DIY Wooden Raised Garden Bed

15mhhm15
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DIY Wooden Raised Garden Bed - finished raised bed framework We would love to have a garden in our backyard, but supposedly there are gophers. We decided on having a raised garden bed and after looking at the costs of already built raised garden beds and ready to purchase and install yourself garden beds, they were definitely out of our budget!

If you are planning to make a raised garden bed, take a trip to your local home improvement store, you can browse the wood selection and take down the measurements and then draw a layout while in the store or at home. Your project will cost less than purchasing a raised garden bed. Also, you can save even more money if you have any home improvement coupons.

What wood should you use? Use wood that is untreated. What type of wood can you use? Good choices are redwood, cedar, or Douglas fir.

The cheapest and most affordable option would be Douglas fir (which we went with). Douglas fir still has great qualities, resistance to rot and insects, and should last at least 5 years+. If you're willing to, you can spend more on cedar or redwood, but we figured since this is our first time building a raised garden bed, we'll try the Douglas fir out!

Tip: Select home improvement stores may have a clearance section where there is a slight defect to the wood, return, or cut up wood extras for a discount! I actually found the large piece at 85% making this project a steal deal!

Supplies:

Douglas fir wood
steel welded wire rolled fencing
wood screws
regular screws & washers
drill
wire cutters for the hardware cloth/fencing

Steps:

We went with a 20' foot x 12" inches x 1.5" inches Douglas fir wood. We asked the employee to cut our measurements. We had them cut the 20' into (2) 3' foot and (2) 7' foot lengths. (The wood cutting is complimentary.)

DIY Wooden Raised Garden Bed - wood for long sides

DIY Wooden Raised Garden Bed - two end pieces stacked nearby

Optional for extra support, I bought another piece of wood and had them cut (4) 1' foot x 4" inches x 2" inches. (Note: The person cut these pieces incorrectly so it's a little more than 1 foot, but it should be 1 foot. However there is no harm to the final result)

DIY Wooden Raised Garden Bed - cut corner supports

Attached is the set up of how the raised garden bed will look. You will want to pre-drill the holes and screw in place. We used 2 1/2" screws for wood.

DIY Wooden Raised Garden Bed - pre-drill for screws

DIY Wooden Raised Garden Bed - screw sides together and add the corner supports, pre- drilling for those screws as well

DIY Wooden Raised Garden Bed - frame finished

DIY Wooden Raised Garden Bed - screws started before assembling

This step is optional, if you do not have any moles or gophers - you can skip this step and save more money if it's not required in your area. Once all the screws are secured, flip the frame over to install the steel welded wire rolled fencing, we bought 3 ft x 10 ft (ended up with left over fencing). We used shorter screws with washers to keep the fencing in place. Tip: Roll out fencing over garden bed frame then place extra piece of wood over the top to hold in place and screw on as you go so that the fencing is straight. Cut off excess fencing.