Build a wooden border yourself

What are the advantages of edging?

Wooden borders are not only easy to make yourself in any size, they also offer many practical advantages:

• Vegetables can be protected more effectively from the cold because a cover made of foil or fleece is attached to the border, creating a warming air cushion.
• When pouring, there will be none Earth from the vegetable patch washed up.
• Care is easier because beds and paths are clearly demarcated.
• You can divide the area into many small individual beds, which makes planning the crop rotation easier.

Build the frame yourself from wood

Square timbers, which you can get inexpensively as waste in hardware stores or wood shops, are well suited. Old pallets or formwork timber are a good alternative. Make sure to smooth the wood with sandpaper beforehand. A coat of weather-resistant glaze is also recommended.

• Cut the boards with the stitch or circular saw to the desired length.
• Dig a spade-deep trench along the planned bed that is slightly wider than the boards.
• Fill a layer of gravel about 10 centimeters thick into the pit.
• Posts are hammered into the earth at the corners.
• Place boards in the gravel bed and straighten them with a rubber mallet.
• Screw to the corner posts.
• Pour earth on both sides and step on it.

The border gets a little more stability if you fill it with quick-setting concrete instead of earth. Ready mixes from the hardware store are easy to use because they only have to be mixed with water.

Which types of wood are suitable for the edging?

Tropical wood should no longer be used for ecological reasons. Central European types of wood cope well with our weather conditions. Larch wood, a very hard softwood, is recommended, even if not very cheap. It does not need a protective coating because the weather gives it a very nice, velvety gray patina.