How to Build a Raised Garden Bed For Beginners
In this article, you will learn a quick and inexpensive way to build a raised garden bed. This step-by-step tutorial will walk you through the supplies you will need, and how to build your own raised bed today!
This time of year, right now, is one of my favorite times of the year. The weather is warming up, the flowers and trees are blooming, and the birds are once again chirping. Here in upstate New York, the beginning of May usually signals the last frost, and this means it’s time to get our seeds and seedlings into the ground!
Unfortunately, my full time job has forced me to move to the suburbs and away from Thistle Downs where my parents and grandpa are able to cultivate big, beautiful gardens, with no regard for space issues. But even though I don’t have that luxury, my desire for gardening and agriculture has driven me to get creative with my projects in my little half-acre paradise.
Last year
My fiancee and I tried our hand at container gardening. It was a unique experience because it was something we had never tried before. We weren’t sure how everything would turn out but we went ahead anyway, and the results were fantastic! We grew lettuce, spinach, carrots, green onions, radishes, eggplants, and squash…lots and lots of squash. In fact, we grew so much that ended up having to give some away.
The container garden was a great experience and we learned some valuable lessons, but this year we decided to step up our garden game and do something a little more permanent. W decided to build a raised bed, and that is what I’m going to talk about today.
I had never built a raised bed before, but the idea was intriguing. Since we only rent our house, I didn’t want to disrupt the backyard by tearing up the lawn, so a raised bed seemed like the perfect solution. After browsing Youtube, Google, and Pinterest, I came up with my own design that I thought would work well. I went to Home Depot, grabbed the necessary supplies, and less than an hour later I was proudly staring at the finished raised bed. Follow along and I will tell you step-by-step exactly how I built this raised bed so you can do the same!
Supplies For Your Raised Bed
6- 2×6×8′ Untreated Pine
1- 2×4×8′ Untreated Pine
A Box of 3″ exterior decking screws
A power drill
A saw (either a hand saw or circular)
A tape measure
SUPPLY NOTES
–My original design called for 3- 2×10×8s, because I wanted to build a solid 10 inch wall around my raised bed. I couldn’t find this size lumber though, unless I wanted to use cedar, which is very expensive compared to untreated pine. So I decided to improvise and use 6-2×6×8s (to make a 12 inch high bed) and it worked great!
I decided to use untreated pine because it’s way cheaper, and since I wasnt sure how it would turn out, I decided to save some money. Also, I have read that hard woods and pressure treated lumber don’t last much longer than untreated lumber for raised beds anyway, about 3 years, so I went with the inexpensive stuff.
The total cost of wood & screws was about $30, and that’s all it took to build a 4’×8′ raised bed!
How to Build the Raised Bed
STEP 1- CUT YOUR LUMBER TO SIZE
This design is simple and only requires a few cuts.
2x6s
Four of your 2×6s will remain uncut and will make up the 8′ sides of the raised beds.
Take the other two 2×6s and measure to ensure they are almost exactly 8′ long. Now find the middle of the board. It should be right at 4′. Mark it and repeat the same measurement on the second 2×6.
Use either your hand saw or circular saw and cut along your mark. After cutting both boards, this will yield you four 4′ long 2×6s. These will make up the short ends of your raised beds.
2x4s
Now take your 2×4 and measure out 2-foot increments. Mark every two feet and once again, carefully cut along your marks. This will yield four 2-foot 2×4s. These will be used to reinforce the corners. You can see this in the next step.
After making your cuts, you should now have: 4- 2×6×8’s, 4- 2×6×4’s, and 4- 2×4×2’s. FOUR OF EACH SIZE BOARD
STEP 2- BUILD THE SHORT ENDS
It’s time to build the 4 foot sides of your raised bed. Set the 8′ boards aside, you won’t need them for this step.
Lay 2 of the 4′ boards parallel to each other on a flat surface, and ensure the ends are flush.
Now, take one of the 2′ pieces of 2×4 and line it up flush with the end and the bottom of the 2×6s as pictured. (You will have 1 foot of overhang on the top side, more on this later.) Tack the 2×4 in place with a couple of screws.
Take another piece of 2×4 and do the same thing on the other end.
With the end tacked together, flip the whole unit over and fasten 2 screws into each end of the 2×6s to ensure everything is nice and sturdy.
Repeat this step for the other short end of the raised bed.
STEP 3- ATTACH THE LONG SIDES
After step 2, your raised bed is nearly complete! Now, we just need to attach the long boards to make the 8′ walls. The 2×4s used in the previous step create a nice sturdy frame by reinforcing the corners of the raised bed. They also create a larger surface to attach the long boards to.
Stand the short walls up about 8 feet apart. The 2×4s should be facing inward toward each other. Lay two 2×6×8s on either side as pictured.
Stand the lower 8-foot board up and ensure it is flush with short wall on both sides. Tack the board in place with 1 screw on each end. Now do the same thing on the other side of the raised bed.
Once both of the 8′ bottom boards are tacked in place, do the same with the upper boards, ensure they are even with the bottom boards and flush with the end of the short sides, and tack them into place.
When you are happy with the positioning of the boards, finish fastening the walls in place. As you can see below, I used a triangular pattern on the end of each 8-foot board to ensure the walls were fastened tightly. This created a very strong bed frame and I am confident it will work great!
Notes
You can definitely use 1-foot pieces of 2×4 to strengthen the corners if you want them to be flush with the walls. I chose to keep them 2-feet in length because I want the option of building a ladder for climbers such as cucumbers, pole beans, and tomatoes. The excess 2×4 will give me something to build onto.
CONCLUSION
That’s it guys, you can build your own raised bed simply and easily with this method! This was a fun and easy project, and it’s always a bonus when I get to use my power tools! This 4×8 plan yields 32 square feet of growing area, which is plenty for a small garden, especially if you are just starting your gardening journey.
Check back soon for an update about our raised bed plot. I will be doing another post about our garden layout, and how to properly prepare the bed for planting. I’m really excited about this project and I can’t wait to share everything I learn with you!
Take care, and if you enjoyed this little tutorial make sure to subscribe to our blog below for more useful content just like this!
Cheers,
Cody