Build Your Own Raised Flower/Vegetable Beds
Originally published at: http://thepioneerwoman.com
This is the time of year to start thinking about building a raised flower/vegetable bed. I’m planning to put some new beds in a different part of our yard this year…and in some sort of weird configuration. Maybe the shape of a star. Or a rainbow. Or a thumbs-up. I’ll stop talking now.
Here’s my flower bed tutorial from the archives. It really is a cinch.
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I have a great project to keep you busy this weekend: pick a good sunny spot in your yard and build a raised vegetable bed!
I have raised vegetable beds around my house, and I love them. They provide good drainage for your plants, and you have more flexibility about where to plant different things. You can get creative and stack the beds, growing herbs in the smaller top area and veggies around the bottom. Or you can create designs with your beds, using geometric shapes to create some sort of pattern.
Because I wanted to show you how to do this and because I asked nicely, my friend Brent came out yesterday with a small pile of supplies and put together a very basic raised bed while I squatted on the ground and photographed the process.
I want you to know that this is the easiest thing in the world to do. If you’re even remotely comfortable with using a drill, this entire project can take under an hour. If not, it still won’t take you very long. And it’ll bring you a great sense of satisfaction…especially when you see that first little hint of a tiny green tomato showing itself.
We’ll cover the soil and other matters later. Today it’s all about building the box.
Here are the supplies:
You’ll need a tape measure, a pencil, and a level.
A carpenter’s square.
A small sledge hammer and a drill. Any simple drill will do, and you need a 7/64 #8 counter sink bit.
Everyone should have a 7/64 #8 counter sink bit.
You need 1# 3 – 3 1/2 AND 1# 2 – 2 1/2 Exterior screws.
Exterior, so they won’t rust.
You need 1 bundle of 18″ to 24″ stakes.
And you need four 2 x 6 boards, cut to 8′…AND four 2 x 6 boards cut to 4′. Pine or cedar work well—but just make sure you do not use pressure-treated (treated) lumber. It’s treated with chemicals that would be harmful to the soil, the plants, and you.
And by the way, all you need to do is take this list to your local hardware store/lumber yard/home improvement warehouse, act really clueless, and they’ll feel sorry for you and get you everything you need. It works for me on a regular basis.
So we’re making a 4 x 8 raised vegetable bed today. But keep in mind that you can do any size you need—just follow this general procedure. Just pick the spot where you want it to go—good morning sun is important—and measure to decide on the best size. Also keep in mind that you can change things up a little bit on your bed—you can make the ends inset a bit and add a little more flair. But I live in the country and have to mow and weedeat a lot of things, so I keep it very, very plain and utilitarian.
The first thing we need to do is drill the pilot holes for the screws. You could drill the screws straight into the board, but because the screws are going close to the end, it could split the board and that would make you cry.
So first, measure in 3/4 inch from the end and side to create two “x” marks on each end of the long boards.
Then drill away!
Look! You just drilled two pilot holes.
Well, Brent did. But just pretend you did.
Pretend I did, too.
Repeat this on all the long (8′) boards until they all have two pilot holes on each end.
Now, after you’ve finished drilling the pilot holes, just swap the drill bit…
…For the Phillips screwdriver bit…and you’ve got yourself a wicked electric screwdriver!
Now it’s time to build the bottom layer. Stand two long boards and two short boards on their sides and line them up…
And insert long screws through the pilot holes of the long boards into the very end of the shorter boards. Hold the boards firmly while you drill.
Attach both screws on the end of each board before moving on to the next corner.
Just move around until all the screws are in. The purpose here is just to form the rectangle and attach the boards together.
And that’s it! A raised flower bed. Now go take on the day!
Just kidding. There’s more.
Now we need to secure the base to stakes in the ground, and we have to level the rectangle. So grab a stake and drive it into the very corner of the most level side of the box.
Leave about 4-6 inches of stake sticking up above the board.
Next, level up the two sides—one short and one long—on either side of the stake. Leveling this bottom layer of the flower bed is very important, so take your time to get it right.
Once that side is level, insert the drill bit again and drill two pilot holes through the board into the stake, and insert two of the shorter screws to secure it..
*Repeat this step: drive a stake into the other corner (on the same side) and attach the board to the stake with screws.
It helps to have a Basset Hound nearby for support.
Now, the rectangle is probably still a little caddy-wompuss, so you need to go to the other end now (the end without the stakes) and square it off. Just set the carpenter’s square inside and make it fit. You don’t want a Vegetable Trapezoid.
Once it’s square, drive stakes into both corners.
And now—very important—you need to level this side. Level, level, level.
Level.
Do you know how a level works?
This is not level. The bubble is not in the middle, and the bubble never lies.
So that’s when you need to adjust—push and pull lightly…
Until the bubble takes its rightful place in the middle. This means it’s level. Hallelujah.
Now that it’s perfectly level, we need to secure the sucker with some more stakes so it won’t ever move again for the rest of its life. So go around the inside of the box, driving one stake in the middle of each short side and two stakes into the middle of each long side.
Drill pilot holes and attach two short screws to each stake. These extra stakes will prevent the bed from expanding and bowing in the middle.
Now, once you’ve attached all the stakes to the inside of the box (there should be a total of ten stakes), you can begin setting on the boards that’ll comprise the top layer.
This part’s a piece of cake. Since you already leveled the bottom layer, you don’t have to mess with that now. All you need to do is attach the boards.
So all you do now is just drill pilot holes through the board and into the stake…
And insert the short screws to attach the board to the stake.
Then, as you add each board, attach the ends with long screws just like you did on the bottom layer.
Almost there, baby! And note that on the far end of the bed, my yard is starting to slightly slope downhill. And since the bed is perfectly level, it’s creating a gap at the bottom. This is no big deal at all; when I prepare the ground and add my dirt, it’ll fill in just fine.
Go, Brent, go!
Someone hand me my seed catalog. The time is drawing near.
Yahoo! Another vegetable bed. Just what I needed. I can now go on living.
And note: if you like, you can stop at one layer and not add the second layer of boards. I have several single-layer beds and like them fine. But my soil is very clayey and hard here, and I wanted the good drainage of a taller bed.
If you stop at one layer and have a single-layer bed, just use shorter stakes and drive them down so they’re below the level of the board.
So to sum things up…
Supplies:
4 – 2 x 6 boards @ 8 feet long. (Pine or cedar are good choices. Don’t use pressure treated lumber.)
4 – 2 x 6 boards @ 4 feet long.
1# 3 – 3 1/2 exterior screws
1# 2 – 2 1/2 exterior screws
1 bundle 18″ – 24″ stakes
Tools:
Tape measure
Pencil
Level
Small sledge hammer
Carpenter’s square
Cordless drill
7/64 #8 counter sink bit
Basic instructions:
Set the first side, attach ends with large screws. Attach ends on second side with large screws.
Square and level first side. Drive stakes in corners. Attach stakes to boards with small screws.
Square and level second side. Drive stakes in corners. Attach stakes to boards with small screws.
*Make sure the whole thing is level*
Drive more stakes all along the inside of the box, leaving about 4 inches of stake sticking above the board. Attach stakes to boards with small screws.
Attach upper layer of boards to themselves as you did on the bottom layer, then attach boards to stakes.
