A raised garden bed is the perfect way to tidy a garden,writes Stephen Jaquiery.
With the threat of frosts hopefully behind us for another year, Labour Day weekend is traditionally when Otago vegetable gardens are planted out.
A tidy idea for your garden is to build a raised bed, which can be done quite cheaply by most people with a minimum of tools and building skills.
The material used to contain your raised garden can be as varied as ponga logs, demolition timber, corrugated iron or the more traditional rough-sawn timber from your local hardware supplier.
The key to a successful raised bed is a way of securing the frame-work together so the weight of the soil does not make the structure collapse.
For this raised bed I used macrocarpa timber, 200mm deep and 50mm thick.
The garden is 4.2m long and 2.5m wide.
If you buy timber from a hardware shop you can usually save yourself a task by choosing one that will cut your timber to length.
Step by step
•Lay your timber sides accurately on the ground and use a spade to mark the outside edge of the garden.
•Chip off any existing grass.
•Using a level as a guide, dig out the top side of the ground if your garden is on a sloping site until the first layer of your garden bed sides sit square and level. To check your timber frame is square measure across the diagonal from each corner and adjust until both measurements are the same.
•Fix the corners. I used coach screws into predrilled holes in the timber and countersank the heads. A simple alternative is to use right-angled nail plates or to drive sturdy pegs on the outside of each corner.
•Once the bottom timber is secure, drive pegs on the inside of the garden to nail the second (and third or fourth if desired ) layer of timber.Again, nail plates could be used for this.
Top up your garden with soil, plant your seedlings and it's time for a cup of tea and to plan your summer salads.
