Build a Raised Bed to Elevate Your Garden
A bounty of homegrown vegetables is easier than you think with a DIY raised garden bed to house just the right mix of soils
If you're dreaming of growing your own vegetables this coming season, then building a raised garden box is the perfect springtime project for you. With a few supplies, tools and these easy-to-follow instructions, you'll be slicing into your very own homegrown tomatoes before you know it.
A raised garden offers a great way to control the quality of your soil, as you can fill it with a mix of topsoil, planting mix and compost. This deep, rich soil mix will allow you to grow more vegetables than you could in the same square footage of regular garden soil.
Here’s how to build your own raised garden bed
1. Gather your supplies. To build one 4-foot by 4-foot planting box you will need:
1. Gather your supplies. To build one 4-foot by 4-foot planting box you will need:
- Two 16-foot redwood or cedar boards (reclaimed wood is a good sustainable choice)
- 6 feet of 2-by-2 lumber
- Galvanized screws
- Chop saw
- Power drill and bit
- Tape measure
- Clamps
2. Cut eight 4-foot lengths of redwood and four 1½-foot lengths of 2-by-2 lumber. After you cut the 2-by-2 to length, cut one end of each of the four pieces at a 45-degree angle. The slanted ends will help hold the finished planting box in place.
3. Lay two redwood boards together and grab one of the 2-by-2 pieces of lumber you've just cut.
4. Drill two pilot holes into the treated lumber (one near each end of the piece). Be sure not to drill into the redwood boards yet.
5. Using your drill and galvanized screws, attach the treated lumber to the redwood boards. Screw through the pilot holes to prevent the wood from splitting.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 with the remaining boards.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 with the remaining boards.
6. Once you have a 2-by-2 piece of lumber screwed to one end of the redwood boards (giving you the four sides of your box), clamp together the four sides of the box.
When everything is clamped together, there will be a 2-by-2 piece of lumber in each corner of the box. At this point, each 2-by-2 is secured to only one side of the redwood boards. To secure all the sides together, drill more pilot holes and screw the galvanized screws through the 2-by-2 to the opposite redwood boards.
Tip: To keep from seeing the screws on the outside of your box, attach the four sides together by screwing from the inside.
The angled end of the 2-by-2 is used to keep the box stable when it's placed in the ground.
Now you can move your planting box to a sunny spot where your vegetables will thrive and fill it with a mix of topsoil, planting mix and compost.
More:
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Inspiring Raised Beds for Fall and Spring Planting
More:
Raised Beds Lift Any Garden
Inspiring Raised Beds for Fall and Spring Planting