Making a summer cottage beautiful, well-groomed and functional is the dream of every gardener. Building galvanized beds with your own hands allows you to get convenient and effective structures for growing vegetables and herbs at no extra cost. They will look great with any landscape design and will give the area an original, well-groomed look.
Why do we need galvanized beds?
Metal structures can be purchased ready-made or made independently.Galvanized boxes are functional and can last more than 15 years, because the walls of the structure are made of steel coated on both sides with a thin layer of zinc. This protects them from corrosion.
There are significantly fewer weeds in the bed, the soil does not spread, and with the help of legs they are firmly fixed in the soil. The sides retain heat, allowing plants to develop faster. The lathing is installed on a flat, hard surface and filled with soil.
The structures are used for growing vegetables, herbs, arranging flower beds, and landscape design; they differ in size and side height. Multi-tiered options are possible.
Advantages and disadvantages
Installing beds on the site allows you to solve several problems. Among the advantages they note:
- excellent design solution: the structure can be made round, polygonal, multi-tiered;
- order on the site, cleanliness between the beds and on the paths;
- ease of weeding - the small width of the bed allows you to easily get rid of weeds;
- saving water and fertilizers - the sides retain moisture and minerals, significantly less of them are required;
- installing arcs over the box allows you to quickly turn it into a greenhouse.
The designs have few disadvantages:
- high price if you buy a finished product;
- there may be slugs in the beds;
- In hot weather, the sides become very hot, and the plants suffer from overheating.
The boxes are easy to move, changing the design of the site, and put away in the shed for the winter.
Varieties
You can make various designs with your own hands. It depends on the available material, the desires of the gardener and the purpose of the galvanized box.
Collapsible
The outline of the structure is assembled from wood or welded from metal. Bars or reinforcement are used.Galvanized steel strips of equal width are attached to it. The structure is tightened at the corners using angles and bolts. The length of the beds is from 1.2 to 6 meters, the width is from 50 centimeters to 1.2 meters. The height of the sides is from 20 to 40 centimeters.
High
Such options require more material, but vegetables and herbs grow faster on them, the structures warm up better, so you can plant seedlings earlier than in conventional beds. The structure is assembled in a similar way, instead of bolts, self-tapping screws are used, the height of the side is 35-40 centimeters.
Required tools and materials
To make a box, you need strips of galvanized metal, wooden blocks, a drill, self-tapping screws, metal corners, a tape measure, and a level. If the sheathing is made of metal, you will need a welding machine, pieces of reinforcement, pipes or channels, and corners.
DIY making
First, a frame is made of metal or wood. Bars or metal tubes run along the upper and lower edges of the galvanization. If the box is longer than 2 meters, cross bars or tubes are needed to provide rigidity to the structure.
The finished contour is sheathed with metal strips. If the frame is made of wood, it should be coated with a protective compound (water-based varnish, acrylic paint). The upper edge of the galvanized metal is carefully bent so as not to injure your hands when caring for plants.
After manufacturing, the bed is installed on a flat area and filled with soil. You can divide the container crosswise into several compartments and plant different crops in the garden bed.
Advice from experienced gardeners
A multi-tiered galvanized bed is convenient for growing strawberries and is suitable for creating landscape compositions.Tall structures are convenient for older people to maintain; they can take care of plants while sitting on a small bench.
Surrounding raspberry bushes with galvanized strips will prevent the bushes from spreading across the area. If you place the beds on the south side, you can plant plants on them much earlier, because the soil on them will warm up faster. On uncoated galvanized beds, scratches and dust are less noticeable. It is necessary to regulate watering; it is better to choose moisture-loving plants for structures.
Of course, you can purchase ready-made beds made of galvanized metal, but a thrifty person will always have available material on the plot that will be useful on the farm. It’s not difficult to build structures with your own hands, and they last a long time, maintaining efficiency and a neat appearance.
