Instant Garden Bed (No Digging, No Weeds)

Instand Garden Bed is a great solution for those who perhaps have a difficult terrain for planting, low-quality soil or no time to labor the soil they want to plant in.

After I've prepared all the field for planting I just had no time to dig in the garden, take out the weeds and prepare the pieces where I wanted to plant. In these moments I turn to instant beds.

Cardboard (without stickers or dye) - check your local grocery store, they might want to get rid of some

Water

Compost (for a small bed aprox. 1 x 0,5 meter you'll need about 20 kg)

Wooden planks to put around the bed

Plants

It is a planting bed prepared without digging. It consists of a layer of cardboard and compost where the cardboard helps keep the weed out of the bed and the compost gives the plants proper nutrition. Over some time the cardboard disintegrates (I'm using bio-degradable cardboard boxes) and whatever was on it becomes part of the soil underneath it. The instant beds are not eternal but you can use them for at least two to three years and they stay relatively weed-free.

In the first year you should use plants that have shallow roots, like spinach. If you want to plant plants with deeper roots, you will need to make the bed much higher which means using more compost and higher wooden planks.

The grass on the terrain should be short, so maw the lawn before. You should also keep the grass around the bed short or else seeds of the weeds will fall into the bed and you'll grow weeds together with your vegetables.

If your terrain is uneven, put some soil where you want to place the bed and make it even.

Place the cardboard on the grass and soak it with water. You can use one piece or several pieces of cardboard. If you're using more than one piece, the pieces have to overlap at least 10 cm (4 in). This prevents the weeds from getting in.

Let the cardboard soak, water it several times if you have to.

Then place the compost evenly on it.

Place the wooden planks around it to keep the compost in place.

I also decided to place some bricks around the planks but it's not necessary if the planks stay in place. Mine do but I had some bricks and I like how it looks.

You can plant normally, just like you would do directly in the soil. This small bed I made pictures of was for just a few plants that survived a vicious slug attack and I wanted to give them a chance in a place I know the slugs don't visit.

I also have a good experience with planting strawberries like this and from the second year basically anything. From second year, you have to count on more weeds finding their way into the bed.

I hope you find this instructable helpful!