A keyhole bed can help maximise your growing space , make microclimates and can be part of a beautiful garden design . scan on to encounter out more about a keyhole bed .
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The shape of the garden drives what space will be used to hold flora . In my permaculture aim course I ’m learning to utilise the space by maximizing the planting field . An well-fixed style to maximise planting areas is to reduce the paths in the garden .
The Problem With Paths
Photo Credit : Jonathan Brinkhorst
Paths allow access from one country to another . The usance of them compacts the soil down wee-wee it tough for things to grow . you could see in the trope above that the path is a baked hardpan of earth . Pathways in comestible gardens are wasted real acres which could be used to develop more green goods , herbs or industrial plant which will pull in pollinator or predatory insects into the garden .
In a traditional garden bed of let ’s say 10 understructure recollective by about 10 metrical foot wide , you could be losing 40 square feet of planting infinite to pathway or even more by planting exclusive rows of produce . In 40 square feet you could be planting the following based on seed packet distances and a triangular planting approach pattern :
Now I do n’t know about you but that is a peck of plants which could be planted in that 40 square foot and I would rather be planting some of these than get all that path !
Keyhole Garden Beds
A keyhole garden bed changes the configuration and layout of the traditional garden rows in growing your vegetable . By curving the planting space into a circle and take a crap a small tract , less than a quarter of the basis is used for a course .
In my previous post aboutplanning a garden for self enough , I made this graphic of a canonical keyhole garden bed :
The wider circle in the middle is a twist space to allow you to move around for weed , feeding and harvest home .
Multiple basic keyhole beds can be linked together with a chief nerve tract which can accommodate a wheelbarrow orrolling composterto help in harvesting and land building . Keyhole bed colligate together in a design are often refer to as mandala gardens .
Photo Credit : Andrew Pons
Mandala type purpose can be seen in this passionflower . The stamen and anthers of the passionflower vine would be footpath in a garden . Use nature to inspire your inner garden designer when creating keyhole garden !
Keyhole garden bed have become rather sophisticated now with compost towers built into them and can besmall keyhole composting garden bedsto much largerdrought resistant , compost raised beds . U - determine , raised keyhole gardens were used in Africa and make beautifully productive , ego - confirm gardens . Keyhole gardens with desegregate compostersnot only feed your plants right there in the garden seam are a traditional style to mature food in regions with pitiful soil and low rainfall because they require less urine to produce a big harvest home .
Building A Keyhole Bed
A keyhole garden may bepurchased as a kitor built really plainly using cardboard as a sheet mulch and building up the bed .
Using cardboard , spread over the soil in the keyhole shape . The planting space for the seam would be around 3 to 5 feet wide . The tract can specify at 1 foot wide-cut to the wider primal turning circle of 18 to 24 in . you’re able to also cover the pathway with cardboard and mulch it at the same meter or go forth it uncovered by composition board .
Add other compostable materials like leaves , newspaper publisher , compost etc .
You might like to read a related postHow To Make Easy Raised Beds Using Cardboard .
establish your young bed !
It really is that sluttish ! you could abut the keyhole bed with brick , stone or wood and create gravel or woodchip pathway or leave them grassy if you do n’t mind the extra mowing to keep the grass in check .
Some ideas to make your keyhole garden more fertile and puzzle out easier for you :
Build a compost tug in the centre to fertilize your garden bed meaning there is less oeuvre in moving compost .
Use rock , cementum , adobe , glass bottle or wood to build up your garden to a higher raised bed and incorporate easy reach , irrigation well and composter .
Hugelkulturand chaff Bale can also make big keyhole gardens that are low weewee and self rich once established .
Tips to Plant Your Keyhole Garden Bed
Most gardens are orthogonal or square in physical body and by changing to circular designs you may imagine that there is wasted space at the margins .
border can also be used for native tree diagram or bush as well as beautiful efflorescence shrubs . The only limit is your imagination .
Generally , plant frequently picked plant secretive to the center in soft reach . These may be cut and come again salads , herbaceous plant and other plants you eat on daily .
plant which you harvest every duet of Clarence Shepard Day Jr. such as peppers , bean , tomatoes etc would go behind the day-after-day harvest plants . Towards the back , tenacious condition crops like perennial such as artichokes or crop which are harvested once like parsnips , carrots , potatoes , cabbage etc are planted .
The outer edge can be trellis to allow turn of tall climbers such as beans or vine like grape vine . The outer boundary may also be planted with tall , inflexible crop to move as a shelterbelt .
Photo Credit : Thomas Beckett
Mandala and keyhole garden bed make originative flower beds as well !
orbitual keyhole bed can balance the igniter and shadow from the sunlight and create localized planting niches for your works .
If you orientate the cardinal route in the keyhole garden so that it is steer to the south you’re able to make a cun trap , by planting tall plants at the due north border produce it idealistic for hotness sleep together plant like tomato or peppers . crop which wilt in midsummer sunniness can be constitute to the east of tall sun loving crops to be shaded during the afternoons providing respite from the Dominicus and forestall wilt .
Benefits of a Keyhole Garden
There are a few benefit to keyhole gardens and these are why you need them in your garden :
If you want to read more about keyhole beds take a look at :
The book Soiled Rotten : Keyhole Gardens All Year Round
The Nifty Homestead Keyhole Garden
Preparedness Mama The Ultimate Raised Bed – Make A Keyhole Bed
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