How to Build a Raised Garden Bed?

Abstract

More and more people are now discovering the advantages of growing raised gardens over traditional garden beds. Properly build a raised garden bed and you'll have problems with more vegetables and flowers. Raised garden beds use less area than traditional gardens. Their portability allows you to place them where they receive the best sunlight.

Today we have a collection of diy raised beds for gardening ideas. As raised garden bed plans, these ideas easily fit your budget. So next we will start raised garden bed plans.

Tools and Materials You Need To Prepare

When it comes to diy raised beds for gardening, the first step is to prepare the tools for building raised garden beds.

• Chainsaw
• Nails
• Materials

Choosing the Right Material for Raised Garden Beds Plans

As with any building material, you have to do the in-depth research yourself. To ensure the choices made are safe, environmentally friendly and sustainable. At the same time it has to suit your own situation. The following will introduce the characteristics and advantages and disadvantages of different materials to help you choose the most suitable one in raised garden bed plans.

Wood

There are several types of wood for raised garden beds. I will explain their characteristics in detail.

• Planks or Slats

It is the first choice for diy raised garden bed. Because it is relatively cheap, readily available, and lasts for several years. But care must be taken to make sure the wood is not chemically treated. Such as preservatives, stains or paints to avoid contaminating the soil.

Some popular wood species: cedar, yew, catalpa, chestnut, cypress, fir, pine, spruce, etc. Slow-growing trees have hard wood and are more resistant to corrosion.

To be discreet, some gardeners put a protective plastic layer over treated wood beds. This creates a barrier between the wood and the soil. Again, you need to research plastics for food safety and consider the effects of condensation forming between plastic and wood.

• Log

It is untreated and more ecological for raised garden bed plans. But it's also more expensive than wood and more durable.

Rattan Weave

Weaving with branches is an environmentally friendly and economical way, and it is also more beautiful. The material is pruned branches or wicker in the garden. For plans for raised garden beds, the disadvantage is that the durability is low and it is time-consuming to make.

Straw Bales

Straw beds are inexpensive but not readily available in cities. The straw will slowly decompose as it is planted, providing nutrients to the crops. At the same time, at the bottom of the planting bed, it provides strong water storage for the plants. But for building raised garden beds, it cannot be used for a long time, and the aesthetics are also average.

Concrete or Brick

The overall thermal insulation and moisturizing effects are reasonable, the durability is good, and the materials are easy to obtain. It's also relatively easy to build for a raised garden bed. It is small in size, can make various shapes, and is a good material. It is more decorative than wood, more expensive than wood, but very durable.

Pottery or Tile

The old tile removed from the house is also an economical choice. It needs to be inserted into the soil to a certain depth, otherwise it may not be able to stabilize the soil when it is erected. Soil moisture will also be lost relatively quickly in tiled planting beds. But after a long time, the poor quality ones are easy to crack or break.

Stone

Blocks, slates, and granite rocks of all shapes and sizes can be used as raw materials for diy raised beds for gardening. Such materials are relatively moderate in terms of thermal insulation and water retention. The disadvantage is that it is relatively heavy, and the load needs to be measured in places such as roofs. The cost is not low, but it can be used for many years.

Granite slab is an economical, convenient and effective choice. The main link is that the connection between the slabs needs to be drilled in advance.

The Basic Principle of Building a Raised Garden Bed Plans

Know the length and width of a diy raised garden bed, as it can be laborious if you make a mistake or relocate it.

Try it out on a small scale to make sure your garden bed is expandable. Because you may want to add more planting beds later. Doing a big project in the first place can make you prone to procrastination and withdrawal.

Raise an Appropriate Height

If you are building your planting bed on hard ground or on a rooftop, the height depends on the type of vegetable. Leafy vegetables need a depth of at least 15cm; carrot roots need a depth of at least 35cm; tomato and eggplant plants need at least 30cm of soil. General planting beds are recommended to reach 30 ~ 35cm.

And if it is a raised planting bed on the ground, because the root system can grow downward, the generally recommended width is within the range of 20-40cm. Or a uniform height of 25-30cm is more appropriate.

Keep the Right Width

Try to ensure that you can reach the middle from both sides of the planting bed. The distance between the arms of an adult is about 60cm, and the width of the planting bed for bilateral operation is in the range of 0.9-1.2m. If it is a gardening scale operated by children, the width of the cultivation bed can be narrowed, 30-45cm on one side and 60-90cm on both sides.

If the crop can only be accessed from one side of the cultivation bed, the width must be shortened to 45-60cm. If the cultivation bed is wider than 1.2m, a stepping stone can be placed in the middle to make contact with the crops more convenient.

Keep the Right Length

The length of the cultivation bed operated on both sides should not exceed 3m. The long spacing makes people more willing to stay on one side to operate, rather than going around to the other side.

Leave Enough Space

When making your raised garden bed plans, leave enough width to give you room to bend over, bend your knees, or squat. The higher the garden bed, the less space you need to operate.

The width of the path should be 45-60cm, and it should be covered with materials that are easy to walk on and permeable to water. Can be fine gravel, brick, preserved wood, straw or bark. This allows free movement on it without worrying about overpowering the crop. If there are children playing in the garden, the path can be widened to 60-75cm.

If you need to push a wheelbarrow to transport soil, lay mulch, harvest food or other activities, the trail needs to be at least 60cm wide. Likewise, if you have lawn between planting beds, make sure there is enough room for the mower to pass through.

Shape and Composition for DIY Raised Garden Bed

The raised garden bed is usually a rectangular combination. It can be any shape and combination as long as the material allows. Generally, the planting ponds composed of long strips of materials such as wooden boards, logs, and slates are mostly rectangular. The smaller the material, the better it can be combined into various arc or circular planting ponds.

• Triangle and rectangle combination
• L type and concave type combination
• Arc, round combination
• Radiation combination
• Classical pattern

As you execute your raised garden bed plans, you can add some fun to your landscape by arranging beds in different geometric shapes or patterns. For example, lines that mimic architectural features in your home.

Tips and Considerations

Whatever shape you design, remember to allow yourself room to enter the raise garden bed and move between them.

It is recommended that you follow these guidelines when building raised garden beds:

1. Ensure the planting area as much as possible and reduce the area of hard ground (path);
2. Ensure the level of plants and prolong the sunshine time of plants as much as possible;
3. The side of the fence is designed as a unilateral planting pond, and climbing plants are planted in combination with the climbing frame;
4. Don't make the planting bed too long unless you can step over it;
5. Leave a smooth path connecting your kitchen, compost area and garden area.

Add Soil to the Garden Raised Bed

Correct, safe soil can help maintain your plants.

Whether growing vegetables or fruit, a good soil formula is: 60% topsoil, 30% compost, and 10% potting mix.

Adjust the proportion of soil according to the needs of your plant species.

Add Plant in A Raised Garden Bed

In your raised garden bed plans, what do you want to grow? Vegetables or fruits? This is not the only choice. When planning an herb garden, choose a spot that receives about five hours of sunlight per day. As a few examples, the following vegetables are easy to grow in raise garden beds.

• Carrots
• Kale
• Cucumbers
• Radishes
• Tomatoes
• Summer Squash
• Peas
• Beans

Summary

There has all about raised garden bed plans. In fact, diy raised beds for gardening are very popular. It is also very easy to make your own garden raised beds. Read on now, step by step, at a glance!

Select a Site

First, choose an unused site. Depending on the size of the site, decide on the shape and number of planting beds to be placed.

Choose Material

The next step of your plans for raised garden beds is to choose material. There is no limit to what kind of material you can use for building raised garden beds. Wood, sleepers, stone, plastic, bricks can be used to frame the garden beds. In general, using wood is the easiest and most efficient way.

Size of Raised Garden Bed

It is very important to plan well. Determine the size of the planting space and raised garden bed, calculate the length and height of the side cut wood needed.

Cutting

Based on the established dimensions, cut 10 large boards and 6 small boards with a chainsaw.

Fixed Structure

Stakes are driven at the four corners to fix the structure. Add the long side boards and use nails or screws to secure the end of the side boards and stakes together. Basically just make a box with an open top and an open bottom and the garden raised bed will take shape.

Add Plants

Putting some garden weed mats on the raised bed can greatly reduce the growth of weeds. This is the last step of your raised garden bed plans. Fill the bed with planting soil and add some well-rotted organic fertilizer to the bottom of the bed. Top with nutrient-rich composted potting soil.

Final Thought

You have an unused yard at home and want to create a garden. But you feel unable to plan and unable to start, and you want to transform it into a vegetable garden, but you feel that it is not aesthetically pleasing. This is the time to consider a raised garden bed, which will give you the perfect combination of garden and vegetable patch, ornamental and practical!

Reading this article about how to build a raised garden bed may give you more inspiration. Planting beds, not only beautiful, but also long hours of work, will not be tired of back pain. Planting vegetables can also be, planting flowers can also be.