How to make beds from PVC window sills?

Every gardener faced a problem when the fill beds quickly lose their shape, which can be caused by rain, soil quality (with a predominant amount of sand) or after weed removal (especially if a hoe is used, or the weeds have a strong root).

Recently, instead of wooden and metal fences, plastic material has been actively used to prevent shedding: plastic boards, panels. The most durable and retaining its original appearance for a long time is considered to be a fence made of PVC window sills. In addition, the structure can be made without much hassle with your own hands.

First of all, you need to purchase the plastic window sills themselves and choose the tools for cutting and connecting them. You can buy new material in specialized stores (its price is quite high), but used items, which even if they have been used as a window sill for several years, will not lose their strength, will also work. PVC window sills can be easily cut with a jigsaw or a hacksaw. Any means are suitable for fastening: bolts, nuts, washers and even nails.

You can also make a fence from segments. Depending on the model of the planned structure, it is possible that pegs will be required to form the corner. In addition, when working with line segments, you may also need jumpers connecting them. If the bed is made quite large (about 100 cm by 200 or more), then the pegs are not needed. Instead, it is more expedient to use metal corners, with the help of which the panels are connected, forming an angle.

This type of material is usually used as a decoration or a small delimiter, for example, for strawberry bushes. Such use of segments is connected with the fact that they will not have a special effect of restraining the soil. Thus, the main necessary details are:

• window sills;
• metal corners (35–40 mm size is enough);
• bolts, nuts, washers.

To make a garden bed from PVC window sills, you do not need to attend special master classes. When starting to make a fence with your own hands, you should plan in advance the dimensions of the future box, taking into account the characteristics of the culture being grown. Then you need to purchase the required materials and get started.

• First, we cut the window sills to the required length. To do this, using a ruler and a simple pencil, you need to make the markings along which the cut is made.
• To make the box neat, it is necessary to cut off all the edges from the inside at an angle of 45 ° (we measure the angle with an ordinary school square).
• Attaching the corners, in which the holes have already been drilled, to the window sill, mark the place of drilling on it (and so on from all 4 sides).
• We drill holes, as in the corner, from the top and bottom sides. You can use a drill for this. We connect the window sills and corners with bolts. In the absence of a drill, you can fasten the elements with screws.

If the bed is quite long (more than 2 m), then to prevent its deformation, it is necessary to connect the long opposite sides with metal pins. This connection is repeated every meter. There will be no problems with connecting the stud, since it already has a thread on it. You will need to make a through hole with a smaller diameter than the pin itself, and then just screw it in. No pegs are needed for the structure.

As a rule, the length of such a hairpin is 1 m, so it is more expedient to plan the width of the future fence of 96–97 cm. With a smaller size, you will have to cut off the excess part of the stud with a metal file.

If the width of the future box is more than a meter, then the use of pins will have to be excluded, since they cannot be increased. To connect the opposite sides of the box, you will need to use something else (for example, strong wire).

The width of the window sills varies from 10 to 80 cm, but if necessary, fences made of this material can be increased and made quite high. To do this, the window sills are fastened to each other in height using bolts, screws or nails.

It is better not to disassemble the beds assembled from PVC window sills, as this will cause the panel to break. If you plan to install such beds in the greenhouse, then you need to take into account the dimensions of the box and the dimensions of the entrance door. Sometimes it is more advisable to make a box right in the greenhouse.

PVC window sills are quite strong, durable and non-toxic material. The only drawback is the high price, which ranges from 500 to 3500 rubles for 1 panel. Because of this, in some cases, it is more profitable to use more affordable material for the manufacture of fences. Well, if there are used window sills, then such beds will be the best option to prevent spring erosion of the soil, weeds from the outside, accumulation of ants in the ground.

One of the most convenient is the height of the fence for the garden bed at 45 cm, since this is the case when you do not need to raise a full watering can very high when watering. And during weeding, you will not need to squat. In addition, experienced gardeners note that at this height, the risk of weed seeds from other beds is minimized. But to fill such a box, you will need a lot of land, especially if the entire length of the window sill (6 m) is used.

It is not recommended to plant seedlings or sow seeds close to the box, since the plastic heats up quite well in the sun and the plant can get burned. In regions with warm winters, it is possible to leave the manufactured structure in the garden after harvesting, which justifies the efforts made to fill the large box with earth.

In severe winters, it is recommended to transfer structures to a warmer place for a cold period, which will prevent cracking of the window sill.

The box does not need to be dug deep into the ground. But if for some reason a higher bed is needed, and there is no way to increase the height (for example, due to the lack of additional panels), then long pegs can be screwed in the corners that go beyond the box on one side. It is with this side that the fence is installed in the ground. Fences made of PVC window sills can be painted with any paint. There will be such a need if the design has been on the street for several years, since under the influence of sunlight, the material will begin to turn yellow in places.

PVC panels on a personal plot will allow not only to streamline the plantings and give the plot an aesthetic appearance, but will become a good alternative to wooden and metal fences, since ants do not accumulate under them, like under a tree. They do not rust from rains, like metal, and retain their original appearance for a long time. If you can find used panels, then they will become an excellent material from which, by showing imagination, you can create original multi-tiered beds.

To learn how to make your own PVC window sill beds, see the next video.