How to Build the Perfect Raised Bed

Make a great planting box for your vegetable garden.


Your guide to making a raised garden bed
A raised bed is one of the best ways to grow vegetables.

Materials for a raised bed:

  • One 6-foot-long 4-by-4 ($15)

  • Six 8-foot-long-2-by-6s ($75)

  • One 10-foot-long 1-inch PVC pipe ($3)

  • Two 10-foot-long ½-inch PVC pipes ($6)

  • 32 3½-inch #14 wood screws and 16 ½-inch #8 wood screws ($29)

  • One 4- by 10-foot roll of ¼-inch-mesh hardware cloth ($15)

  • Eight 1-inch galvanized tube straps (semicircular brackets; $3.60)

  • 32 cubic feet (1 1/5 cu. yd.) soil mix ($100 in bags; look for combination of topsoil, compost, and potting soil).

With a table or power saw, cut the 4-by-4 into four 16-inch-tall corner posts. Cut two of the 2-by-6s in half. Cut the 1-inch PVC pipe into four 12-inch-long pieces and ½-inch PVC pipes into 6-foot-long pieces. Assemble pieces on a hard, flat surface.
> See full article


Assemble

Build bed upside down. Set a 4-foot 2-by-6 on its thin edge on pavement, and place a 16-inch post at one end. Secure post with two 3½-inch screws. Repeat at other end of board. Repeat with other short board.

Join short sides with an 8-foot board; and secure with two screws. Add other long side. Add second layer of 2-by-6s.

> See full article


Position

With help from a buddy, flip the bed right side up. Move it into position in the yard, marking with a trowel each corner post's location. Move the bed aside; dig a 5- to 6-inch-deep hole for each post.

Put the bed back into place, with posts in holes; fill around posts with soil.

> See full article


Install lining

Rake the existing soil at the bottom of the bed to level it, then tamp it smooth. Line the bed with hardware cloth to keep out gophers and moles; trim the cloth with shears to fit around corner posts.

> See full article


Attach pipe

To hold hoops for bird netting or row covers, attach four 12-inch pieces of 1-inch PVC pipe inside the bed: On the long sides, space pipes 4 feet apart, 2 feet from each end; screw on two tube straps to secure each pipe.

Fill the bed with a planting mix of topsoil, compost, and potting soil; rake it smooth, and moisten it with a gentle spray from the hose.

> More about soil for raised beds


Insert the hoops

To cover newly planted seedlings with bird nettings or season-extending row covers, simply bend two 6-foot pieces of ½-inch PVC pipe to form semi-circles, and slip their ends into the 1-inch pipes inside the bed.

Then drape the bird netting or row covers over them.

> See full article


Bonus raised bed idea

For another take on a raised bed, make a free-form bed of corrugated galvanized steel like the one pictured here.

> See full article

Related: Veggies 101: How to start your garden