Every gardener dreams of his summer cottage being beautiful, easy to care for and producing a good harvest. Today, more and more people are building beds from scrap materials. In this case, they do not crumble, add decorativeness to the area, and simplify planting care. Wooden and plastic pallets and leftover building materials are used. We’ll tell you more about arranging beds from corrugated sheets.
The role of corrugated beds
Sheets made of tin are called corrugated sheets. Alternating convex and concave sections gives the sheet rigidity and increases service life.Initially, profiled sheets were used as roofing material; today they are used for finishing walls, arranging and decorating summer cottages.
A bed made from corrugated sheets turns out to be neat, durable, allows you to reduce the number of weeds and give the site a well-groomed and beautiful appearance. Corrugated sheeting can be purchased colored or painted to give the desired shade.
Advantages and disadvantages
In addition to being decorative, installing such structures has a number of advantages:
- there are fewer weeds on the site, the bed is easy to weed;
- the corrugated sheet heats up from the sun's rays, plants develop faster;
- saving water, less resources are spent on watering.
Corrugated sheeting does not rot, it can be used for 20-30 years. When groundwater is close to the ground, creating a high structure with a drainage layer can solve the problem.
There are few disadvantages to structures made from corrugated sheets; gardeners note:
- waterlogging of the soil due to excessive watering;
- the excessive height of the structure creates a shadow; the sprouts on the outer rows suffer from a lack of light.
The expense of purchasing sheets is the main disadvantage of such site arrangement, but the durability of the structure pays for the investment. There are ready-made sections on sale, but you can make the frame yourself.
Preparation
To ensure that the structure is rigid and does not deform over time, it is reinforced with wooden blocks or improvised metal elements (a channel, pieces of reinforcement, or a square pipe will do). In addition, you will need corners, screws to tighten the structure, or a welding machine. A drill or screwdriver is useful for attaching the corrugated sheet to the finished frame; it is secured with self-tapping screws.
All frame elements are painted to prevent rotting or corrosion of the metal. Cut corrugated sheets. The width of the structure is from 1 to 1.5 meters for ease of maintenance, the length is from 2 to 6 meters. With a long bed, transverse posts on the frame are fixed every 2 meters. The height of the sides is 30 centimeters. High beds are made when groundwater is close or for protection from domestic animals and birds. Cut the profiled sheets into strips of the required size.
How to make beds from corrugated sheets with your own hands
Work on assembling the structure is carried out in stages. First, a frame is made of wood or metal. The lower and upper contours of the future bed are fastened for strength with transverse elements every 1.5-2 meters. The finished frame is painted or coated with protective compounds (linseed oil, water-based varnish, powder dyes) to prevent rotting or corrosion of the metal.
Important: for protection, you should not use aggressive compounds so as not to harm the plants. The structure is well dried. Strips of corrugated sheets are attached to the finished frame with self-tapping screws. The corners are installed and secured. If a square tube is used to construct the structure, it will be convenient to insert arcs for the greenhouse into it.
The bed should be strong, without cracks, so that the soil does not spill out of it, and the structure does not deform.The upper edge of the profiled sheet must be bent or processed so as not to injure your hands on sharp edges when caring for plants.
For installation, choose a flat horizontal area. A bed made of corrugated board is a strong and durable structure. She is not afraid of dampness and frost. The design can be not only rectangular. You can build flower beds from corrugated sheets and plant beautiful flowers on them. Weeds do not grow well between such beds; bright colors will add originality to the area. It makes caring for plants much easier. It should be remembered that the sides of the structure retain moisture; plants should be watered less than in conventional beds.
