You Raise Me Up: DIY Raised Garden Beds

I liked my first raised bed so much,
I wanted another, this time
without the expensive corners.

The late October rains seem to have come early this year--late September.  Last weekend was rainy, and, although yesterday was sunny and muggy, we had heavy rain last night, which means the yard and future pasture are too soggy for equipment.  It's just as well; I have plenty to do on foot.

Although the roses need deadheading, I decided to put the hardware cloth bottom on a new raised bed frame.  We had taken the easy way out and had the wood cut at the store so that all we needed to assemble it were a few hand tools and fasteners.

I found with my first raised bed that 4' is too wide for me to work, so I'm trying a 3' width on this bed.  It will contain saffron crocus, so it does not need to be terribly long:  5' to maximize the use of the 16' 2x12.

Small Raised Bed Materials List

$20      16' untreated pine 2x12, cut into 5' and 3' lengths
$ 3     3.5" deck screws (for untreated wood)
$10     36"-wide galvanized hardware cloth
$ 2     chicken mesh staples

This project needs just a few simple tools
 (drill not shown).

$10     3 ft. wide gardener's cloth

$45     Materials cost without soil

 Tool List

Drill with bit to match your deck screw & Phillips driver bit

Wire cutters

Hammer

Saw horses or work tables

4" x 4" x 12" to use with clamps

Detail of butt joint,
with countersunk deck screws

Instructions

Drill 5 or 6 evenly space holes 3/4" from the ends of the short lengths of wood, in a line parallel to the edge.  Clamp the 4x4 to the end of a long section of wood.  Clamp a short piece of wood to the 4x4, perpendicular to the long piece, creating a butt joint.  Seat a deck screw in a hole, then use drill to drive the screw through the flat side of wood into the end of the long piece, being careful not to split the wood.  Repeat with remaining screws.  Attach all four boards together to make a box.

Lay box flat and use chicken mesh staples to tack the hardware cloth at the corners.  It should be wide enough for a single-width.  Tack it to the bottom of the box every 3-4 inches.  This is to prevent burrowing varmints, which we have in abundance.

Detail of chicken mesh staples attaching
hardware cloth.

Move box to permanent location (yes, it's heavy!), then line with gardener's cloth to slow down the grass.  You may want to tack the gardener's cloth to the sides for support.

Fill with your favorite raised-bed mix.

Easy, inexpensive, sturdy (or at least heavy)--is this the solution for my grass problem?

So, one night this week, I'll move the bed to it's permanent location--as soon as I decide where that will be!

What about you?  What's growing in your Savory garden?

Nancy