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Enclose the beds in the country with all improvised materials. Most of all, the owners of the suburban area like slate. Inexpensive material allows you to quickly build the sides, and the design is even and neat. Every person can make beds from slate with his own hands, you just need to have patience and a tool.
Features of asbestos-cement material
Before proceeding with the manufacture of slate beds, you need to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of this material. From the sheets you can make beds in the greenhouse and in the garden. Asbestos cement tolerates any environmental conditions except high temperatures. But it is unlikely that anyone will kindle a fire directly at the very side of the garden.
Most often, wavy slate is found in the back of a summer resident. It can be old roofing from a house or barn. For fencing, such material is better suited than flat sheets. Asbestos-cement slate is a fragile material, and the waves form a kind of stiffeners. Here it is important to install it correctly. If such a slate is chosen for the garden in the country, then it is better to cut it into strips across the wave. The fragments will turn out to be shorter than from a sheet unraveled in length, but much stronger.
Ideally even sides will be obtained if you use flat slate for the beds of your summer cottage. However, one must be prepared for the fact that such walls will turn out to be quite fragile. It is optimal to reinforce the perimeter of the board with wooden or metal stakes driven into the ground. It is better to fasten the corners of the fences with the help of metal corners and bolts. The joints of flat sections can be connected with a metal strip and the same bolts.
Slate as a material for fencing beds has its advantages:
- rather light material allows you to quickly build the sides;
- slate is resistant to fire, temperature extremes and dampness;
- does not corrode and rot;
- service life of at least 10 years;
- the sheet is easy to process;
- finished fences acquire aesthetic appeal.
The big disadvantage is the fragility of the material. Sheets are afraid of shocks and heavy loads. Asbestos cement is not afraid of fire, but from prolonged exposure it overheats and bursts into small pieces.
Deeply dug fences do not let earth pests inside the beds, and also prevent the penetration of the roots of creeping weeds. However, thin sheets have the property of quickly heating up in the sun. From this, moisture quickly evaporates from the garden, which forces the gardener to water more often.
There is an opinion that slate buried in the ground brings harm to growing plants. Indeed, it is. The asbestos contained in the composition of the material, when decomposed, will release toxic substances that infect the soil.
This problem can be solved if the country beds are fenced with slate painted from the factory. In extreme cases, the sheets can be painted on their own with acrylic paint or liquid plastic.
Safe work with slate
Working with each type of building material has its own characteristics. Asbestos-cement sheet is easy to process, but dangerous to human health. Cutting sheets into strips for edging the beds will have to be done with a grinder. A large amount of dust containing small particles of asbestos enters the respiratory tract and eyes of a person, which can cause serious illness. When cutting slate, be sure to use a respirator and goggles. It is advisable to pay attention to the direction of the wind so that the dust is carried away.
After cutting all the strips, asbestos-cement dust must be disposed of. Otherwise, the wind will blow it around the cottage yard, plus the soil will become infected where the cutting took place.
Making a high bed from flat and wavy slate
So, let’s take a closer look at how high slate beds are made at their summer cottage. You can use wavy and flat sheets, and we will start considering the manufacturing process with the first type of slate.
So, there are corrugated sheets available, from which you want to make a fence:
- We begin the work by marking the strips across the waves. It is more convenient to draw cut lines on slate with chalk. The height of the strip is determined by the purpose of the beds. Usually it is enough that the board protrudes from 15 to 30 cm above the ground. When using the “warm bed” technology, the height of the board is increased to 50 cm. Approximately the same launch must be left in the ground so that the boards are stable.
- Along the marked lines, cut strips for slate beds with a grinder. First, cuts are made at the edges of the sheet so that the corners do not break off. Next, the main canvas is sawn according to the markup.
- Ready strips are dug vertically around the perimeter of the future beds. The soil on both sides of the board is well rammed. For reliability, each fragment of the strip is reinforced with a peg driven into the ground.
On this, the wavy slate fence is ready, you can fall asleep inside the ground.
Beds are made from flat slate according to a similar system. The same markup is applied, cutting is performed with a grinder, but the process of joining the sheets is different. If the corrugated slate is simply dug into the ground, then the sheets of flat asbestos-cement material are additionally reinforced with metal compounds. The photo shows how two sheets of flat slate are connected using a metal corner. The joints of the straight sections are connected using overhead metal strips. All connections are tightened with bolts, after which they are painted to protect against corrosion. Further work is similar, as in the version with corrugated slate.
Features of arranging a high bed
So, the slate fences are ready, it’s time to make the bed itself:
- First, a fertile layer of soil is selected from the inside along with grass, but they are not thrown away, but set aside. The bottom is rammed and lightly watered.
- The next layer is laid from wood waste. It can be small branches, wood shavings, etc.
- A layer of waste of any vegetation is poured on top. All this is sprinkled with peat, and the previously removed fertile soil with grass is laid on top.
When laying the contents of a high bed, it is advisable to water each layer with water. Moisture will speed up the process of decay of organic matter.
When building high beds, it’s time to remember the fragility of slate. A large mass of soil is capable of crushing fences. If the side height exceeds 40 cm, the opposite strips are pulled together with galvanized wire. How it’s done is shown in the photo. If the retaining pegs are installed only on the outside of the fence, then holes will have to be drilled in the slate and the wire will be pulled through them.
Inside a high bed, fenced with slate, the soil temperature is 4–5оWith more than in the garden. This allows you to grow early vegetables and root crops. Sometimes gardeners additionally put wire arcs and stretch the film. It turns out an excellent greenhouse with fertile soil.
The video shows the beds of slate:
Arrangement of row spacing
If there are a lot of high beds in the summer cottage, it is important to take care of the aisle. In addition to the aesthetic appearance of the site, the aisles additionally strengthen the fence. First of all, the soil between adjacent beds is well rammed. Further registration depends on the capabilities of the owner. Paths are made of concrete, laid out with paving slabs, etc.
That, in principle, is all the secrets regarding the question of how to make slate beds in your summer cottage. The work, as you can see, is not difficult, and the benefits will be seen by the amount of harvested crops.