Raised Bed Garden [for Those With Only Hand Tools!]

Intro: Raised Bed Garden [for Those With Only Hand Tools!]

Growing my own produce in my backyard has been a dream of mine for years. We moved into a new place and I prioritized getting new plants in the ground before I unpacked boxes to take advantage of the growing season. It definitely paid off!

Resources to Get Started
These two books helped me get started for growing things here in the Bay Area:

• Golden Gate Gardening. A much-lauded book for the region, and with good reason. This book has helped me more that I realized I knew at every stage of gardening.
• California Fruit & Vegetable Gardening. A quicker read than the previous and a nice complement to skim over while you're in the early planning phases.

Design Considerations
Wood choice. I used redwood. Other types of wood might be more available to you in your neck of the woods. It's important that the wood is untreated if you're growing things you plan to eat. Otherwise, you can use the lower grade lumber that isn't aesthetically pleasing like you'd use for building furniture.

Dimensions. I had a flexible amount of space and decided to use the board length availability to set a constraint. To make a 6'x4' raised bed, you can buy 12' boards and ask for one cut per board (or cut it yourself if you have the tools) into a 6' and 4' piece each. This will make a double height bed (one foot deep) with even board coverage around all sides. I also couldn't fit a 12 foot board in my car, but the 8 foot fit just fine. Just things to consider :-)

Soil. It's important to learn about what grows in your climate zone and both plant and plan your soil around these. You'll want a blend and remember that your plants will need lots of food to grow, so give them all you can for a healthy start.

STEP 1: Gather Your Supplies

This build was relatively simple thanks to two things: the paver blocks from Home Depot that accept a 2x6 (or 2x* board) and the fact that Home Depot will cut a board for you. I love tools but didn't have my shop space built out yet at the new house when I wanted to get the garden in, so I used these other options to get plants in the ground soon enough to grow.

Here's what you'll need to build your own!

- 4 12' untreated 2x6 lumber boards, cut into 8' and 4' pieces
- 8 raised bed pavers
- Chicken wire
- Newspaper/packing paper
- Mix of soil/compost/etc

STEP 2: Layout the Bed

I did a rough layout to get a feel of the space before working to get the fit right. Once I got the layout in place, I started to fit the blocks into the corners and work my way up.

STEP 3: Layer in Chicken Wire

Before adding soil, consider critters who might want to access your new raised bed by burrowing underneath.

EDIT: I used chicken wire on the recommendation of family gardeners, though several in the Instructables community have commented that hardware cloth works better than chicken wire for them and serves a dual purpose of weed and pest control. I can't speak to this and haven't had any issues with rodents accessing the raised bed from underneath, but wanted to call out this helpful suggestion here. If you're making your own, consider these options and do what's best for your garden and your region.

With one layer in, I rolled out the chicken wire and added the second layer to the bed.

Steps to build:

1. Tuck the first edge under blocks on one side
2. Start unrolling the wire
3. Extend the wire to be slightly longer than the length of the long boards
4. Cut the wire
5. Fold back the edge to the midpoint of the second set of blocks
6. Tuck the second edge under the second blocks
7. Add on the second layer of blocks
8. Add on the second layer of boards

STEP 4: Step Back: Re-level Ground

Okay - I'll fess up: I took a shortcut. I wasn't sure how important it was to completely level the ground and did the dry fit before convincing myself I should take the time to get it right before adding anything more. The good news is this only took about 15 minutes to fix and was the right choice! The bed looks great now.

STEP 5: Rebuild

Releveling the bed made the other steps come back together much faster. Here's the bed, fully rebuilt.

STEP 6: Add Paper

Since I had recently moved, I had packing paper on hand instead of newsprint. My mom suggested four sheets of paper consistently on the bottom to keep any weeds from growing. She swears four sheets is the magic number to keep any weeds from growing without having too many to potentially have mold issues. Mom knows best!

STEP 7: Add Soil

Again, look into what you need for the best balance for the plants you want in the climate you're growing in. The result should be light and broken up easily to give way to healthy roots of your plants.

STEP 8: Layout Your Plants in Pots

Before you start planting, I recommend laying out your seedlings in their planters to get a sense of spacing. Most plants have recommendations for how the rows or plants should be spaced. I didn't follow this exactly and probably overcrowded the bed, but, as the woman from the plant nursery says, my green thumbs are still growing ;-)

STEP 9: Water and Watch 'em Grow

My garden took off! I thank the Bay Area's weather for that - especially the drought-ending rains we got this winter. Between the first and second photo here was about the span of a month and the last just a week after.

STEP 10: Eat It Up!

First rule of gardening is to not plant more vegetables than you need and I don't want to be wasteful. I am finding that I used to have salad from the grocery store go bad in the fridge but now, I just pick what I need and the rest stays on the plant and keeps growing. Whatever stems or pieces I don't eat go into the compost and become better soil for future gardens. Pretty neat.

The yields from the garden will change depending on where you are and what your garden is like, but I hope you find this simple project encouraging to build your own some afternoon and see about what you can grow in your own backyard!

Comments

[pemazzei]

Hello, very nice job! Please, what is the tickness of the wood? Also, do you know where I can find instruction in how to do the raised bed pavers? They are not avalialable here in Brazil! Any ideia? Paulo, Brazil

[leslielimpid]

I have used raised beds for more than 40 years and have a few suggestions based on experience.
1) Wood will eventually rot and if you have ants or termites they will love the damp wood in raised beds. Be Prepared to rebuild.
2) If you use 2x8 lumber in the 6" high corner blocks you will get an interlock between the blocks and a higher/deeper bed. min. 2 planks and 3 blocks high. I use wood corner blocks full height.
3) Chicken wire/paper at 6" depth will eliminate growing root crops like carrot,parsnip,beets also potatoes. It would be better to install non-woven landscape fabric at the bottom below shovel depth. Landscape fabric stapled to the insides will prevent weeds growing between the plank joints.
4) Grass cuttings make good mulch and add organics to the soil, composting kitchen waste (not meat scraps) and garden waste can eliminate the need for buying compost bags.
5) Planting seeds directly for most crops can eliminate buying potted plants. Tomatoes , Peppers and Egg Plant can be started in a tray on a heat pad at a window 5-6 weeks before transplanting.
Hope you continue to enjoy and learn gardening.

[user_l337]

the 2x8 / 6" block-interlock idea is ingenious, thank you!

[acoens]

What a wealth of knowledge! Thanks for making posting on Instructables a richer place where I can learn and share.

I have started to use seeds now that I'm more familiar with gardening (this Instructable was written after my first go at gardening - I'm on my 3rd season now and have learned so much each year!). I didn't have success with only using the window for lighting, but the glow lights are working like magic.

[Lord yLordy]

Nicely done, as you say region is dependent, I have a damp climate normally so I use geotex linings as it keeps most pests out and completely kills off weeds beneath it.
I also used an old bath tub surrounded by wood to make it asthetically pleasing that I use for deep rooting vegetables.

[acoens]

That's a clever idea, BobH160! I bet the bath tub is a beautiful addition to your garden and functional, too.

[Lord yLordy]

It ticks a lot of boxes, it is deep, no need for liner, instantly raised, natural drainage (if you don't put the plug in) and choice of surround that doesn't come into contact with the soil, easily cleaned after the end of the season.

[Bsrlin]

Thank you for taking the time to show your project.

[acoens]

Thanks @Bsrlin for reading! It's nice of you to comment.

[jannie.lloyd]

Is it really necessary to use chicken wire? Why do you use it?
Everything else is explained nicely. Thank you. Jannie

[dctindiana]

You use the chicken wire to limit access from below by things like moles, ground squirrels, and other pests that want to feast on your garden.

[jannie.lloyd]

Thank you. We are plagued with moles here (central France) so your idea of using wire seems a sensible idea.

[dctindiana]

Here in Indiana I wrap the area that I'm planting bulbs, then a layer of soil/mulch, to keep them from being eaten.

[jannie.lloyd]

I'm forever lamenting the loss of plants so I'm grateful for your suggestion. I've just built 4 raised beds in the poly tunnel so a bit late for them but I'll certainly use this idea for the rest that will be build over the coming months.

[acoens]

Hi all, I haven't had any issues with burrowing rodents since putting in the chicken wire but will update this section to include a note that many others here on Instructables recommend hardware cloth over chicken wire. I haven't experimented with it, though several folks were kind enough to comment that it's been more effective in blocking critters.

[michaelb2]

Great project. If the chicken wire is used to keep underground critters out, I would suggest hardware cloth. Chicken wire will not stop anything

[shalnachywyt]

I would also advise digging down about 4 to 6 inches into the soil to place the hardware cloth. This will enable fingerling carrots to grow and even some potatoes if you hill up the potatoes as they're growing. I'm actually growing potatoes in about 8 inches of soil. Don't get a ton of potatoes but then I plant about 16 plants of 3 different varieties so I do get a decent crop and I'm not planting to feed an army, just myself and a couple of friends. :)

[acoens]

michaelb2, many others seem to agree with you! I haven't had any issues with rodents burrowing, but it seems like hardware cloth is the crowd favorite.

[GTO3x2]

Neat corner idea - functional and stylish.

[shalnachywyt]

I have been gardening in raised beds lined with concrete block for nearly 20 years. My beds (of which there are 7 of them) are approximately 35 feet long by about 3 feet wide which enables me to easily get to the middle of the bed without getting my back thrown out.
After a while the soil does get compacted from the rain. The way to fix this is before you put the bed to "sleep" in the fall, go through the bed with a fork and simply lift the soil up a bit, then cover with mulch.
Grass cuttings only work as mulch if there are no seeds in them! If there are grass seeds, then mulch with wheat straw or very composted hay and/or manure. Be careful of wheat straw however. My last batch I got from Lowes had so many wheat berries in them that I'm now getting wheat growing in my beds. Grrrrr. Obviously the farmer providing the wheat straw doesn't have a clue as to how to go about it correctly.