Raised vegetable gardenbeds offer several advantages, including easier back and knee pain management, increased productivity in smaller spaces, and reduced creeping weeds and drifting seeds. They also provide more control over plants and soil, making them an ideal project for kids.
To build a raised garden bed, follow these steps: measure the length of the walls, cut boards, and cut 2x4s for corner posts to support the walls. Raised beds are perfect for small yards or areas with mobility issues, and they are quick and easy to build. Fill the bed with soil and organic matter, ready for early-spring planting.
Building a raised bed vegetable garden is a great way for beginners to start gardening and can be a great family project. This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to build a 4×8 raised bed with basic carpentry skills. The guide also includes a step-by-step guide to making a timber-framed raised bed, which involves digging out a shallow trench and marking the shape of the bed using canes and string.
In summary, raised vegetable gardenbeds offer numerous benefits, including improved productivity, better drainage, and a fun and affordable project for kids. By following these steps, you can create a beautiful, long-lasting raised garden bed that maximizes your backyard garden space.
📹 How to Build Cheap, DIY Raised Garden Beds In Under 30 Minutes
It took me about 15 minutes to build, and cost about $40 to make. Of course, you could save more if you used salvaged materials, …
Should I put fabric on bottom of raised garden bed?
Landscape fabric serves as a raised bed liner to prevent soil erosion and minimize nutrient loss risk. It helps maintain water-soluble nutrients from the soil, preventing water from gushing out too quickly. To make installation easier, you can buy materials separately or use bundles like the landscape fabric and heavy-duty staple bundle, which includes 3″ x 50″ weed barrier landscape fabric with 8 or 11 gauge staples. This makes building a raised bed garden more efficient and cost-effective.
Why put cardboard in the bottom of a raised bed?
Cardboard provides a damp environment that attracts earthworms and other beneficial soil microorganisms. It can be used in raised beds and vermicomposting bins, serving as bedding and food source. Vego Garden’s in-ground worm composter is a low-maintenance option for soil enrichment. Cardboard can also serve as pest protection against burrowing pests like gophers, voles, and moles. To prevent dirt and debris accumulation, add a gopher net. Landscape fabrics are permeable, but dirt and debris can accumulate over time, making them impermeable. To protect plants, add a layer of cardboard to garden beds and place netting above it.
What should you not put in a raised garden bed?
Raised beds are ideal for growing a wide variety of edible plants, but not all plants can or should be grown in them. Some plants grow too large for raised beds, such as potatoes, asparagus, artichokes, rhubarb, corn, wheat, rice, and winter squash. Raised beds can be challenging to maintain due to the need for ladders, which can be dangerous for harvesting plants. It is essential to consider the specific needs of each plant when choosing a raised bed, as not all plants can thrive in raised beds. Therefore, it is essential to carefully consider the type of plant and the space available for each plant to ensure the best growth and care.
Should I put rocks in the bottom of my raised garden bed?
Line the bottom of raised beds if you’re dealing with pest or weed issues. Galvanized metal beds typically don’t require lining, as their height deters weeds and draining conditions are adequate. Avoid placing rocks at the bottom of your garden bed, as it can increase water saturation levels and allow gravel to mix with the soil, making it difficult to remove later. Instead, use metal raised beds that are tall enough to deter weeds and provide adequate drainage.
Which vegetables grow best in raised beds?
Vegetable roots vary in depth and size, with heat-loving vegetables having deeper, more extensive systems. Examples include pumpkins, winter squash, watermelons, tomatoes, artichokes, okra, and sweet potatoes. Root vegetables like carrots, onions, and garlic grow best in loose, partially sandy soil, making them ideal for raised beds. Compact varieties, such as bush-type summer and winter squashes, can easily overgrow a raised bed. For cucumbers, grow on a trellis to save space.
For tomatoes, choose patio varieties like Sprite and Tumbling Tom, as bush-type determinate tomatoes work better in small spaces. If raised beds are taller than the common 10- to 12-inch height, choose bush beans instead of tall pole beans, or use a ladder for picking.
What do you put in the bottom of a raised vegetable bed?
One of the advantages of gardening with a raised bed is you’re in control of the soil. It’s a significant benefit for homeowners with yards of clay or hardpacked soil, tree root issues, or concerns about pollutants in the ground. Soil is the foundation of your garden, and you want it to be healthy so you can set your plants up for success! We recommend buying high-quality, nutrient-rich soil in bulk. Or, you can make a soil mix with equal parts topsoil, organic materials (leaves, composted manure, ground bark), and coarse sand.
You can build your raised garden bed however you see fit. Feel free to get creative or stick to a simple design; it’s your choice! Below are some raised garden bed ideas you can use for inspiration.
Built-in raised beds: You can build a raised bed with brick or wood and put it in the best place for sun or shade (depending on the plants and flowers you choose). If you select a wood design, ensure it’s intended for outdoor use and holds up well to the elements (sun and rain). If not, you’ll find yourself replacing it every year.
Do you need to put anything under a raised garden bed?
To protect your garden from pests, consider adding a liner at the bottom of your raised garden bed. This barrier prevents common digging pests like moles and gophers from entering the bed, causing damage to your plants. A heavy-duty option like hardware cloth can deter these pests. A liner also helps prevent temperature fluctuations, as the soil in a raised bed loses or gains heat more quickly than the ground soil. It provides a buffer or insulation, protecting the soil against rapid temperature changes.
Additionally, consider adding a greenhouse cloche over your plants to protect them from cooler temperatures, especially in early spring or fall when overnight frost can damage or destroy plants. By implementing these measures, you can ensure your garden remains safe and healthy for your plants.
What are the disadvantages of raised garden beds?
Raised beds have certain disadvantages, including a tendency to dry out more rapidly, the need for more frequent watering, and a greater initial investment of time and effort compared to conventional gardens. Furthermore, the height and volume of raised beds may result in increased costs and may not be suitable for overwintering crops, depending on the specific height and volume.
How to make raised beds cheaply?
Pallets are a versatile and cost-effective way to create raised garden beds, offering a unique and customizable solution for your garden. These beds can be stacked on top of each other and filled with soil, making them easy to create. Another option is to create a DIY raised garden using cinder blocks or concrete blocks. To begin, clear the area of weeds and ensure the ground is level. Arrange the blocks in desired shapes, such as rectangles or squares, side by side to achieve desired width or length, and secure them in place with concrete. These DIY raised garden beds add a unique touch to your garden and can be found for free or low prices.
How deep should a raised garden bed be for vegetables?
A 1-foot raised bed is ideal for salad garden box plans, as it accommodates herbs like basil, cilantro, and lettuce, while carrots, radishes, and peppers thrive with 12 inches or more. Medium-rooting vegetables like kale, cucumbers, and zucchini require at least 18 inches, and a 2-foot bed is ideal for these types of vegetables. Placement of the raised bed depends on the surface underneath it, with a minimum depth of eight inches. If drainage issues or plants are sensitive to excess moisture, additional depth can help by allowing water to seep naturally.
📹 9 Beginner Raised Bed Garden Mistakes to Avoid
A few good soil mixes: – 1/3 perlite, 1/3 coco coir, 1/3 compost – 1/2 topsoil, 1/4 compost, 1/4 grass clippings, straw, leaves, etc.
Just bought my first house (I’m 25 so super excited) and wanted to start a vegetable garden for a hobby that I can get the kids into as well. It would be especially helpful since I am a full time chef. Thanks for making the article short and sweet. A lot of people like to add fluff to their content. 10/10 enjoyed it.
We moved to a new home in the last year. We purposely did not put our raised beds in right away, bc we wanted to watch our yard first. We are now ready to put in raised beds so that we are ready for spring planting. The info you shared in this article is exactly what we needed. Thank you. Enjoying your website 😊
I’ve used these blocks for years and I absolutely love them. The bed will last many many years longer than nailing or screwing the rails together using corner blocks, because the corners are the first place bugs will attack. And if you ever need to replace a piece of wood it is a very simple process, just slip a new piece in at the end of the season. Using rebar is only needed when stacking 2 or more blocks high. The bed will stay put and not slide around without using rebar. If you seal the ends of your lumber with paint or something else, your children will inherit your garden. If you’re frugal you can use recycled pallet lumber or 2×4’s for the rails. Reply
THANK YOU! You have just saved my life…literally!…I always dreaded the idea of building raised beds because of all the measurements, nailing, corner adjustments to prevent frost heave, etc, etc, etc. I already have an in-ground garden bed, so this method allows me to just place all the materials around it without all those complicated steps! Subscribed!
Even though this is 3 years old I just made this yesterday in my yard and I had a simple modification if it helps. I made it taller and reinforced the corner stones with metal rods to secure the shape but also to add fencing around my garden bed to ward off pests, squirrels specifically, they are relentless, lol.
I did this for my raised beds, though i made them 2 blocks tall (some of them 3…good for root crops). I also laid down chicken wire before setting the blocks (keeps gophers and the like from getting up into the beds) then tacked weed cloth to the inside and bottom of the beds…keeps the soil from filtering out between the boards and ground). I also go and extra step and screw a small piece of 2×4 in the middle of the longer board sections to lock then together so they do not warp oddly and create a gap. Quick and inexpensive, you can also size the beds to your ground area to make border gardens and fill in smaller gaps.
pick up Mel Bartholomew’s (2nd edition) book at the library or where I got mine was at Goodwill store for $1.99… I use Heat treated Pallet wood now for my square foot gardens…I pay nothing for the wood and just screw it all together with corner supports and make it’s depth 6 to 8″ depending on the size of the pallet wood— by the way, the easy way to get this wood is by looking around at shops in your area or on craigslist. I just take my Battery skill saw and cut the wood to size and throw it in the back of my car…makes it easy and inexpensive to say the least… May you have a blessed garden this year.
Thank you for this great article. I did this today and feel great. The only things that I did wrong were that I over estimated the amount of wood needed as I needed more height. I found everything at home depot. You will definitely want to get a long cart. Here how much each item costs as of Apr 2020 2×6 8 ft – $3..63 (What I had them do is cut this 8 ft into 2 ft and 6 ft) Planter wall block – $3.28 1.5 Cu ft Natures care raised bed soil – $7.97
I’m building 2 of these today! I’m so glad I saw this! Purchased supplies at Home Depot and to get what I need for 1 bed, minus the soil cost me $26!!! You can’t find a raised bed kit for that price! And to not have to drill or nail anything together is a big bonus!! Thank you! Thank you!…for sharing this!
Hey there, I’ve been struggling with my garden and looking for a planters but they’re not in my budget. But thanks God your article was in my news feed and I watched that and now going to buy the stuff I need. Thank you so much 😊 for uploading this article it really helped me and so many other people. Really appreciate it 👍🏻
Awesome, dont really get more easier than that! I think ima little late this year but I will never forget how easy it can be and the only materials you need are 1×6 boards, 4 slot corner stone things(just made that up, lol), fill it with your choice of soil, hit some nails in for tie down n whallla!!!! Extremely simple n easy!!! If I knew it was that easy I would of done one a long time ago like mabey 3 months ago would of been good timing for this article!!! But glad I know now tho!!!! Thanks brother!!!
I think this is a genius idea for quick DIY gardens for us older folks and young people too! If I can find the blocks I’m going to do this!!!Inspired! Thank you! P.S. I’m wondering if you laid fabric cloth down, then put your soil on top of fabric then build your almost instant bed on top of that with better soil and amendments then plant your plants. More room for the plants and a weed barrier too. Would that work you think?
Those blocks are a cool idea. Do they make them stackable, so you could make a higher raised bed? I just built an 8’x4’x2′ bed out of boards for about $115 plus soil. Will fill about half of it with hugelkultur (branches, logs,and debris) then about $120 in soil. Your method is way faster and cheaper!
Silly question and I know this is an old article— but if you can help me out, I’d greatly appreciate it. My Mom kept a garden similar to this in our backyard, I recently lost her and am looking to get into gardening. Unfortunately, what she had built was removed, it was very similar to this— except, we have concrete. Can this be done in a concrete backyard? As in what would be added to the bottom (beam? plywood?) to hold the soil? Thank you so much for all your content. I’m constantly amazed and inspired!
This is a good idea. At 0:29 you drop a bag of soil and the side board gets bumped. I can see this box coming apart easily with weather and wet soil. I would secure the corners better. Looks like you’re supposed to nail a piece of rebar in the middle of those blocks. That would do the job. Other than that it looks pretty good, I like it.
Genius!! I’ve spent the day looking at YouTube articles and just couldn’t figure out how to save time and do something narrow. I love it! I’m going to make 2. Can I connect the 2nd one to the slot to build another one or should I do each separately? Can you share if what you planted turned out ok. Anything you’d change, if you can do it again? Thank you.
Amazing! Never heard of this super cheap, nice-looking option for a simple raised bed! I see on the Home Depot website, you can layer up and keep building to your desired height! I see for your lettuces etc you have just the one level, but can you talk about how to know what depth you need for different plants? Obviously, I’m not talking about seed planting depth, as that’s on the packaging, but how deep do different plants need in order to have enough space to grow down and how do we find this out?
Love it. I’ve been having such a hard time setting up my garden bed. Que buena idea. Justo ayer trate de hace una pegando las tablas con tornillos y pasaba casi 1 hora poniendo uno. Es muy difícil hacerlo con herramientas. Y con esos bloque es facilísimo para mi. Ahora haré muchas jardineras sin tanto esfuerzo Gracias por la idea.
Its important to know your Ph level in your soil before you plant, and what to use to raise if or lessen it if needed, as well as what to use for calcium, and nitrogen for all your needs it doesn’t have to be expensive if you can get access to the things in nature but if not then you can buy whats needed. I use wood ask for nutrition and it lower’s the PH level for things like lettuce and legumes, for mulch tree leafs, last yrs crops, and small wood partials, egg shells and a good compost Bucket trash can size,make holes on bottom to let water drain and small holes on the sides for air then it will complete rot the food or fish to be mixed with soil and its good as the 2nd layer of soil mix for root – top for continuous nutrition, But as a large growth crop and bumper crop too I will put some Cow manure,mixed in to a second compost bucket for an extra boost after Aug to boost the vitamin for a bummer crop just a little, to lower PH add Water to baking soda, and to boost it add the wood ask on the outer ring of the plants ether way its an amazing fertilizer for all plants. Its just about balanced once you get you soil good then your just maintaining that balance as your plant deplete it every season. Improve it through the winter and all will go well.
I’ve been really doing well with houseplants and got this brilliant idea since they’re living well to grow food. Are there any books or articles you would recommend to help figure out how often to water and what veggies go best together? I thought I found the right spot but then some leaves on my bell peppers started burning so I moved them to a shadier spot. And I’m terrified of over and under watering them. I finally have a day off and am going to spend the day figuring out which spot is sunniest in my yard. I live in Fresno CA area so it gets hot. I’m worried about them burning. Any advice or recommendations? It’s starting to get borderline stressful because I don’t want them to die.
I want to do this. But it’s mid September right now. Does that matter? Should I wait to start this in the spring? Will my plants die If I start it now? lol, I know nothing. My wife loves making things from scratch and home made for health reasons. So, I told her I’d start a vegetable/fruit garden in our backyard. I live in East Tennessee. Any advice appreciated, thanks!
I was looking for a cheap simple way to do my first ever vegetable garden and this article looks perfect. Just one question, if I did it with slightly bigger boards to make it deeper, would that give me more variety as far as what I could grow? I would like to be able to do lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes at a minimum. Do the gardening blocks come in a bigger size for a deeper bed?
How the heck does this awesome little article garner 400 thumbs down? 👎 🤔🙄. Seriously? People suck. Maybe that’s why so many of us prefer our gardens to people. 😎 Maybe, these negative people have made way better articles we could watch…. no? I didn’t think so. It’s super easy to be a critic of someone else’s WORK while producing no content of their own. I love this website and clearly many others do as well. It’s fantastic someone this skilled is making content for beginners. You “down thumbers” need a little self evaluation.
Hi, this great. It’s wonderful to know how easy it is to make a raised bed without any carpentry skills. Haven’t read through all the comments, so forgive me if this has been asked: The wood, it’s just raw wood, untreated I’m figuring — will it start to rot out quickly with the water and elements outdoors?
Thanks for the article, just curious ? You did not prepare the soil on the ground, like putting weed blocker underneath ? and do you do anything to the bed after growing season is over ? Like turning the soil and adding fertilizer for next season ? May be also snow the article of when you harvest the veggies?
Pine vs cedar? I am planning to build six raised beds for my wife’s garden 4×8 I’m trying to decide whether it’s worth the money to buy cedar or not? If I did buy pine and I treated it with linseed oil what type of life expectancy do you think I would get? I wanted to last as long as possible but I also want it to be cost effective. What’s your opinion on what type of wood you use? Thank you 👍