The advantages of a raised bed are immense - you can garden in a back-friendly way, snails and other vermin do not get into the bed so quickly and such a bed also offers an interesting eye-catcher for the garden. With a roof, the advantages of the bed box can be increased even further, as this extends the gardening season by a few weeks.
A canopy for the raised bed makes sense to create shade
Why a roof over the raised bed makes sense
A translucent roof over the raised bed is a good idea for several reasons: not only does a greenhouse or cold frame extend the gardening season by a few weeks and you can often start growing vegetables as early as February, such a roof also offers moisture-sensitive vegetables such as tomatoes excellent protection from the rain. As a result, the risk of the dreaded late blight is significantly reduced, and it is simply warmer under glass - which your tomatoes will respond to with significantly stronger growth.
How to build a canopy for a raised bed - a simple guide
There are several ways to build a canopy for the raised bed yourself. But you can also buy ready-made attachments for your raised bed. It is particularly important that the canopy can be opened easily for ventilation - without it, a plant-damaging infestation of mold can quickly occur. However, regular ventilation is not necessary if the roof is open on the sides anyway.
What are the roofing options?
The greenhouse canopy can be closed or open on the sides, depending on what you want to use it for. If, for example, it only serves to protect the sensitive fruit vegetables from rain in the summer, then a simple roof open at the side is sufficient. A closed greenhouse or cold frame attachment, on the other hand, allows gardening very early or late in the year when it is already too cold for planting in conventional soil beds.
building instructions
A roof for the raised bed is easy to build yourself. For this you only need weather-resistant slats (if possible made of hardwood, no roof slats!), brackets and suitable stainless steel screws. Use these materials to build a framework that fits the dimensions of your raised bed. And that's how it works:
- First lay out five slats on the floor in such a way that a rectangular frame of the right size is created.
- The fifth batten runs in the middle for stabilization.
- Screw these slats together using angle brackets.
- Now place a suitable glazing film on the lath frame.
- This should protrude about 10 centimeters at the edges.
- You can have the film cut to size at a hardware store.
- Now place another five slats on the lower slat construction and the overlying foil.
- Screw everything together.
- The upper frame is also connected to each other with angles.
The finished roof can now be attached to metal rods (e.g. flat rods) attached to the raised bed.
tips
Probably the simplest variant is the foil tunnel (€11.46), in which you stick bent metal rods into the ground at regular intervals on the narrow side and cover them with foil.