Raised beds not only look great in your garden, but they make it a lot easier to contain it without having to worry about as many weeds and pests. This design for a raised bed is also inexpensive. They are also extremely easy to build. It only took about 30 minutes to assemble!
I have planted a wide variety of things in our raised garden beds: corn, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, herbs, flowers…the list goes on and on. I get my seeds here!
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Benefits of a Raised Garden Bed
- Control over soil quality
- Deeper soil for roots. I’ve found this worked very well for carrots!
- They’re more ergonomic
- Easier to exclude pests
- Less weeds
- They look nice!
- Put them anywhere
I got all of this benefit information from here. There’s a great con list as well!
Approximate Cost of a Raised Bed
- 2x2x8 white wood – $3.38 per board (12 pieces from 1 board at $.28)
- Cedar planks – $3.97 (per plank at $23.82)
- 1.25″ dry wall screws – $6.98
That makes one garden box $32.48. That is pretty cheap!
Please remember these prices are local to me. They may be different per your area.
This pricing also doesn’t include soil, seeds and tools that are used.
Supplies
- 8 inch 2×2 whitewood – 6 total
- pressure treated cedar planks (picket fencing) – 6 total
- 1.25″ dry wall screws (or any screw that size) – 1 box of 50 minimum
- Impact/drill
- circular saw/chop saw
- saw horses
- measuring tape
- marker/pencil
- cardboard (optional)
- soil/compost
How to Build a Raised Bed
Cutting Your Wood for the Raised Boxes
The first step to make your raised bed is to measure the length of the sides and cut to size using your saw. The raised bed box dimensions are 71″ length x 35.5″ width.
For one raised bed, you’ll need 4 cedar planks at 71 inches and 4 cedar planks at 35.5 inches. Now if you’re not wanting a super deep raised bed, you can actually cut the 2×2 in half and it will make 2 boxes that are shallow. For the sake of this post, I’m going to show you how to do a deeper raised bed. It’s about 10 inches deep.
The 2×2 white wood needs to be cut into 8 inch pieces. You can also make these 10 inches if you want them to be the exact length of the raised bed, but I personally like them hidden by soil.
The only pieces you need to cut are the length, width and 2×2 pieces. Now we’re moving on to assembly!
Assembling the Raised Beds
Take your 8 inch 2×2 block and pre-start your screws. This makes assembling by yourself a lot easier.
Lay 2 of the 71″ side pieces side-by-side, evenly on your saw horses. Then, place your 2×2 evenly on the end that is lined up and screw them together.
Repeat this process for the second side.
To make the end pieces, it’s the same concept just with shorter sides. Instead of add a new 2×2 on the end, you are connecting it to one of the 71″ side 2×2.
After connecting the 71 inch long sides to the 35.5 inch end pieces, place a 2×2 piece in the center of the 71 inch sides. This makes sure the box won’t separate or bust from the weight of the soil and later, crop.
At this time, the raised bed is light enough for you to set it wherever you’re planning on putting your raised garden.
If you are only wanting a single width raised bed (sunflower picture), you can build the box the same way as earlier. You then cut the 2×2 at each corner and on the sides the same way you would cut a cake in half. Now you have 2 single width raised beds! This even works on older raised beds.
How to Fill Your Raised Garden Bed
Soil and compost can be expensive these days, so what I like to do is take any cardboard box I have and break it down to cover the bottom. This also a great time to add wood chips, sticks, compost, paper shavings, etc.
You’re ready to plant! Like I stated earlier, these boxes can be cut in half to make shallower boxes.
Here’s some comparison pictures between the single level or the double (deep) raised bed.
If you decide to build a garden box, please tag me on instagram! I would love to see the results!
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