There are plenty of reasons to consider building a raised garden bed. They require less day-to-day maintenance, they’re convenient, and can add a really nice visual element to your home and yard. Now, we know you might be thinking that you’ve never even held a hammer or drill in your life, but worry not, my friend, we’ve got you covered. Learning how to build a raised garden bed is the perfect DIY project for any newbie gardener (or newbie carpenter!). Check out this step-by-step guide to learn all the steps right from the ground up!
Why Should I Build a Raised Garden Bed?
Raised garden beds remain a popular trend for a whole host of reasons. The first is it literally saves your back. Utilizing an elevated garden bed takes away the need to constantly be bent or crouched over while working in your garden. But that’s not the only reason why we recommend them! It actually helps warm your soil from the sun, which, in turn, promotes better plant growth. And raised garden beds generally tend to have a lot fewer weeds to contend with.
Where Should I Build My Raised Garden Bed?
The first step in learning how to build a raised garden bed is figuring out where to put it! Just like when you are planning out any other kind of garden, you’ll want to consider what kind of light your plants will get in your raised bed (veggies tend to like lots of sunshine) if they will have some shelter from the wind, and if you’ll have easy access to a water source. These are all relevant and important factors to consider if you want to grow a healthy and successful raised veggie garden.
How Big Should I Build My Raised Garden Bed to Be?
Height
A raised garden bed should be a minimum of six inches deep because the roots of your plants will need at least that much space to grow down. If you’re building your garden bed over concrete or stone, you’ll want to aim for at least 10 to 12 inches. And, keep in mind, the higher the raised bed, the easier it will be to access your garden!
Length & Width
When you are deciding how wide you want your raised garden bed to be, remember that you will want to be able to reach the middle of the bed without stepping on any soil—so build to a maximum of about four feet (you can go slightly wider if you have go-go-gadget arms!). Figuring out how long to build your raised garden bed will be determined by what and how much you want to grow in it. Be sure to leave enough room for proper spacing of veggies, and of course, make sure you’ll have enough space for it in your yard.
By nailing a two by four board on top of the bed walls, you add a little bit of extra style and a ledge to sit on while you garden!
What is the Best Material For a Raised Garden Bed?
It’s not unheard of to see raised beds built from stone retaining walls, but wood is the most likely suspect when it comes to building materials. Always be sure to select untreated wood in order to ensure your veggies will be chemical-free! We find that cedar tends to be naturally rot-resistant, so it’s a pretty safe bet. With that said, if you choose wood that is not rot-resistant, the boards will still likely last anywhere from five to 10 years. Stapling a heavy plastic liner to the inside will help to extend the life of your raised bed, and building it in a way that it’s easy to replace boards will save you some potential headaches down the road.
Something else to consider when selecting materials is board thickness. What you choose will depend on a few things: preferred aesthetics, how strong you want your structure to be, and the price of wood. If you’re just not sure, though, a good rule of thumb is to stick with boards that are anywhere from one to two inches thick. Purchasing posts for the corners (and potentially halfway between corners) is also helpful as it will add an extra level of strength to the overall structure.
How to Design a Raised Garden Bed
Alright, so, you‘ve got a general idea of how big you want this thing, why you’re building it in the first place, and you’ve purchased your materials—which means it’s time to start designing! When folks start to build their first raised garden bed, a common question is whether or not they should stake it in the ground. Some will pound posts into the ground to hold the frame firmly in place, but it’s not absolutely necessary.
Another added element that some gardeners opt for as they figure out how they want to build their raised garden bed is a rim around the top. By nailing a two by four board on top of the bed walls, you add a little bit of extra style and a ledge to sit on while you garden!
How to Build a Raised Garden Bed
And finally, for the step we’ve all been waiting for—how to actually build the thing! Don’t let a lack of carpentry experience deter you; we promise it will be easier than you think to build your first raised garden bed. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- If you don’t own your own saw, you can likely rent one from a local hardware store. Or, in some cases, you can bring your measurements with you, and they’ll actually cut your boards to the right size there in the store. Then it’s almost like putting together a piece of Ikea furniture!
- Drilling pilot holes into the boards will help to keep the wood from splitting when you actually get to screwing the boards together.
- Once your raised bed resembles a box, you’ll want to make sure all of your angles are square. You can do so by measuring the dimensions diagonally from one corner to another, adjusting as needed until both diagonals are identical in length.
- Last but not least, make sure everything is level! If the boards are not level, dig down into the grass or garden until they are.
Adding Soil to Your Raised Garden Bed
The nice part about building a raised garden bed is that you can select the perfect soil for your plants. If you’re primarily planting veggies in your raised bed, opt for a mixture of compost and nutrient-rich soil. If you are building directly over grass, you don’t need to dig it out before, as it will decompose under the new soil anyway. But, to help make sure that the existing grass doesn’t see the light of day anymore, layer a compostable material like cardboard or newspaper soaked in water before you start adding soil on top.
Since you created the dimensions for this raised bed yourself, it should be pretty easy to figure out the right amount of soil you will need! Just go back to your measurements and apply the following formula to figure out the correct amount of soil for your bed: length x width x depth.
And that’s about it! You’ve officially learned how to build your very own raised garden bed—take a moment to sit back and appreciate all of your hard work before you get planting! All that you really need to build your own DIY raised garden bed is some spare time, fresh soil, and a few boards of wood, but the benefits are tenfold. You’ll spend so much less time weeding, and your back will definitely thank you.
If you’re on the hunt for soil, plants to add to your beautiful new raised bed, or any other gardening materials in Bismarck, swing by the garden center, and we’ll be happy to get you all stocked up or answer any burning questions you might have!