first year, it is better to plant potatoes on new land. This will reduce weeds. The potato yield should be high on rested soil. And next year you can already create beds.

Raised beds are fenced with boards pre-treated with antiseptic, concrete, plastic, metal, brick, slate. It is possible to purchase specially made borders. Equip required height sides. Branches, grass, cardboard or sawdust are placed at the bottom. Fill with organic matter and soil. In dry areas, it is more effective to push the beds deeper into the ground. The edges protect against soil spreading and prevent the spread of weeds from the path.

Bed parameters

The width of the bed in the garden or greenhouse should be such that you can easily process the crop without entering the bed itself. In this case, it is recommended to make them no more than a meter wide. And between plots a distance of 80 to 100 centimeters is maintained. If the tops of the plants are too spreading, then you can increase the width between the beds by another 10-20 centimeters.

Narrow beds according to Mittleider are also popular. Mitlider, an American farmer, developed a system for optimal vegetable gardening. According to his system, beds are laid out no wider than 45-50 centimeters, leaving 90-centimeter paths between them. Seedlings grown using this method receive maximum sunlight and are well ventilated. In combination with proper feeding the method allows you to get high yield from the site even in unfavorable conditions weather conditions.

About the length

The length of the beds according to Mittleider should be about 9 meters. Common bed sizes are three meters, 4.5 or 6 meters. The length doesn't matter much.

It is important that all ribbons are the same length and width. This makes caring for plants easier.

Height

The height of the plots depends on the climatic conditions of the region, as well as on the characteristics of the soil. Sandy loam soil should not be raised, especially in dry climates. Tall ones heat up better and dry out faster, so they require watering.

Lift heavy clay soil. This method is suitable for areas that are flooded with water and in the presence of groundwater. The optimal height is considered to be 40 centimeters, but sometimes it is raised to 70 centimeters.

A stepped arrangement of beds is possible. Multi-level placement allows you to save space on the site. Low plantings are planted on the south side, the height of the beds is gradually increased, so that the located crops will not shade each other.

Advantages of a raised bed:

convenient for watering;
water does not stagnate;
does not require hilling;
no weeding is needed when using mulch;
loosening to a depth of 8-10 centimeters is sufficient;
early planting of crops;
the soil is not washed away.

Cardinal directions

It is important to take into account the cardinal directions when arranging the beds, since successful orientation of plantings helps to reduce the number of diseased and underdeveloped seedlings, uniform lighting, reduce the frequency of watering, and shorten the growing season. The crop yield increases by 15-20%. Some gardeners claim that following the direction of planting allows you to store your crops longer.

In the northern and central regions, plants are planted from north to south, since in these regions there is less sunlight and heat, more cloudy days, and more moisture. Plants planted in this way will not interfere with each other.

In the southern regions, the beds should be located from west to east. This form of planting allows you to retain moisture. In drought conditions, this method allows you to get a normal harvest.

If the area suffers from drafts, then the direction of the beds should be adjusted. In this case, you need to place the bed with the crop across the direction of the air flow. Plantings lose less moisture, retaining more carbon dioxide, which promotes photosynthesis.

Paths between rows

Experts advise creating paths to reduce the spread of weeds. These can be temporary floorings or permanent paths. Suitable materials for laying paths include boards, fiberboard sheets, sawdust mulch, lawn grass, roofing felt, brick, stone, old linoleum, pebbles, crushed stone and more.

If the location of the beds does not change, then permanent paths are made. Concrete is more durable. Concrete passages can be monolithic, under tiles or under stone.

They lay out not only concrete tiles, but also rubber ones. Rubber ones do not slip, which allows the summer resident to move more safely. Wood cuts are often used, but weeds grow freely between them.

Weeds on the paths

Having marked the paths, you should remove the turf from them. Place cardboard, thick paper, rags, plastic film or special grass material - geotextiles. Cover everything with sawdust or gravel. Sprinkle crushed stone, pebbles or broken bricks on top of all these layers. Grass will not grow on such paths.

When redeveloping, it is recommended to remove the road layer and fill the passages with fertile soil.

Now is a good time to finally make at least a couple of small permanent beds.

To make or not to make permanent beds is no longer a question today. For those who intend to significantly reduce labor costs while simultaneously increasing productivity and soil fertility, the question inevitably arises: where should the shafts be turned, how to place the beds - from north to south, from east to west, perpendicular to the fence or in the direction, excuse me, of the toilet?

Theoretically, when the beds are oriented from north to south, the plants are evenly illuminated by the sun from morning to evening, which at first glance is good.

But if a “nuclear summer” happens (and for many it happens more often), then you have to look for ways to reduce the amount of merciless sun through agrofibre, shading nets and corn curtains.

And also the orientation of the beds from east to west - to reduce insolation.

A long time ago, in my first organic season, I encountered this situation:

According to the BTI plan, it turned out that the north is at the top, and the beds should be done something like this:

To which my relatives resolutely objected in the style of “What will the neighbors say.”
I had to do it “parallel to the road”.

Did this affect the yield?

Perhaps long-term painstaking observations would show that the north-south orientation gives an increase in yield compared to west-east at the level of 1.74%, or 174 g for every 10 kg of harvest, and compared to parallel to the road by 0.88%. Or some other way. Or maybe not;) You also need to take into account shading by trees, and the number of cloudy days, which different years unequal.

But how to properly orientate here?

This is not a flower bed. That is, a flowerbed, of course, but not just a flower bed, but a flower-medicinal and also spicy-tasting one.

But where is the north?

(I recommend reading and praising the author).

And I thought: if orientation to the cardinal points matters for the harvest, then classical agronomy should have had an answer long ago. And I called (well, that is, like an old man... I mean, we’ve been friends for a long time, but he’s still quite good;) a part-time teacher at the Poltava Agricultural Academy, the head of the Poltava Organic Farming Club and a consultant for one large organic farm.

What, I say, are corn, sunflowers and other potatoes sown on thousands of hectares from north to south, or from west to east, or in accordance with Hartmann’s grid?

To which the answer was: they sow according to everything. This is so good, and that’s how it is for others, and some even like Hartman. Everything is in strict accordance with the theory of a quantum observer;)

The moral of this story is this: if you live in a region where “June is not yet summer, and July is no longer summer,” then you definitely need to catch every ray of sunshine and every degree.

The rest - don't bother. Agricultural technology has a much more noticeable and understandable effect on productivity than the orientation of the beds to the cardinal points.
The grapes, let’s say, don’t care at all - they will turn their leaves towards the sun. And for cucumbers, if not on a trellis, but spread out - what difference does it make where the north is? And so on.