Raised Garden Bed // How-To

April 28, 2020

Raised Garden Bed // How-To

Raised Garden Beds // How-To

Let's just say I wasn't having it this year. Ha.

If you have followed my blog since last summer then you know the struggle I had with keeping weeds out, pests out, and pretty much keeping my plants alive. So this year I was not having it. One of the hardest parts is always my back issues taking away from the joy I get from gardening. With these raised beds I will no longer have to worry about that. My garden size will be much smaller this year, but I'm so excited to get back at it and bring you along with me!

I'm starting out with 3 2x4'raised garden beds for just veggies. I do plan on planting herbs in a smaller boxed garden and have plans to make a 2x6' raised flower bed for my front yard with this same design and instructions. I'll just be tweaking the measurements with that one.

I mentioned building 3 of this size, but these instructions and "materials needed" are for one raised bed.

Materials Needed:

-(2) 1in. x 6in. x 12ft. boards (cedar or weather treated so they're more weather durable)

-(1) 1in. x 4in. x 10ft. boards (these can be regular or cheap to hold the soil)

-(1) 4in. x 4in. 12ft. board (cedar or weather treated so they're more weather durable)

-1/4in. x 2ft. x 25ft. Fencer Wire (This is what I bought for 3 of these beds. You want the 1/4 in holes, but if you're making one bed you just need enough to cover 2ft. x 4 ft. with maybe a little extra for wiggle room on the 4ft. part.)

-Garden fabric roll (I ordered a 3ft. x 50ft. just because I wanted extra for the 3 I was making plus my flower bed)

-Plenty of 2in. Phillips Screws

-Drill

-Wire cutters

-Tape measurer

-Staple gun (with plenty of staples)

-Some type of precise wood cutting saw (I used a chop saw)

-Don't forget your soil (4 cu. ft was enough for one of these beds) & plants!

How-To

-Starting with the 1in. x 6in. x 12ft. boards

-With one of these you're going to make 2 cuts total and end up with (3) 4ft. boards. So measure 4ft., cut, measure 4ft., cut, and the last piece should measure out to 4ft. as well.

-With the second 1in. x 6in. x 12ft. board you will once again measure 4ft., cut, but then cut every 2 ft. which will leave you with (1) 4 ft. and (4) 2 ft. pieces from that board.

-Moving on to the 4in. x 4in. 12ft. board you will make 3 cuts at 3 ft. which will give you (4) 3 ft. leg posts total.

-You can adjust the length and measurements of this board for how tall you want your raised beds to be. I am rather short (if you didn't know me. Ha) so this size is perfect for my height.

-To finish out the wood cutting you are left with your 1in. x 4in. x 10ft.

-These boards are a simple cut every 2 ft. giving you (5) 2 ft. pieces total.

-These are for underneath your soil to hold the wire, fabric, and soil.

-Keep in mind these may rot over the years, but can be easily taken off and replace them.

-Also these are the exact meausrements I used and some were a little off while screwing on. They don't have to be perfect and in the end they do their job anyways.

-I started with the 2ft. cedar pieces and screwed them into the 3ft. leg posts.

-The pictures are pretty self-explanatory, but I used (2) 2ft. boards on each ends.

-Then repeat those steps with the 4ft. boards on the long sides.

-You can't tell in the first photo below, but I stacked two 4ft. boards on each side the same way as the 2ft. sides. You can tell in the second photo down better while it is upside down.

-While you have it all together and upside down it is time to screw on the bottom boards from the sides.

-Then you are finished with the wood part!

-Then the dreaded wire cutting part. I suggest bigger wire cutters if you have them. I went the route with smaller ones and the 1/4" size wire that you cut through is tiring cutting one wire at a time. Haha.

-The size wire I mentioned in materials is perfect snug fit for these beds. I cut slits on the sides to staple in the leg/posts and then stapled them into the side too. All on the insides so you can't see on the outside.

-See photos for a better visual.

-Cut landscape fabric to the size and place over wire and it's optional, but I did staple mine to keep it in place better.

-Add soil (I used 4 cu. ft. of soil to fill one garden bed) and plants, of course!

I'm not experienced in wood working whatsoever so if a certain way works better for you, great! I just wanted to share my way since it was pretty easy and I love the finished product. I will be updating you guys soon with my first garden post of the year and if you follow along with my garden blogs this year you will get to see how these beds do for me.