Grow your own with Arnold Laver
Go Green
As spring arrives, your attention might be turning to your outside space. With fresh shoots in mind, are you googling how to grow your own? Or thinking about how you can get the best from your garden, large or small.
The Good Life
Remember the old days when elderly neighbours gave over their garden to growing vegetables? Rows and rows of beans, cabbages and carrots were often bordered by dahlias and parsley. Today, it’s on trend to grow plants, fruit and vegetables alongside each other, especially the vintage varieties, and vegetables and fruit plantings can add structure to your garden. It’s great for the eye as well as the salad bowl!
Go Timber
Whatever the quality of your soil, it can be back-breaking to toil over the ground and ensure the nutrients are spot on for getting the best from your veg. Raised beds give you easy access and options on where to plant and the soil you use. We offer a variety of sizes but all our timber is pressure treated with a 15 year Anti-rot guarantee so you’re confident you have beds to last. These garden products are also part of our Accessible Gardening range designed in partnership with Thrive, the UK’s leading charity that helps people transform their lives through gardening.
Go Veggie
The Caledonian Rectangular structure is a classic shaped raised bed perfect for flowers, plants, herbs or vegetables. Holding 400L of compost, it arrives flat-packed, and with clear instructions, fixings and pre-notched for easy installation. A handy tip for raised beds is that you can choose where you locate them in your garden. Consider the best position to nourish your choice of plants, choosing a spot that offers full sun or dappled shade. Find the best spot, install and it won’t be long until you reap the rewards!
Get the Kids Involved
Our Forest Caledonian Tiered raised bed is perfect for use as a floral display with the differing heights giving you a sculptural look for your plants holding 250L of compost. Top tip is to plant a mix of flowers and herbs with over-spilling varieties to create a waterfall look by planting vertical plants such as rosemary and sage, surrounded by trailing lobelia or petunias. Alternatively, this is also a lovely structure to encourage little ones to grow their own. The differing heights and sectioned areas offer bespoke growing space to suit a range of children’s heights – perfect for pre-school and primary aged children to get their hands dirty. It also means that any spilled earth, cuttings and mess is easily sweep-able if located on a patio. Mix pre-grown varieties of plants, or buy seedlings so you don’t lose their interest if the wait for growth is too long! And, when the interest wanes, you can plant whatever you choose.
Your Garden ‘Room’
Raised beds can also be a handy way to divide up your garden into ‘rooms’ or delineate sitting areas. You can still create your very own kitchen garden, or add height by growing vegetables, or climbing plants, against canes or hazel. The Caledonian Forest Garden trough is the perfect compact fit and will contain 250L of compost. These are also fantastic against warm walls to get the very best from sun-loving herbs and can be an easy fit close to kitchen doors. Trailers, or beans and peas, grown on canes, can also add height to give you additional privacy around a seating area. As ever, these raised beds, give you the flexibility to use as you see fit.
