The bed is the basis of the vegetable garden; the yield, the effort and time spent on processing and agricultural techniques for growing crops depend on its laying. When thinking about how to arrange beds on a site correctly and conveniently, it is important to take into account a complex of factors: location and topography, climate, soil characteristics, cardinal directions and a number of other factors. Research in advance theoretical aspects to avoid problems in practice and increase the yield of each hundred square meters.

Basic rules for creating beds

To optimize garden work, even before starting field work, you need to:

  • decide on the types of vegetables that will be grown, as well as their quantity;
  • using special tables, calculate the required area;
  • draw up a plan of the site and the location of the beds on it.

The right beds are functional and beautiful

Such simple preparation will help to avoid unnecessary labor costs and, perhaps, will allow you to allocate a place on the territory for recreation or fruit and berry crops.

Area and location of the site

To establish the required garden area, first of all, decide whether you will grow vegetables only for your family, or also for sale. Kurdyumov N.I., author of the book “Encyclopedia of a Smart Summer Resident,” claims that for a family of five people, 90 square meters of plantings will be enough, excluding the paths between them. He uses ridges 0.5 m wide with wide passages of 1 m each, that is, the occupied area is about 4 acres.

It is not necessary to rely on other people's advice. Using special tables, calculate the annual need for vegetables per family, as well as the required area for growing them. To save space and increase yield, grow crops such as cucumbers, tomatoes, beans and the like on a trellis, or tie them up.

Table of vegetable needs and area of ​​their cultivation

Having calculated the size of the garden, proceed to its location on the plan. Consider here:

  • grow vegetables on the south side of the dacha, there is more sunlight and the earth warms up better;
  • trees and buildings should not shade the garden; place them on the north side of it;
  • the terrain of the plot should be as even as possible; if this cannot be achieved, take care of drainage grooves in low-lying areas, or think about a terraced garden.

An example of a site layout on paper

The shape of the allotment for growing vegetables can be any, do not get hung up on standard rectangles. However, keep in mind that when processing, it is undesirable to walk between plantings, so do not make the beds too large. Ideally, if you stand on the path, you can process the entire width of the plantings, or at least more than half.

If the garden area is small, provide high, vertical or multi-level plantings. They are especially popular for growing strawberries, wild strawberries, and herbs. Keep in mind that it is better to make vertical structures with perennial plants mobile in order to be able to hide them for the winter, otherwise the vegetables may freeze.

Non-standard multi-level beds

Rules and features of planning

A serious approach to growing vegetables requires little preparation and competent planning beds in the garden and their location.

  1. Prepare a separate notebook where you will write down how to distribute the beds on the site.
  2. Write down the plan of the dacha in your notebook and mark the location of the beds on it.
  3. Number the ridges.
  4. On a blank sheet of paper, write down the year of sowing and the numbering of the islands with the crops that you will grow.

Such a notebook and diagram will serve for many years, preserving important information for the gardener. It helps to navigate between crops, adhere to planting shifts and correctly select neighboring plants, which is extremely important even for a small area. After all, failure to observe crop rotation of vegetables and ignoring their compatibility threatens soil depletion and a significant reduction in yield.

For the convenience of sowing shifts, conditionally divide the territory into four zones where you will grow crops with different requirements for soil nutrition, as well as perennials.

  • Very demanding - cabbage, cucumbers, pumpkin, potatoes, garlic.
  • Moderately demanding - onions, carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, kohlrabi, radishes, peppers, potatoes, melon.
  • Undemanding - the legume family.
  • Perennials - strawberries, wild strawberries, rhubarb, perennial herbs.

Proper layout makes crop rotation easier

When adding a garden diagram to your plan, do not forget to note the location compost heap. If you don't want to spoil appearance landscape, install a composter. The remains of plants and other organic matter piled here are processed better than in a regular pile. To enhance the effect of rotting, use special bacteriological additives.

Layout of a cottage on a slope

The location of the cottage on a slope is not an obstacle to growing garden crops. Good advice specialists will facilitate this process:

  • Place the beds across the slope to reduce erosion.
  • On a slope with a steepness of up to 50, place vegetable crops in its upper part. Plant shrubs below or make high beds if the soil there is excessively moist.
  • On a slope steeper than 5.10, equip terraces on which to place plantings. The recommended ratio of their length and width in this arrangement is 4:1 or 5:1.
  • On a slope steeper than 70, make ditches up to 20 cm deep in the middle of the garden and at a distance of 1 m from the edge of the terrace. This will additionally protect the soil from erosion.

Terraced vegetable garden

Creating new beds

Raised or deep fenced plantings are very popular among modern gardeners. They are easier to process, you can use special earthen mixtures with the right composition, it is easier to calculate the required amount of fertilizer, and a fine mesh at the bottom will protect you from rodents. Make such beds “warm” and harvest two crops a year, because the vegetables will ripen a couple of weeks faster.

If you are planning to locate a vegetable garden on an unplowed virgin plot, use one of the methods:

  1. Remove the layer of turf, but do not throw it away, but chop it up and compost it. Dig up the bare soil and, if possible, add new fertile soil. Reinforce the edges with sides.
  2. A less labor-intensive method: dig up a vegetable garden area and plant it with potatoes. The number of weeds will be significantly reduced, but do not expect a bountiful harvest in the first year.
  3. Make raised beds: dig up a space for a vegetable garden or simply trample (mow) the grass. Equip the sides at the required height. Place branches, thick plant stems, cardboard, paper at the bottom, and cover with quickly decomposing organic matter and soil. In dry climatic conditions, it is better to deepen such ridges into the ground.

Creating raised “warm” beds

There is a wide variety of techniques for arranging beds:

  • high - very popular among American farmers;
  • mound;
  • according to the Mittleider method;
  • multi-tiered and others.

In each case, be sure to place edges along the edges; this prevents the soil from spreading and prevents weeds from spreading onto them from the paths. For edging, purchase ready-made garden borders or use any available materials:

  • wood, pre-treat it with an antiseptic;
  • concrete;
  • plastic;
  • metal;
  • brick;
  • slate.

Be sure to follow the order of planting your beds as noted on your layout plan. To save space and increase yield, plant new plants in the areas vacated after collecting predecessors. This way you can grow not only vegetables with a short growing season, but also, for example, potatoes if you dig them up young.

Parameters of beds - a little geometry and mathematics

Professional gardeners advise abandoning traditional continuous planting of land in favor of separate rather narrow beds with wide paths. They say that the yield of crops in such a garden is higher, since, thanks to a thoughtful arrangement, the illumination of each plant increases significantly. In addition, correctly selected planting parameters make them easier to care for.

Comfortable wide aisles are a must

How to calculate the optimal width

The recommended optimal width of garden beds differs in different sources. The only thing that all farmers agree on is that it should be such that it can easily process vegetables without going into the soil.

Thus, the width of the last strip should not exceed 1 m. Between plantings, there must be passages with an optimal width of 90-100 cm. There is no need to create a distance between the beds, because spreading tops of plants will significantly reduce this area.

Narrow beds according to Mittleider are also popular. This American farmer developed the “ideal garden” system, according to which 45 cm wide beds alternate with 90 cm wide passages. Plants planted using this method receive maximum sunlight and are well ventilated. These factors, together with balanced feeding, guarantee a high yield even in the absence of good weather conditions.

Location in greenhouses

What should be the ideal length

Focus more attention not on the length, but on ensuring that all the ribbons are the same size, this will greatly simplify the care of crops. However, some amateurs ignore this point, creating from plantings different lengths entire compositions, thus enhancing the design of the site.

Original approach to form

What height to choose

The height depends on climatic conditions and soil characteristics on the site. On easy sandy loam soil You should not raise the plantings, especially if the climate is arid. High beds warm up better, but also dry out faster, so they will require frequent watering. In such conditions, make the “warm” bed deep rather than raised.

Heavy clay soils, especially in places that are often flooded with water, or in close proximity groundwater, need elevated structures. The optimal height for processing is 40 cm, but sometimes they are made higher - 60-70 cm.

In small areas it is possible to place a vegetable garden at different levels. At the same time, make the lowest plantings on the south side, gradually increasing their height, so the plants will not shade each other.

Raised beds are easy to work with

Raised beds have a number of advantages:

  • convenient watering;
  • water does not stagnate;
  • no need for hilling;
  • if you mulch, no weeding is needed;
  • no need to dig, just loosen by 7 - 10 cm;
  • early planting of vegetables is possible;
  • easy to do crop rotation;
  • when planting, there is no need to apply fertilizer to the hole;
  • with smart use of organic matter there is no need for inorganic fertilizers;
  • can be used forever.

The location of the beds relative to the cardinal points

Experts recommend drawing up a diagram of garden beds, taking into account the characteristics of the site, climatic factors and orientation to the cardinal points. Considering the latter, many often violate the standard arrangement along or across the site, replacing it with oblique or diagonal placement of the beds in relation to the sun. The unusualness and aesthetic imperfection of this arrangement is compensated by a number of advantages.

What does an accurate calculation provide?

Correct orientation of plantings contributes to:

  • reducing the number of sick and underdeveloped plants;
  • uniform lighting of crops;
  • reducing the frequency of watering;
  • increase in yield by 10-15%;
  • reducing the ripening time of some crops by 3-5 days.

Orientation from north to south with predominantly cloudy days

In addition, some gardeners claim that vegetables grown with respect the right direction landings, are better stored.

Layout features for different regions

Thus, residents of the northern and central regions, where there is less sunlight and more cloudy days, as well as insufficient heat and excess moisture, are advised to orient their plantings from north to south. Plants planted in this way will not shade each other.

Vegetable gardens in the southern hot and dry regions need beds oriented from west to east. With such planting, crops shade the soil between the rows, which means it dries out less and, in addition, decreases Negative influence overheated soil. Farmers' experiences show that in conditions of insufficient rainfall, the yield of corn sown in this way was 20-25% higher than that grown in rows from north to south.

The location of the beds on the cardinal points is not always justified. The presence of strong constant winds in the region or the location of the site at an angle significantly corrects this scheme. Thus, the negative impact of dry winds on plants is compensated by planting across the direction of air flows. In this case, the plantings dry out less and retain more carbon dioxide, which promotes photosynthesis. Ridges on an uneven area are made only across the slope.

Mitlider layout diagram

Paths between beds

The width of the paths between the beds is described above (at least 90 cm), but it is important not only to correctly calculate the parameters of this zone, but also to arrange passages to exclude weeds. These can be either permanent paths or temporary decking. Such floorings not only hinder the growth weeds, but also make the gardener’s work more convenient.

What to make garden paths from

What to put between the beds to prevent grass from growing:

  • wide boards or flooring made of narrow boards, knocked down in one line for strength;
  • fiberboard sheets;
  • roofing felt;
  • mulch from sawdust, hay, grass from the lawn. It is important to remember that fresh sawdust oxidizes the soil;
  • an embankment of pebbles, crushed stone, broken bricks - such paths between the beds are very decorative and decorate the landscape;
  • old linoleum;
  • carton boxes.

Tree cuts

If the location of the plantings does not change and the paths always remain in place, it makes sense to make permanent paths. The most reliable covering between beds against weeds is concrete. Concrete passages can be monolithic, under fake diamond or under tiles.

You can also lay out the paths with tiles and not only concrete. Looks very nice rubber tiles In addition, it does not slip, which makes the summer resident’s movement safe.

Aisles decorated with tree cuts look impressive, but grass will still grow between the cuts if you do not follow the recommendations below.

Capital approach

How to prevent weeds from sprouting

This method is suitable for designing permanent passages, that is, for those who do not plan to change the location of the beds.

How to make paths between the beds to prevent weeds from growing:

  1. Having worked out a clear plan for the garden, mark the passages.
  2. Remove the top layer of soil in the aisles. If the beds are raised or have high borders, you don’t have to remove them.
  3. Lay cardboard, layers of paper, rags, black film for beds or geotextiles - a special material for grass.
  4. Cover with sand or sawdust.
  5. Make a hard coating on top that is resistant to erosion by rain, for example, cover it with pebbles or broken bricks.

Hill beds located taking into account a complex of factors

The result will be capital passages in which nothing will grow. In case of redevelopment, all this needs to be removed and the passages filled in. fertile soil.

You don’t have to spend a lot of time figuring out how to place the beds on the site and how to cover the paths from weeds. Consider climatic conditions region, cardinal directions, soil and relief features, as well as the developments of famous farmers and, as a result, collect good harvests without unnecessary expenditure of force, energy and time for processing.

Country house! How much this word contains for the Russian heart! And this is the honest truth. For many people, a dacha is a way of life. The dacha plot is groomed and cherished.

And I want the work not to be in vain, so that the plot is not only beautiful and well-groomed, but also produces a good harvest. And even better – a record one! But the harvest will be as good as the garden beds.

You need to understand how to form them, what size and type to make, how to care for them.

A legitimate question arises: how to make beds correctly? Science seems to be simple, but does everyone know it?

What do you need to know about garden beds?

Form. It can be all kinds, and is limited only by the owner’s imagination and the size of the plot. The beds can be made straight, with different geometries, or curly. With or without fencing, low or high.

High beds (the optimal height is 40 cm) have been gaining popularity recently. For many reasons:

  • They are warm. On the bottom layer of quickly composting materials (branches, rags, all kinds of waste paper) place a layer of slowly composting materials (leaves, grass without seeds, paper). Then you need to water it and cover it with soil. When rotting, heat will be released, and the crop will ripen faster.
  • The sun will warm the earth faster. True, watering should be done more often.
  • You can protect yourself from moles and mice by placing a plaster mesh under the bottom layer.
  • No need to dig anything. These beds are not dug - they are made.
  • You can harvest two crops. It is quite possible to enjoy salad or radishes before planting the main crop.

Dimensions. Typically, the width of garden beds is 60-100 cm. Such dimensions are convenient to use. They are easy to care for. The length is not limited.

In this regard, one cannot fail to mention the Mittleider method. It offers very narrow beds of 45 cm, and massive passages of 90-80 cm, no more than 9 meters long. Summer residents who use this method speak positively about it.

Plants are well ventilated. When they grow, the approach to them remains as convenient as possible, and most importantly, they get more solar energy, and even in cloudy summers they ripen well. The yield with this method is higher. Various crops can be planted in beds made using this method: tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, eggplant, peppers.

Location. Usually the beds are located from south to north. This allows all plants to warm up evenly. And in the morning and evening, when the sun illuminates the beds from the sides, they do not shade each other so much.

This is if the area is more or less flat. What if it has a slope? How to arrange the beds correctly in this case? It is more advisable to place them across the slope, so the water will be distributed evenly.

If the area is completely uneven, then the beds are located on its southern slope, and garden plants- in the north.

Layout. For proper planning you need to know:

  • The yield of a particular variety of vegetables per square meter. Then you can calculate the required planting area for each species.
  • Plant compatibility. Without this, it is impossible to carry out high-quality planning.
  • If the site has a strong slope, then you need to build terraces and place box-beds on them.
  • Plan your landing vegetable crops so that tall plants were on the north side of the garden. Then the lower ones will not be in their shadow.

Let's start building a bed with sides

The garden will be neat and it will be a pleasure to take care of it. You can, of course, hire a specialized team, or you can do everything yourself.

Moreover, it is not so difficult:

  1. We mark out future beds.
  2. Using a shovel, along the marked line, we scoop the earth into the center. We go deeper by 10-15 cm.
  3. We install the sides. You can take different materials for them. The main thing is that it is rigid and holds the shape of the bed.
    • The sides can be made of boards. It is better to fasten them with screws rather than nails.
    • Made from slate. It must first be cut to the required size.
    • Can be made of brick. It is used when constructing shaped beds where a landscape designer has worked. Because, as is clear, you cannot simply change the location of such a bed. We need to break it!
    • The height of the side wall is selected individually. It is determined as follows: the height of the side above ground level, plus the depth of placement in the soil.
    • You can buy factory-made fences and curbs. They are made from. The area with them looks not only neat, but also cheerful. They are made in different color scheme and in almost any geometric shape.

Now the bed is ready. Small tricks when using such beds:

  • The paths between the beds can be laid with stones and tiles. You can also sow lawn grass. It will be both beautiful and convenient.
  • After harvesting, the ground is dug up, but not left flat. One or several mounds in the form of a pyramid are made in the garden bed. This is necessary so that after winter, the earth, when it begins to thaw, does not burst open the fence.
  • If the soil on the site is clayey, then holes must be drilled in the brick fences to allow water to drain out.

How to make beautiful beds?

I really want our site to be different from others. Designing beds can help us with this. It can be made unusual and unlike anything else. There is room for your imagination to run wild!

Here are some ideas:

  • The fences are made of extraordinary material. For example, painted in bright colors car tires, will give the site a festive and cheerful look. Moreover, you can arrange them in any way you like: a pyramid, a chain, a column, etc. From metal pipes and barrels with holes made in them. From which plants grow.
  • You can use an empty fence wall and hang something like a flower pot with some greenery on it.
  • You can decorate the perimeter of the beds with a wicker fence. It always looks original.

Good luck to you in setting up your garden, and good harvests!

With the arrival of spring, many summer residents begin to think about how to plan their plot in order to get maximum yield on the one hand and convenience on the other. There should be a good access to the plantings for watering, loosening, fertilizing, pruning, etc. The same dilemma may arise in summer time when you need to quickly organize a bed for any crop.

Orientation to cardinal points:

  • Regular beds with low-growing plants are best placed in a north-south direction. This rule should especially be taken into account in shaded and low-lying areas.
  • Raised beds, as well as ordinary beds located on light, dry soils on the sunny side of the site or on hills, are best located from east to west. In this case, the plants will shade the row spacing, which means that more moisture will be retained in the soil.
  • If there is a slope on the site, the beds should be made across the slope.

You should also determine which parts of your site receive how much sun. To do this, use the main picture for this material:

  • The southern territory of the site, marked green, receives maximum sun rays throughout the year. It is better to plant heat-loving plants here.
  • The central yellow area is also suitable for growing most garden crops. Moving across the sky, the sun will evenly illuminate every part of this territory. On some ridges it will shine actively in the morning, on others - in the afternoon. Thus, each plant will sufficient quantity time to be in direct sunlight.
  • The northern part of the site with the least amount of sunlight is highlighted in red.

Of course, all this division is very arbitrary. Your north end will be your neighbor's south end. Focus primarily on objects and large plants that can shade individual plantings, taking into account the movement of the sun.

Be sure to consider your region summer cottage. When placing the beds from north to south, the plants will receive maximum sunlight, but if in the Kuban this can cause them to burn out and dry out from an excess of sun, then in middle lane Russia would be the best option.

How to apply beautiful beds for the lazy, tall and smart beds are what a gardener needs to know who wants to make his life as independent as possible from gardening worries. If you wish, you just need to master the method of designing lazy beds, which you can see in the following photos. A garden bed of this type will allow you to enjoy a well-deserved rest at the dacha and will not require weeding every time. In addition, it is not only convenient, but also increases crop productivity.

Everyone knows how much time and effort needs to be devoted to each planted crop, which, however, sometimes does not even justify the result: the seedlings may not germinate or do not ultimately produce a normal amount of harvest. In this case, you should pay attention to the technology of lazy beds on your site!

Beautiful and comfortable

A lazy bed is a completely new approach to gardening, which will allow seedlings to grow on their own and produce several times more yield. It is based on a rule that states that digging and weeding the soil is prohibited, except for its preparation and planting itself. Even though constant weeding can remove weeds and fluff up the soil, sooner or later it will dry out and will not be able to provide sufficient moisture for crops.

In this approach, preparation for future planting is very important - it is advisable to do this in the fall, when you can collect material for mulching the soil (you need to cover it with straw, sawdust, cones, etc.), which, in turn, will prevent weeds germinate in an area with such cover.

  1. Install your own irrigation system. It is not necessary to choose the most expensive systems available in stores. In the case of such vegetable gardens, those from which you only need to press a button are quite suitable - and there will be no need to water it yourself. Watering will allow you to make beautiful beds: green and lush. It is also worth noting: watering can be done infrequently, but abundantly, giving the plants the necessary moisture until your next visit.
  2. A tool for working in the garden is the key to saving time. Therefore, it is worth choosing one piece of equipment for many years. It may include not only the usual shovel and buckets, but also various little things that will make your work easier. Also, find a place for your inventory in advance.
  3. At the beginning of the planting season, dig up the ground once and prepare it for future seedlings or seeds. Plant the plants and don’t disturb the earth anymore: mulching will do its job and protect you from weeds. All that remains for you before harvesting is to water the garden beds on time.

    4. It's interesting and effective method, which is suitable for both lazy gardeners and experienced gardeners who know their business. A garden bed of this type will be worth the effort and can bring a lot of convenience.

    High beds as a way to obtain an intensive harvest

    Even though this is a very labor-intensive process at first - building the frame itself and watering the beds, it will allow you to forget about the bad climate and low yields.

    The high bed is always exposed to the rays of the sun, which helps to warm up the soil layer, so it can be planted as early as April without fear of freezing, and the lower mesh will prevent the invasion of moles and mice. A frame that is not too wide (within 150 cm) will allow you to care for the bed on both sides. If you divide it into two strips 80 cm wide, you can even make it yourself greenhouse, passing the film over both landings. It is worth noting that it is the high beds that give the earliest harvest of first salads and then fastidious vegetables. The only problem is more frequent watering, since water does not stay in such soil for a long time.

    Despite all the difficulties at the beginning, the planting justifies the effort put into it and lasts a long time without bringing much trouble, and the garden bed looks beautiful.

    The smart bed for fragrant herbs only needs to be dug once, before planting the seedlings. Then it requires a minimum of attention and care

I never thought about how to arrange the beds on the site, since the dacha has belonged to our family for a long time and the traditional orientation of the garden from east to west developed by itself.

Every year we simply dug up all the land allocated for crops, re-formed ridges in this direction and grew vegetables and herbs.

Everything changed when a very active person bought the plot opposite: she began to convince the neighbors that on our clay soil such an orientation was wrong, and the abundance of her harvest compared to ours with the same care made us believe.

After that, I carefully studied the issue and understood how to properly organize the location of the beds according to the cardinal directions.

The correct location of the beds should take into account literally all the features of your site: region, topography, the nature of summer, the presence of buildings and shadows from fences and trees. The structure of the soil is also important: it turns out that the orientation should be different on sandy and clay soils.

The orientation of the beds is necessary to ensure optimal illumination for the crops growing on them, as well as to prevent stagnation of water or, conversely, to increase soil moisture. By correctly laying out your future garden, you will significantly save your energy and increase the yield of vegetables and herbs.

To mark out your future vegetable garden without mistakes, draw a site plan. It is convenient to use a printout of the cadastral plan for this; it will accurately reflect the size of the land and the buildings on it.

After this, you need to determine where you will have recreation areas, parking, garden, vegetable garden and flower beds. As a rule, flower beds are planted near the house and in front of it, the garden is located along the contour of the site and on the north side, and somewhere in the center there is free space for vegetables.

Illumination and characteristics of crops

So, the illumination of the site is extremely important for planning the location of the beds:

  1. The southern sector receives maximum sunlight; here it is advisable to plant heat-loving plants and crops that do not require high humidity. The orientation can be any, but if the summer promises to be hot and dry, it is best to place the beds from east to west.
  2. The lands lying to the north of buildings, fences and trees, which are in the shade most of the day, are not suitable for garden crops. It is advisable to place a recreation area here.
  3. Where your plan will indicate places that are occasionally in the shade, they will be suitable for growing herbs - onions, dill, parsley. It is best to orient them from north to south so that they receive maximum sunlight at midday.
  4. A sunny place in the center of the site, which is not blocked by buildings and trees with their shadow, remains for planting vegetables. Here, the orientation of the beds to the cardinal points can be any; arrange them as it suits you, or as required by other specific factors characteristic of your dacha.

In addition, you need to consider the nature of the crops you plan to plant. Usually every gardener has a clear list of his favorite vegetables, some of them are low-growing, others are tall.

Considering that you will need to organize proper crop rotation over time, it is important to initially make the beds so that the above-ground parts of the plants do not block their neighbors and do not deprive them of life-giving sunlight with their shadow.

You can get some more information about the layout of the site and the orientation of the beds according to the cardinal directions from the following video:

Other factors

In addition to the degree of illumination and the crops growing in the garden, when planning a site, you should take into account the type of soil, types of beds and terrain features.

Type of beds

It is believed that ordinary beds that do not have restrictions should be located from east to west. This will provide optimal illumination for low-growing crops. The east-west arrangement is also suitable for trellis growing of climbing crops - cucumbers, peas and beans. Plants turn their leaves to the south, receiving “sun vitamins”.

Beds with edges or growing tall crops are traditionally oriented in a north-south direction. This way the plants do not block each other, and moisture is retained between the rows by creating shade.

Features of relief and soil

If you have a pronounced slope on your site, then you won’t have to think about the orientation of the beds to the cardinal points: you will need to set up your garden exclusively across the slope, forming stepped platforms reinforced along the edges. Such an organization will make it possible to rationally distribute usable area your existing land and prevent water from flowing over the topography.

When planning the orientation of the beds, you should also pay attention to the nature of the soil:

  1. The north-south direction is advisable on clay soils, in damp lowlands and heavily shaded areas. Such an organization will ensure that the plants receive maximum sunlight by noon - penetrating into the aisles, it will effectively dry out the soil.
  2. The W-E direction is justified on dry sandy soils, hills and open areas in the southern regions. Growing crops will shade the row spacing, thereby preventing the evaporation of life-giving moisture from the soil.

In principle, difficulties with the nature of the soil can be leveled out using agricultural techniques: heavy soils can be “diluted” with sand, black soil and sawdust, and drainage ditches can be organized in wet areas to remove excess water.

Bottom line

It is impossible to say unequivocally how to correctly orient the beds on the site according to the cardinal points. The choice of garden direction is influenced by several factors:

  • region (in hot climates it is more advisable to plant crops from east to west, and in short summers - from north to south);
  • degree of illumination (on the southern or well-lit side you can form beds as conveniently as possible, and in partial shade - only from north to south);
  • the nature of the soil (on heavy clay soils, the beds are made from north to south to prevent water stagnation, in sandy and highland soils - from east to west to retain moisture);
  • type of beds (high ones are oriented in direction N-S, ordinary - V-Z).

In general, if you live in the middle zone in a temperate climate, the soil on the site is fertile, and you have the opportunity to monitor your garden every day, then you can orient the beds to your liking.

According to experienced gardeners, correct location ridges are 10% of the success of the harvest, and the remaining 90% depend on your work in the garden and competent organization of work.