Wicking Garden Bed
Reservoirs with media.
Wicking garden bed. Raised bed wicking garden. Having introduced wicking beds and why they can be a great idea let us get into some details check out the below diagram of a veg style wicking bed and then let s go through each bit step by step in the order we actually install them. The veg approach to building a wicking bed.
This is useful in arid climates areas under water hogging trees and gardens that are destined to wait long periods of time between irrigations. Self watering pots have been around for decades and are based o the principle of sub irrigation where the water supply sits below the. The root growth zone.
Very edible gardens veg is a permaculture design education and gardening company in melbourne australia directed by dan palmer and adam grubb pictured above with the veg wicking bed managers jeremy and brendon. I wanted a raised bed planter but the best location in my yard is not close to a spigot for watering. The water reservoir is designed to store the water for the plants above.
Types of wicking beds. This is an easy and cheap way of supporting the soil on top of the reservoir. A wicking bed is a raised garden bed built over a water reservoir of the same size allowing the plants in the bed to absorb water at a natural rate even if the surrounding soil is dry.
A wicking bed is a self watering raised garden bed and even though the design is a relatively new innovation that is catching the attention of many produce gardeners worldwide it is essentially nothing more than a large scale version of a self watering pot. How to construct garden wicking worm beds water once a week in summer and less during the rest of the year. A step by step guide.
Wicking beds are great at maintaining consistent moisture content. It also captures the nutrients that are washed off the soil during top watering. Most of the diy sites for wicking beds focus on building beds that use media a layer in between the soil and the water reservoir as their wick.
The wicking worm bed is a highly productive growing system which not only produces more food from limited water but also recycles waste organic material to provide plant nutrient and capture carbon. Wicking beds actually use around 50 per cent less water than a conventional garden bed and because the water comes up from the bottom the soil at the very top of the bed remains quite dry which means weed seeds can t germinate. However with a wicking bed almost every drop of water get held in the system and made available to the plants where they need it most to their root zone.
