By Jacklyn Krysa, Sponsorship Manager

Raised garden beds are an alternative to traditional ground gardens. They work well for people who have small backyards or patios and want to reduce back strain when bending over to tend to the garden. There are many options for creating or buying a raised bed (also called garden boxes). Raised beds are also ideal for square foot gardening. The sides of the beds keep your valuable garden soil from eroding or washing away during heavy rains. In many regions, gardeners are able to plant earlier in the season because the soil is warmer and better drained when it is above ground level. 

Step 1: Lay out the beds so they are horizontally facing south. It’s best if the long side of the bed faces south. This assures equal light exposure to all of the plants growing in the bed. If your bed is aligned the other way (the ends facing south), you may have planting limitations because taller plants in front can block the sunlight to small plants in back.

Step 2: Prepare the soil (if building a ground-level raised bed) by cutting the sod in the area where the raised bed will be built. Turn the sod upside down and loosen. A rototiller makes this work easier, but you can do it by hand if you don't have one. 

Step 3: Choose your material. In most cases, cedar is the best wood to use for garden beds because cedar is naturally rot resistant. Redwood is another excellent rot-resistant wood, but redwood is a more limited resource. How long the wood will last depends on the type of cedar and your local weather conditions. Locust logs are another wood that can be used. Treated wood is not recommended because the chemicals used to treat the wood can leach into the garden soil. Galvanized aluminum water tanks or siding and composite plastic water troughs also make ready-to-use raised beds. Most home improvement stores also carry a wide variety of of premade raised beds that are great for small spaces like patios. 

Step 4: Gather materials. What you will need: for sides: two 1- foot pieces of 2” x 12” lumber; for ends: two four-foot pieces of 2” x 12” lumber; for stabilizers: Two three-foot, nine-inch pieces of 2” x 2” lumber; for corner supports: four one-foot pieces of 2” x 2” lumber; one lb. of 10d nails or one box of tthree-inch galvanized deck screws.

Step 5: Building the wood frame. Screw or nail one end piece to one of the side pieces, butting the side piece against the end piece. Screw or nail the second side piece the same way. Use three fasteners at each corner. Use a carpenter’s angle to make sure that each corner is square. Measure and mark four-foot intervals on each side for placement of the two stabilizers. The stabilizers will be at the bottom of the raised bed when you put it in place. Set one stabilizer so it is flush with the edge side. Screw or nail into place. Set one of the corner supports at the inside of a corner. Screw or nail it in place from the outside, at both the end and the side. Repeat with remaining corners.  Place the completed frame over your planting site. Put composted manure over the broken up sod. Fill the frame with a mixture of topsoil and more compost to within one to two inches of the top of the frame. Rake the area level and smooth. Now you are ready to begin planting!  

Check out the video below for more information!

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