A soil liner for your BEDurVEG raised hardwood garden bed or any garden bed or wicking bed has multiple purposes to support your growing.
It is an important addition if you plan on placing your garden bed on a hard surface, to stop any leaching of the soil onto that hard surface, particularly when your beds are exposed to heavy rain.
But, there are many other benefits to using a soil liner regardless of whether you plan on placing your garden beds on a hard surface or a softer surface such as grass or subsoil.
Most importantly, the soil liner will stop any invasive roots from established trees or vegetation around the garden beds from entering the growing medium in your garden beds and competing for nutrients.
Likewise, weeds will not be able to invade your garden bed and rob your soil of fertility, thus protecting the growing medium for your specialized plants – vegetable or other.
Additionally, the soil liner separates the endemic soil which could contain contaminants, from your ideal growing medium, allowing you to grow safely anywhere.
Finally, the liner will protect the water proofing membrane on the inside of our PREMIUM hardwood garden bed range. This is a soft and flexible layer that is durable but can be damaged. By protecting the timber with the membrane, then protecting the membrane with the liner, you will fully optimize the longevity of your investment!
Here’s Adam installing one of our BEDurVEG heavy duty soil liners:
There’s no doubt the cost of living is soaring. It’s also true that home-grown veggies really don’t cost much or take much effort to grow in a raised timber garden bed.
Recently, we checked out the prices of organic veggies at our local farmers market. A bunch of celery was $9.50, cauliflower $8.95 and a bunch of hardy greens – the easiest to grow – $6.95!
Based on these prices, we figured just the bunch of celery and handful of green beans we harvested alone, will save us at least $15.
Every day, we easily harvest this much food from just a few garden beds – for us, a mix of cauliflower, broccoli, celery, beans, kale, spinach, lettuce and herbs such as basil, coriander and dill. Add that all up, and it’s a saving of approximately $105 each week!
With these savings in mind, there’s really no easier way to beat the rising cost of living than to grow as much of your own food as you can. If you’re saving $105 a week on groceries, a few of our premium deluxe raised garden beds will pay for themselves in a year!
Growing at least some of your own food is good for your budget and better for your health with all kinds of benefits to physical and mental wellbeing.
Let’s see the cost of living as a challenge to THRIVE!
Raised garden beds offer numerous benefits for vegetable cultivation, including improved soil drainage, better pest control, and easier maintenance. To optimize vegetable growth in these beds, it’s essential to focus on creating a nutrient-rich environment that supports plant health and productivity.
Although soil mixes are ultimately determined by what you intend to grow and it is important to note plants have different soil requirements, we recommend a simple mix to get started that keeps soil pliable and free draining.
Raised hardwood timber garden beds are great for growing a variety of vegies, herbs, flowers, and even small fruit trees, as they allow you to vary and separate your soil for each purpose but here is a basic fool proof method…
Root vegies like a sandier mix and less composted material. For these we would recommend a 40/60 mix of course river sand to compost (this is your base mix). Most landscape supplies will kindly mix this through for you. For growing most garden greens, we recommend 30/70 mix of course river sand to rich composted material (this is your base mix). For best results with leafy greens and bracciaes, add an extra 50mm or so layer of rich composted matter to the top of the base mix without mixing through. Then cover with 70-100mm of mulch (straw is best). Always put seedlings in last bedding them down into this compost and mulch top layer for a great start. The compost will fertilise and keep the seedlings moist until they establish and the mulch will protect the seedlings from frost in winter and provide further moisture retention in the hotter months.
Tip:
Soil Liner: Consider using a soil liner, such as landscape fabric or cardboard, at the bottom of the raised bed to prevent weeds from infiltrating from below while still allowing water drainage. A soil liner helps maintain a clean planting environment, reduces weed competition, and prolongs the lifespan of the raised bed structure.
Mulch: Apply a layer of organic mulch such as straw, shredded leaves, or grass clippings to the surface of the soil. Mulch conserves moisture, suppresses weed growth, moderates soil temperature, and enhances soil structure as it decomposes. Additionally, organic mulch provides a habitat for beneficial organisms like earthworms and encourages a healthy soil food web.
Food forests stand as bastions of sustainability, weaving together the resilience of natural ecosystems with the productivity of cultivated landscapes. These lush havens offer a plethora of benefits, from abundant harvests to enhanced biodiversity and soil health. However, within the realm of permaculture, the incorporation of swale systems takes food forests to new heights of efficiency and ecological harmony.
The function of swale systems
The primary function of swales is to capture and distribute water, effectively harnessing one of nature’s most precious resources. In food forests, swales act as both conduits and reservoirs, mitigating erosion, retaining moisture, and nourishing plantings.
Without proper water management, precious rainfall just cascades down slopes, leaving parched patches and erosion scars in its wake. Introduce swales into this landscape, strategically placed along contour lines, and suddenly, every drop of rain becomes a gift. Swales intercept runoff, allowing it to infiltrate the soil and replenish underground aquifers. As water seeps slowly downhill, it irrigates plant roots, fostering luxuriant growth throughout the food forest.
The advantages of swales in food forests
1. Water conservation: swales capture and store rainwater, reducing the need for irrigation and preventing soil moisture loss. 2. Erosion control: by slowing the flow of water, swales prevent soil erosion and sedimentation, safeguarding the integrity of the landscape. 3. Enhanced soil fertility: as water infiltrates the soil, it carries nutrients, enriching the root zone of plants and fostering a fertile growing environment. 4. Microclimate regulation: swales moderate temperature extremes, creating microclimates that support a diverse array of plant species and beneficial organisms. 5. Increased productivity: with consistent moisture and nutrient availability, plants within food forests thrive, yielding bountiful harvests year after year.
In essence, the integration of swales into permaculture food forests exemplifies the synergy between ecological principles and human ingenuity, offering a blueprint for sustainable food production and regenerative land stewardship.
In the below four-part video series, Adam from BEDurVeg explains how to set up a small swale for a permaculture food forest.
Part 1- Laying out a small swale system
Adam recaps the working swale system and shows the small swale system in the beautiful established orchard/food forest before instructing on the basics of how to get started cutting in a swale.
Part 2 – Defining the berm
Adam shows you how to make the cut and shape the berm to create the optimal planting landscape for your orchard/food forest trees and support species.
Part 3 – Fertility/ Plant guilds
Adam demonstrates how to get your swales off to a great start by boosting fertility. This video also describes how your small scale swale system for orchards or food forests is perfect for plant guilds creating biomass for a more self-sustaining system.
Part 4 – Planting out
Adam shows you how to plant fruit trees into the berm, how to water, and how the swale and berm function to support tree growth.
Most importantly, the soil liner will stop any invasive roots from established trees or vegetation around the garden beds from entering the growing medium in your garden beds and competing for nutrients.
