For many owners, a garden is not only a source of a healthy crop, but also an additional decoration to the house. Cute beds made of slate look great in any garden. Create these simple and easy-to-use products under the power of each person. Neat stripes will not allow the earth to crumble and will stand for a long time.
What are the benefits of slate fencing?
Asbestos-cement slabs, designed to form garden paths, are good in high strength, water and fire resistance, and the ability to protect plants from rodents. Products are quick to replace and easy to carry. The boards rot in a few seasons, and the fence for slate beds is very durable. Wavy sheets give the site a well-groomed appearance. You can buy them in various construction stores.
The beds are placed in various places depending on the landscape design. What form they take will be decided by the owner of the land. They can be square, rectangular, in the form of a trapezoid or a polygon. To create a beautiful flowerbed, you can use colored materials or apply unusual patterns to the slate. Cute flowerpots or flowerpots with flowers will be suitable as decoration, decoration with smooth pebbles is also allowed, which can be repainted in a color in harmony with the design of the site. This creates the original style of the garden.
How to make beds of corrugated slate?
When creating a flower bed, you can use asbestos-cement sheets with waves. The corrugation is located along or across it. The process of making a bed of slate with your own hands is very simple.
- Across or along the waves (at the discretion of the garden owner), file the plates of the required size.
- Mark the boundaries of the future beds by digging a trench (depth - slightly less than half the height of the product).
- Place the blanks in the dug holes.
- Cover them with earth and tamp for stability.
- Reinforce sheets with metal pegs.
When deciding how best to install corrugated asbestos-cement sheets (along or across the soil), certain subtleties should be taken into account. If some representatives of the flora are fenced off with slate with horizontally located waves, then the shoots can grow along the recesses. When digging the ground, there is a risk of not calculating the strength and breaking the fence. Upright stripes do not have such disadvantages, but they are cut a little harder.
Creating beds from flat plates
From corrugated sheets you can saw the required number of fences with virtually no waste, but making beds from flat slate is not so simple. Preference should be given to a slate of 1.75 m in size. The algorithm of work is simple.
- Divide the workpiece into two parts: 1 meter and 75 cm.
- Make a recess in the ground (approximately 20 cm).
- Put the sheets in the prepared holes.
- To fill up products with the earth, carefully compact.
- Cut the metal corners.
- Drill bolt holes in slate.
- Join metal plates with asbestos-cement sheets.
- To prevent corrosion, paint or primer corners.
- When everything dries, fill in organic fertilizer: brushwood, wood particles, compost and soil.
It should be remembered that when installing the beds from slate, you can not drive the fence into the ground, otherwise it will break.
Features of work
For the manufacture of strips from the material in question, a grinder is most suitable. She cuts everything: iron, stones, bricks, pipes and slate. Use it so that the wind carries the dust to the side. Since asbestos-cement dust is harmful to health, it is imperative to wear safety glasses and a cotton-gauze bandage. In no case should you use a saw on a tree, otherwise you can cause serious injury to your hands.
Benefits of Slate Fencing
The material in question is remarkable in that it can be used for very long beds. It is not difficult to place the sides at the same height, since the depth can be controlled by the force of pressing into the soil. Asbestos-cement plates have other advantages:
- they easily heat up in the sun and increase the temperature of the soil by several degrees, which speeds up the process of obtaining nutrients by the plant;
- the material is durable and reliable;
- products are convenient and practical to use;
- low cost;
- asbestos-cement strips are very durable;
- the beds surrounded by slate look harmoniously in any garden.
Strips for slate beds can be painted in any color, which will further ennoble the owner's garden.
Disadvantages of slate beds
In addition to these advantages, asbestos-cement products have disadvantages:
- in extreme heat, the material overheats on both sides, due to which moisture from the soil evaporates faster;
- it is often necessary to correct the slate, as the soil is eroded due to rains and the strips are tilted.
Many people who want to make beds from slate with their own hands ask a question about how this material affects human health. In fact, only asbestos-cement dust does harm. Since slate is a finished pressed product, it is completely harmless.
Features of the formation of beds
Those who want to understand how to make beds from slate should follow some simple rules.
- Plantation is necessary from east to west.
- Fencing high land platforms, slate is lowered to a depth equal to slightly more than half the height of the sheet.
- At the bottom of the future beds should be laid compost, and on top of it pour a layer of earth.
- For compaction, many people use sawdust, strictly observing the proportions.
- In between plantations, you can plant a lawn, it will look great in the garden.
These simple principles will help gardeners make a beautiful flowerbed.
Features of high beds
Gardeners can make slate beds from 50 to 70 cm high. They are ideal for areas with an infertile layer of soil, as they allow you to create perfectly balanced soil for plants. Cultivated crops practically do not get sick and do not require treatment with chemicals. Such a positive side of high beds cannot be missed, because environmentally friendly products are the key to health.
High beds from slate do not need to be dug up often, it is enough to loosen the soil in a timely manner. You should be careful about watering, because if moistened too often, water may stagnate. Such structures are much easier to weed, because you do not need to lean low. They are ideal for the cultivation of annual plants, and perennials will feel uncomfortable in them.
High beds made of slate provide twice or three times more crop than usual. They protect plants from sudden frosts. So that the bed does not disband and the structure does not break, it is necessary to make a screed. To do this, holes are made on opposite walls in the middle, through which the wire is drawn and fixed. Additional fastening is done in several places depending on the length of the product. For the stability of high beds, it is recommended to dig in metal pipes (2/3 of the height should be in the ground). They will become an additional support.
Observing all these simple principles, you can independently make any beds from slate and get a decent reward for your labor in the form of a crop.