The composting basket replenishes the soil’s nutrients as well. Sheet mulching is another method for implementing keyhole garden beds. 6. In the photos below we illustrate how we created a small rectangular overgrown space into a good looking, functional, sheet mulched square keyhole garden. The following is a list of recurring points made for the garden design to work efficiently. 5. No hunching, no kneeling, no kneeboards – just you, standing comfortably to plant, water, weed, and harvest. Huge collection, amazing choice, 100+ million high quality, affordable RF and RM images. Continue to build up the outside wall of the keyhole garden using your stones or bricks. These beds are placed on existing lawn or dirt without the need for digging and can eventually be built up into raised designs as well. Each keyhole garden has a composting basket built into its center. The wall of the keyhole garden. This style of gardening is very convenient for those who like to engage in the activity, but are not ready to experience back pain. Trackbacks/Pingbacks. A keyhole gardening bed is raised to either hip or waist level, with a semi-circle center, allowing you to easily reach all areas of the raised bed. If you would like detailed information to construct a Keyhole Garden, please follow the links provided at the end of this article, otherwise, refer to the Cross-section View A-A at left (click for a larger image).. Wet newspaper or cardboard is placed on the chosen site (in the desired shape). Not all keyhole gardens are round. I am in Bristol and will send pictures if wanted. Improving drainage. The garden uses a number of layers to retain moisture and nourish the soil, making it more productive than a conventional garden. The concept of keyhole gardens began in Lesotho, Africa. We realized that keyhole gardening could do much to enhance the experience of gardening and the output of crops, while playing a key role in self-sufficiency. Art Deco Keyhole Garden: Recycling damaged glass blocks to create a composting keyhole garden is the latest structure in my permaculture farm.Typically, a keyhole garden is a type of raised bed, which utilizes space very efficiently, and as an added feature also has a compo… Here we show you how easy it is to build a keyhole bed. This gives the garden a keyhole shape when viewed from above. Keyhole Farm was one of the earliest pioneers in the United States to adopt this concept, which is a near-perfect gardening system. What is a Keyhole Garden? You can make it as high, or low, as you like as long as it holds the soil in. Keyhole Garden Construction. Find the perfect keyhole garden stock photo. This is not a comprehensive how-to. No need to register, buy now! A single keyhole garden affords enough abundance to provide a large family with a year round supply of vegetables. Keyhole gardening is simple enough to be taught to school-age children in third-world countries where the children then use the concept in their homes and villages. Keyhole gardens are circular raised bed gardens. Doing this instead of rows in such a tight space almost doubled the surface area for planting. Keyhole garden designs are quite similar to the raised garden beds which many people are familiar with. An African keyhole garden is basically a small scale intensive raised bed growing system that is fed through a central composting system which is made in the design of a basket to allow water and nutrients to access the soil where the plants are growing. The origin of the “keyhole” structure lies in Africa where the climate requires the most efficient use of water resources.