Most gardeners have heard about slate beds, which help make the garden beautiful and functional. It is very difficult to give the beds correct form, this process takes a lot of effort and time. But gardeners found a good helper to solve this problem; it turned out to be ordinary slate, and you can make beds from flat slate or from wave slate.
The natural desire of every gardener is to spend a minimum amount of money, time and effort to obtain a beautiful and even garden. Many people solve this problem by creating beds that can be built using various materials, for example, wood, iron, but the most accessible, cheap and durable is flat or wave slate.
This material, which is used to build beds or flower beds, has a number of advantages:
- long service life, does not rot and corrode, as happens with wood or metal, therefore, for many years, being in the ground, it retains its original properties;
- a pleasant and neat appearance, you don’t even need to paint it with anything, and if you wish, you can paint the slate at any time in the color of your choice; for this you can use regular paint;
- easy to install and easy to take out;
- Having made such beds once, you can use them for many seasons, so next year you will not need to spend money on the construction of new structures;
- To build a garden bed with your own hands, you don’t have to take whole sheets, which will still have to be cut; leftover slate is suitable for this, which you can take for free or purchase for a symbolic amount.
Like any other material, slate also has disadvantages, which you should definitely know about before you start building beds or flower beds with it:
- 1 Since it contains asbestos cement, many people believe that it negatively affects the soil, but this cannot be said with certainty. But if slate is buried in the ground, then pests such as mole crickets almost completely disappear from the beds
- 2 In solar and hot weather this material will become very hot, causing the soil around it to dry out faster. To reduce heat, you can paint slate in white, and to compensate for the evaporated moisture, you will have to water your area a little more often.
Application of flat and wave slate
Before you make beds from slate with your own hands, you need to decide which option you will use, since you can take flat or wave material.
If you decide to use corrugated material, you will first need to saw the pieces required size. This is best done using a grinder on which they install diamond wheel, or an old wood saw. Using the previously made markings, dig a shallow trench into which the prepared sheets are inserted.
When working with an angle grinder, a lot of dust will be generated, so such work must be carried out on outdoors and moisten the cutting area with water.
Now all that remains is to fill the plates on both sides with earth and compact it well. If you do raised beds made of slate, then to fix their walls you can additionally use metal or wooden pegs. Sheets of wave slate must not be joined end-to-end, but overlapped onto one wave: in this way you will ensure better stability and the tightness of the structure.
Everything can be made from flat slate, the length of the sheet is 1.75 cm. The sheet can be divided in half or according to the dimensions required for you. To make the structure more durable and its walls not to creep apart, the sheets are fastened together using metal corners. The corners are secured with bolts and must be painted, otherwise corrosion will begin to damage them very quickly.
Although these options will differ in appearance, they are equivalent in quality, and usually the choice depends on which material is easier and cheaper for you to purchase.
High beds do not allow water to stagnate, regardless of whether they are located on a hill or in a lowland. They have a higher soil temperature, which allows for early and abundant harvests. The fact that the beds are located at a height does not give you the opportunity to walk on them, so the soil remains constantly loose, thanks to which the air exchange process occurs well.
If you grow climbing plants, then they don’t need to be tied up, they can simply hang from a high bed. In this case, it is much simpler and easier to work, since you do not have to bend very low.
The direction of the slate bed or flowerbed should be from east to west. The paths between the beds can be concreted, covered with pebbles, screenings or planted lawn grass. To make it convenient for you to cultivate the land, the width of such a structure should not be more than 160 cm, and the height - 70 cm. The material must be deepened into the ground to a depth of at least 10-20 cm, this will ensure reliable protection plants from pests, including mole crickets. To make your site more attractive, you can paint such a fence in different colors or choose one tone.
Necessary materials and arrangement of the garden plot
Making such structures from slate is not difficult, and anyone can cope with this task independently. home handyman. To do this, he will need a basic set of tools that are found in every home.
To perform the above work you will need the following set of tools:
- bayonet shovel;
- ruler or tape measure;
- a grinder with a diamond wheel or an old wood saw;
- building level and plumb line;
- metal mesh to protect against rodents;
- fertile soil, compost, brushwood.
When arranging beds to obtain good harvests must be adhered to certain rules. Compost is placed at the bottom, watered well, and then covered with soil.
This solution is suitable for annual plants and it is undesirable to use it for perennials. This is due to the fact that the soil is located on a hill, so in winter time will freeze more strongly, which significantly increases the risk of plant death.
If you decide to arrange a high bed, then it is best to make it about 10 m long, while the width should not be more than 150-160 cm, and the height should not be more than 70-80 cm. If you make supports for the walls, then they should be well deepen into the ground to a depth of 140-150 cm.
During the work, the most fertile layer of soil is removed, which is set aside and then used for the top layer in the created bed. To obtain good yields, experts recommend making several layers. It is best to put a metal mesh at the bottom, which will protect the roots of the plants from rodents, then lay brushwood, and small ones on top of it. wooden block, compost is poured on them and only then a layer of black soil. It is recommended to water each layer, except the last one, with water and compact it, and only then lay the next one.
This sequence of layers will ensure high temperature inside the soil, so decay processes will begin to occur more intensely and beneficial substances will be released into the soil faster, after which they will reach the roots of the plants.
Before deciding to create such beds, you need to weigh the pros and cons, think about whether the time and money spent will pay off due to the harvest, or whether you can simply make the beds without using additional building materials.
May 29th, 2015
Hello, dear readers! Today we will talk about. This year my husband built one of these in our garden. Remember, I told you how we arrange high ? The lower layers of such a bed are various organic remains from the vegetable garden, garden, kitchen or yard: branches, pulled out weeds, sawdust, bark, fallen leaves, pine needles, vegetable peelings, etc. The top layer is the fertile layer of soil, on which we sow the seeds. As organic matter decomposes in the garden bed, it releases heat, helping to create a favorable microclimate for vegetables. It is this structure that allows us to consistently receive early and high yields delicious homemade cucumbers, and the “filling” of the garden bed turns into light and fertile humus after a couple of years.
Fences for raised beds:Andwhat to do?
Formerly high fence cucumber bed we made it from various old boards. But this year our box, built “from what we had,” completely fell into disrepair, and we had to decide what to make a new garden bed fencing from. By chance, we just had some old slate in stock. After thinking, the husband decided to make the sides for the high bed from this material.
Harm of slate for beds: is there any?
At first I had doubts about the harm of slate for garden beds. Will such material be safe for developing plants and ultimately for our health? Just in case, I looked on the Internet and read that asbestos, which is part of slate, can only harm us if it turns into a dusty state. Therefore, when cutting slate sheets, wear goggles and a respirator or gauze bandage while working. Also ask your children and loved ones not to approach you during this period to be sure of their safety.
And no matter how hard I looked for slate to cause any harm to plants, I couldn’t find any materials. The only unpleasant point here may be the ability of the slate to get very hot, supposedly this poses some risk of damage to the roots. To prevent this from happening, many advise painting the slate bed white or whitewashing it with lime. Or just water the plantings more often.
In all other respects, slate as a fencing for garden beds is no worse than many other building materials, and in terms of durability and resistance to rotting, it is even better. I think the fragility of slate should not be taken into account. After all, we’re not going to hit the sides of our garden bed with a hammer!
We build high beds from slate
For those who are interested in how to make raised beds from slate with your own hands, my husband tried to describe the construction process in detail. Below is his explanation:
1. Standard Sheet We cut the slate with a grinder across the “waves” so that we get two pieces of equal size. In this way we prepare a sufficient amount of slate. If you don’t have a grinder, you can use slate nail and a hammer. We punch holes along the chip line, then break the slate on a block. The more holes, the smoother the chip line will be.
2. Mark a place on the ground to install the bed using pegs and rope. We take out the soil around the perimeter of the future bed to the width of a bayonet shovel to create a ditch. Its depth should be at least 25-30 centimeters.
3. We install slate sheets vertically into the ditch (so that the “waves” are vertical, for greater structural rigidity), starting from the corners. At the corner, the perpendicular sheets need to be fastened together using a board 12-15 cm wide and a length equal to the height of the bed. We install the board vertically with inside, then we drill holes through the slate and screw screws with a washer into them from the outside. You should take galvanized roofing screws. If they are with a drill, then you do not need to drill holes for them first.
4. Install and level the remaining slate sheets in height, joining them to each other “overlapping”. For horizontal and vertical alignment We use a building level. We fix it on top from the outside flush with the slate sheets. wooden block 5x5 cm around the perimeter, screwing screws into it from the inside of the bed through the slate.
5. Place a board 12-15 cm wide on top of the block along the perimeter flat and screw it with self-tapping screws so as to cover the block and the “waves” of the slate. After this, it is advisable to paint the outside (or whitewash it).
We put organic matter in the garden bed
6. We fill the ditch on both sides, put organic matter in the bed (manure, branches, twigs, grass, tops, sawdust, pine needles, etc.), put large fragments (thick branches, twigs, etc.) at the very bottom beds. After stuffing, you need to thoroughly pour the organic matter with water (you can add biofertilizer for compost, such as “Baikal” EM-1, to speed up the decomposition processes and enrich the compost with beneficial bacteria), cover plastic film for a couple of days so that the compost “ignites”. After this, we place a layer of humus on the organic matter. Humus can be laid immediately after filling, without waiting for the compost to “ignite”.
What, what, you can call it slate waste material, which almost always remains unclaimed after replacing it on the roof. People solve the issue of its disposal in different ways - some break it into small pieces and use it as a filler for concrete mixture, others simply throw it away, while still others, trying to extend the life of this material, try to find another use for it. It can be used for various purposes - for example, you can use it to make pretty nice garden beds. This is exactly what we will talk about in this article, in which, together with the website, we will deal with the question of how to make beds from slate in the country?
Raised beds made of slate photo
Slate beds: advantages and disadvantages
Before you start directly solving the question of how to make beds from slate, you first need to understand the features of this material. What if it is not suitable for these purposes for some reason? You should carefully study its advantages and disadvantages and only then make a decision about making beds from slate. The advantages of this material include the following points.
And that's not all - by digging slate to a depth of 400 mm into the soil, you protect the bed from attacks by mole crickets and other similar pests. Moreover, such a barrier will prevent attempts weeds settle on the site fertile soil. But not everything is as rosy as it might seem at first glance - this material also has disadvantages. The most important of them is asbestos, which is found in abundance in slate and has a negative influence on the ground. Among other things, slate gets very hot in the sun, as a result of which the soil dries out faster - you need to either water such beds more often, or make them large size. Well, in all other respects, fences for beds made of slate are a completely acceptable option, allowing you to create and small areas sown area and the so-called or. We’ll talk about how this is done further, but first, let’s watch a short video about do-it-yourself slate beds.
How to make beds from slate with your own hands: nuances
It's no secret that slate can be different - wavy and flat. Which one you will use to make beds, there is no difference, except for it appearance– flat slate looks a little more attractive, and the beds made from it turn out to be more neat. In principle, this is your business, and in most cases, few people pay attention to this point - what is available is what the beds are made from. Don't buy it specifically for this purpose. new material. In general, everything is clear here - any slate will do, even plastic and ondulin as well.
Now, as for the technology of making beds, everything is elementary here, and, in fact, there’s not even anything to talk about. It is for this reason that we will consider making not a simple bed made of slate, but a so-called high bed made of slate or, as it is also called, a warm bed. So, the process of its manufacture can be represented as the following sequence of work.
In principle, everything, the beds made of flat or wavy slate with your own hands, one might say, are ready, and now the most interesting part begins - it needs to be thoroughly watered. An abundance of moisture will start the process of decay, as a result of which two components useful for plant growth will begin to be abundantly released - heat and minerals, without which plant growth does not occur. Thanks to these components you can count on bountiful harvest cultivated plants for at least five years - then the bed will have to be “recharged”. It is best to create such beds in the fall - then early spring she is gaining full strength. If you additionally cover it with film, it will turn out great.
The construction of low beds made of slate is not much different from the option described above - the principle of their manufacture is almost the same, except that they do not need a ditch. Or rather, it is needed, but only around the perimeter of the bed and only for installing the slate itself. They are of no use other than a beautiful decorative appearance, and personally I don’t see much point in making them. If you are going to do it, then make it high beds - at least they are capable of producing big harvest and this alone is quite enough to give preference to them.
In order to create a garden bed, a gardener needs to work hard. For this there are various options. One of the most inexpensive and effective is to use slate for this purpose. Its main varieties are flat and wavy slate.
Pros and cons
If a gardener wants to decide exactly how to make them, then he must weigh the existing positive and negative properties of such a choice.
First, let's mention the advantages of this kind of beds:
- The material for them can be easily obtained and is inexpensive.
- Beds made from such material look very aesthetically pleasing.
- Carrying out such work is not particularly difficult and is accessible to almost any gardener.
- Such roofing material, like slate, is very durable and reliable. One of its most attractive features is that it is almost completely indestructible.
- Probably due to the presence of asbestos cement in this material, it almost completely protects plants from mole crickets and other harmful insects.
Now we will tell about the shortcomings that also occur in this case:
- It is known that it contains asbestos cement.
There is an opinion among gardeners (not confirmed, but not refuted) that the asbestos cement contained in slate can have a negative effect on the growth and maturation of plants growing in such beds.
- This the material conducts heat well. When heated under the sun's rays, it will become very warm and heat the surrounding soil. This, in turn, will lead to increased evaporation of water in warm weather.
Species
If you decide to equip yourself with beds of this type, then you need to decide which varieties are most suitable for us.
First of all, they can be divided according to the type of slate used:
- Using wavy slate.
- Those made using the flat variety.
It also makes sense to distinguish by their depth:
General rules
The harvest that is harvested from this kind of beds grows and ripens during the warm season. They are not intended for use during winter period, since during frosts they freeze to their entire depth.
When planning, you need to take into account that their most convenient width is up to 160 cm. This is due to the convenience of carrying out agricultural work on it.
Usually their location and size are planned so that their length is located along the east-west line.
In fact, the configuration can be very different. Some gardeners install them with a width of 20 cm or more, others do not make them rectangular, but give them a more complex shape.
Planning must be done in such a way as to make the most efficient use of the available free space.
Preparatory work
Slate slicing The following operations must first be done:
- Mark the ground. Usually the beds are located from east to west, their length is not limited. The width, as a rule, can be different, but not wider than 160 cm. The limitation is related to the convenience of working on the beds.
- Cut slate sheets so that it is the required height. Typically, the width of slate sheets is from one to one and a half meters, and the length is from 2-4 m. Cutting must be done taking into account the depth of penetration into the ground and the required height of the edge of the slate from the surface of the earth. There will be a lot of dust when cutting, so you need to wear a respirator to do this work. If corrugated slate is used, cut it across the waves.
How to make a bed from slate?
Here is a description of how to create a regular garden bed. If you need to make a buried one, then you need to remember that in this case the depth is 30-40 centimeters, the height above the ground is 70-80 cm. The soil inside the bed will be 30-40 cm higher than the surrounding surface.
Step by step instructions
Let's look at how to properly equip such a bed:
Required materials
Before starting work, it will be necessary to prepare everything that is required to carry out work on their equipment.
Corrugated slate beds Here we list what exactly you will need to prepare in advance:
- Slate sheets in sufficient quantities. You can use either wavy slate or flat slate.
- Grinder saw with the appropriate circle, which is necessary for cutting individual sheets according to the required dimensions.
- Roulette, pegs And twine for marking the ground.
- Construction level.
- Crushed stone, mulch, fertilizer, paper waste, compost and fertile land for filling the beds.
Garden bed care
One of their significant features is enhanced heating. This is due to the fact that this material conducts heat well and sunny weather promotes stronger heating of the surrounding soil.
Due to this circumstance the beds need to be watered additionally, in order to compensate for the loss of moisture.
Systematization brings order to any area. This may apply to both personal belongings and serious production. This approach is also valid for growing different cultures. To make it easier to maintain the territory at the dacha or personal plot You can make beds from slate with your own hands. How exactly should they be located and what will be needed to arrange them? This will be discussed in the article.
Are such beds necessary?
It is worth arranging beds using slate at least due to the following nuances:
- light weight material;
- rot resistance;
- low price;
- long service life;
- ease of self-assembly;
- resilience to climate change;
- resistance to moisture;
- nice appearance.
Slate is lightweight, so individual sheets are easy to transport around the site to the installation site. Besides, individual elements It is easy to dissolve into products of the required height, which will make it possible to build beds in several tiers. The service life of slate fencing is 10 years or more. At the same time, the material is not subject to rotting or other biological effects, which can occur in the soil. Slate is not destroyed by fertilizers applied to the soil. Compared to wood, slate is ideal option. When wood swells, it becomes deformed and destroyed. When it is constantly in the ground, it begins to rot.
Slate tolerates sudden changes in temperature very well, so there is no need to dismantle the fences of the beds for the winter. The material makes it possible to give the rows a neat and finished look. Its cost is low, so everyone can build similar beds for themselves. Slate beds are fire resistant, so there will be no fire. Those who have already built slate beds for themselves note a noticeable growth of plants. This is due to the fact that thanks to slate, the likelihood of destruction of the root system by various pests is reduced. The material also serves as a barrier to the weed root system.
There are also disadvantages to this method of designing beds. One of them is increased heating of the walls from sunlight. This leads to the fact that moisture from the soil evaporates somewhat faster than without fences. Taking this into account, it is necessary to produce frequent watering which will increase water consumption. Some gardeners believe that slate itself is toxic and can transmit harmful substances cultivated plants. This disadvantage can be mitigated paint coating. If you apply this approach, you can further extend the life of the fence.
Pay attention! For coloring slate sheets It is better to choose acrylic-based paints or polymer compositions.
To successfully build beds, it is important to follow several simple recommendations. The main ones include:
- correct location of beds;
- sufficient deepening of the fencing sheets;
- correct width of beds;
- correct organization of row spacing.
It is necessary to arrange the beds in such a way that most of them are under sun rays. This means that they should stretch from east to west. The correct width of the beds should not exceed 120 cm. This size is not a categorical rule, but such beds are easier to care for. In order for the slate sheets to withstand soil pressure, they must be buried 20 cm. The space between the beds should be sufficient for free movement. It can be laid out with paving slabs or covered with straw or sawdust. This will prevent weed growth and make it easier to move.
Safety precautions
Working with slate has its own characteristics, so you should adhere to basic safety rules so as not to harm your health. Asbestos-cement sheets must be cut using an angle grinder. This tool itself is quite dangerous. This will require a concrete disc. It is better to take a non-segmented disk so that the sheets do not burst. It scatters when cutting large number dust. Respiratory and visual organs must be protected. In the first case, a respirator is used. A regular petal will do, but it needs to be changed when it gets dirty. When working with an angle grinder, it is better to use earplugs or special headphones.
Straight slate can be cut in any direction. If we're talking about If it is wavy, then you need to shorten it across the waves. Only in this case can you achieve an ideal result. During operation, it is advisable to periodically wet the disc. This will extend its service life and reduce the amount of dust.
Making beds
Regular
The process of building beds from slate with your own hands is simple, so even an untrained craftsman can handle it. On a sheet of paper you can schematically draw a plot of land to scale. On it, choose the best location for the beds. After marking on a sheet of paper, the designations are transferred to the ground. The territory on the site is marked with pegs and twine. Next, the slate is cut into elements of the required size. A trench 20 cm deep is dug along the perimeter. Sheets of slate are inserted into it, leveled vertically and fixed with soil. To make the slate sheet stand more securely, you can make several supports. To do this, the reinforcement is cut into pieces and racks of reinforcement are hammered close to the sheet. Examples of finished flower beds can be seen in the photo.
Working with flat slate In general, it has a similar algorithm, but it also has its own nuances. Total length one sheet of such material is 175 cm. To make walls without residue, you can divide it into 100 and 75 cm, or into 25 cm and three 50 cm each. The slate elements, which will be located perpendicularly, are connected to each other using metal corners. It is necessary to pre-drill holes for the bolts so that the slate does not burst during the fastening process.
Pay attention! Slate must be placed in prepared trenches. If you try to drive it into the thickness of the soil, you can damage it and will need new leaf material.
High
One of the main problems when processing beds is the need to bend your back. This is why many people choose raised beds. Thanks to them, the load on the back is reduced significantly. High beds also allow you to plant crops in areas that are on a slope without much difficulty. There are additional tips that will increase the efficiency of such beds:
- special soil composition;
- drainage device;
- take into account the characteristics of the root system;
- using a configuration other than rectangular.
For high beds it is easier to prepare a special soil composition that can accommodate additional nutrients. In addition, the density of the soil in such a slate bed can be selected depending on the root system of the plants. Due to the fact that the slate bed has sufficient height, drainage excess moisture produced faster. Raised beds can be easily converted into warm beds and plant early in the spring. The advantage of high beds is the possibility of planting plants that are normal conditions grow with supports. Here the slate walls themselves will act as supports, because the plant can simply hang from them.
Pay attention! At high altitude the walls of the bed need to be strengthened. This can be done using pins, as described above, or using wire. In the second case, the wire is pulled through sheets of slate, which are located on opposite sides, and is well pulled together, combining the walls into monolithic structure.
Mittlider
Jacob Mittlider is a well-known American specialist who grows various crops. He developed interesting solution regarding strawberry beds. The bottom line is that the width of this slate structure is only 45 cm.
The advantages of this solution are minimal effort when processing the area where strawberries are planted. You can arrange individual bushes in such a way that they do not interfere with each other. This has a positive effect on fertility. With this arrangement, the roots receive a sufficient amount of moisture, but do not rot.
After fencing the area with slate, shavings, chips or sawdust are placed inside. The layer of this material should reach 20 cm. Fertile soil or special composition. The beds, fenced with slate, are placed at a distance of 90 cm from each other. The row spacing is covered with agrofibre. This is necessary to prevent weed growth. The sawdust bed provides additional nutrients and prevents soil from cracking. In addition, during rotting they heat top layer soil.
From such flower beds you can get several times more harvest than from a plot that is decorated in the usual way. Thanks to special temperature conditions plants absorb moisture and the beneficial substances it contains at a faster rate, this also applies to fertilizers. In some cases, agrofibre is additionally laid on top of the strawberries so that only the bushes stick out and the soil is completely covered. The system is additionally installed drip irrigation. The berries always remain clean, and weed removal is kept to a minimum. A video about the construction of slate flower beds is below.
Row spacing
The ease of movement around the site will depend on what approach was used to organize row spacing. After installing the slate walls for the beds, it is necessary to compact the space between the beds well. For this purpose it is used manual tamper. You can lay it on prepared soil natural stone, brick, paving slabs or fill the rows with concrete. This approach makes it possible to carry out processing even after rain. Some gardeners sow lawn grass between the beds because it quickly absorbs moisture.
Resume
As you can see, building beds using slate is a simple task that anyone can handle. The shape of the slate beds can be selected depending on the size and shape of the area. In some cases, the beds can be decorated with a diamond or triangle. It is convenient to grow cabbage in high beds, as this makes it much easier to harvest. In some areas, raised slate beds paired with greenhouses are the only way to properly grow crops. This is due to permafrost or too low temperatures even in the summer months.