Mainly the research for this design is to stop and think about what I need to do. I’ve now spent many years learning and researching permaculture, it’s time to put that time to good use and find a solution to my aim for this design.

 

 

Different beds

The current beds in this location are not working so I need to look at other options for a different style of bed.

What have I learned about beds?

Small space beds need to be made using slim materials, bulky materials will end up using far too much space and you will reduce your growing area.

I’ve learnt that Zincalume steel beds work well and look amazing in a small space. You have options as to how you build these beds allowing different shapes to be formed. Currently, this garden has three beds using the large rectangle design.

 

Oblong: 1.6m x 0.6m - requires 375 litres of compost

Small Rectangle: 0.9m x 0.6m - requires 225 litres of compost

Small Square: 0.6m x 0.6m - requires 100 litres of compost

Medium Rectangle: 1.3m x 0.6m - requires 250 litres of compost

Large Square: 0.9m x 0.9m - requires 250 litres of compost

Large Rectangle: 1.3m x 0.9m - requires 400 litres of compost

 

 

 

I’ve spent a fair bit of time measuring out the different shapes to see if one of these would be a better bit than the large rectangle.

My conclusion was that due to the slope of the garden, the large rectangle would be the best fit. With this shape, I could stagger the beds down the slope whilst at the same time keeping the beds level.

 

The other major consideration is concerning the paths. In the past, I’ve just laid down conifer cuttings as a path. Newly laid down this smells amazing, and they do last quite a long time, but they do compost down and leave the paths as soil usually before my next supply of conifer clippings arrives. I also want to avoid the whole muddy side of things.

The options are to do like I have for the rest of the garden and use gravel over a weed membrane. This has worked well for the rest of the garden, but I did level the ground before laying the gravel. Gravel on a slope is going to be difficult to keep in one place.

The other option is to go with bark chippings over a weed membrane. This would be a better option to try, and it would also give the garden a visual benefit than having more gravel. Bark chippings will also give the birds an area to forage for worms and other insects.

 

 

Bark adds more value than gravel.