A wicking bed is a fantastic way to grow veggies, herbs and flowers, especially in hot or dry conditions.

Hi, I'm James and this is how to make a wicking bed. Let's get into it.

First, let's start by choosing a sunny spot in your garden, ideally with around six to eight hours of sunlight each day.

If the ground is uneven, you might need to dig or add some soil to create a flat base before placing your raised bed frame into position.

Once in place, check again to make sure it's level. Next, line the bed with the pond liner to ensure you have a waterproof reservoir.

Ensure it fully covers the entire base and sides of the bed with some overhang.

This plastic layer will hold water at the bottom of your wicking bed, allowing it to wick up into the soil.

This here is Aggie pipe. This is going to sit at the bottom of our wicking bed and I've measured it to length so that it will fit from one end to the other.

But before we install that, we'll need to grab our PVC pipe, which we've cut to length so that it will sit just above soil level and this will act as a funnel to feed water to the bottom of the garden bed.

To ensure the water is distributed evenly, fit an end cap onto one end of the ag pipe to close it off.

Using a PVC elbow, a coil adapter and a piece of PVC pipe, bring up the pipe to the top of the garden bed.

This is where you'll add the water. Before we put in the drainage gravel, which will secure the pipe in place, it'll be good to test whether it's working.

This is good and we can see that the water is coming out, so we're good to move on to the next step.

Cover the Aggie pipe with a layer of drainage gravel, up to the point where your soil layer won't be any deeper than approximately 300 milliliter.

This helps to create a solid base for the water reservoir. Once the drainage gravel is in place, drill a hole for your overflow outlet and screw that into place.

This should be positioned at the top of the drainage gravel to allow for any excess water to drain away, preventing the bed from becoming waterlogged.

Once the drain is in place, cut a piece of geofabric large enough to cover the drainage gravel layer completely.

This fabric will keep the soil from mixing with the drainage gravel, ensuring that your water reservoir stays clean and effective.

With our geofabric in place, it's time to move on to our potting mix.

It's important to use something high quality and rich in nutrients like what we've got here.

Fill the bed to about 50 mills below the top, gently patting down the soil as you go.

Lastly, cut the excess pond liner away and tape it to the metal frame to keep it securely in place.

Now for the fun part, planting. You can pick your favourite flowers, herbs and veggies, anything goes.

Dig small holes and plant them at the appropriate depth, spacing them out to allow for growth.

Gently press the soil around the plants to secure them in place. To finish, water the plants from above to help them settle in, then fill the reservoir through the aggie pipe until water starts coming out of the drainage pipe.

This will ensure the soil stays moist from below, promoting strong root growth.

And that's it, you've made a fantastic wicking bed. If you've enjoyed this project, be sure to check out our other instructional videos.

We've got plenty of DIY advice online to help tackle your next project with confidence.