How To Build Raised Beds In Your Garden Simply And Cheaply

Often we are put off creating a vegetable or even flower garden because of the amount of work required: We need to get rid of the existing weeds etc. and digging the ground over to get the soil suitable for planting is hard work.

Well there is an easier way to grow vegetables people! Build a raised bed type garden. The process of how to build raised beds in your garden simply and cheaply is - well - simple and cheap, as we show you in the video.

The video highlights how something that is uncomplicated can be really effective.
With the knowledge of how to build a raised bed, you can plan your vegetable garden to grow your own food food, or maybe use this simple method to grow a flower garden aswell.

Supplies Needed

Ridgid 12V Lithium Ion Brushless and Cordless Drill / Driver

Lithium Battery for Ridgid drill

To build two raised beds you will need:

Yellow Pine:

One 12 foot (3.6 m) length at 2 inch (50 mm) x 10 inch (250 mm).
Four 8 foot (2.5 m) lengths at 2 inch (50 mm) by 10 inch (250 mm).

Small box of 3 inch (75 mm) square head, galvanized screws (you'll need 32 screws @ 4 screws per corner)

Square head screw driver or a square head bit for the power drill (a square head bit may be included with the box of screws).

Hand saw or powered circular saw.

Step by Step Instructions

The Timber to use is untreated Yellow Pine. Don't use treated timber because the preserving chemicals in the wood can leach into the soil and possibly be absorbed by the plants. You can use a harder wood like cedar that will last longer but it will be more expensive.

So to start you will need four, 8 foot (2.5 m) lengths of the yellow pine for the sides of the raised garden, and four, 3 foot (1 m) lengths for the ends.

All of the timber can be bought pre-cut, but to save money you can buy a 12 foot (3.6m) length that can be cut up into 4 lengths for the ends of the raised bed.

Now the timber forming the ends of the raised bed will will go on the inside of the timbers forming the long sides.

It pays to build the raised bed in the area where you want it. Shifting it after you have screwed it together is unwise because the sideways strength of the timber is not great when lifted off the ground and will be easy to upset the square shape.

Attach the long sides and the short ends with four screws on each corner. Make sure both pieces of timber meet at the same level. Place the screws for the top and bottom about one inch (25 mm) in from the top and bottom of the timber, and put the other two screws at an equal distance apart.

If you see the planter shape is not quite square, measure the distance between the opposite ends (diagonals) and adjust (kick the end with the larger measurement) until the measurements are about the same.

Now you can either place newspaper over the existing vegetation, or just heap compost or good quality soil straight on top up to the level of the timber sides (10 inch, 25mm deep).

Now you have two raised garden beds where you can plant your choice of vegetables.

As you can see from the video and our instructions this project is not very difficult. If you are new to this sort of project, however, just follow every bit of the instructions to the letter - at your pace and double check if necessary.

When the planter box project is finished with soil and plants there are three benefits I can see:

1. Pride in what you have achieved by your own hand.
2. A neat and tidy vegetable garden that will add to the appearance of your back yard or where ever you have positioned it.
3. Most of all healthy, nutritious food for the table