Growing a garden is cool, but gardens with raised garden beds are on the next level of awesomeness. However, getting a well-managed garden bed is not an easy nut to crack. It requires a lot of dedication, effort, and some good tips to maintain a raised garden bed. So, if you want to know how to make a DIY raised garden bed in your backyard, I have the solution for you.
Making a garden bed is tough, but with proper guidance, you will be able to do it with ease. You need to select a good place for the bed, get or make a four-sided frame, add a mesh or cardboard to the bottom, add soil, and you are good to plant your vegetables and fruits into your DIY raised garden bed.
I know it is hard to understand everything with just a paragraph. So, to make things easy for you, a compact and informative article is waiting below. Follow it to the end and find a way to your very own raised garden bed.
Table of Contents
How to Build a Raised Garden Bed?
I have listed a step-by-step guide to help you make a DIY raised garden bed.
Spot a place with adequate sunlight
Setting up a raised bed in the shadows is one of the major mistakes new gardeners make. Most of us only get raised beds as decorative pieces and do not care about them a lot. But, if you want to harvest fresh vegetables and fruits into your garden bed, ensure to put them in direct sunlight.
Most seasonal vegetables and fruits demand a lot of sunlight to grow perfectly. So, find a spot with adequate sunlight and designate it for your planting bed.
Make a four-walled wooden frame
One of the main things for a raised bed is a four-walled wooden frame. For this, you need to get some quality wood planks and screw them together to make a square or rectangle. Make sure that the width of your frame is not more than 4 feet and the length does not exceed 8 feet. This is the ideal size for a raised bed.
Also, if you want your garden bed’s frame to last long, add some supporting blocks on each corner of the frame. These blocks will offer extra strength to the frame and will surely add some years to its life.
Remove grass from the bed area
Once the frame is ready, place it on its designated spot and mark the area. Remove grass and a few inches of soil from that particular area. Doing this will add some extra inches to your bed and remove any possibility of weed growth.
Install iron mesh to the bottom of the garden bed
If it is your first time making a raised planting bed, make sure to get some iron mesh for it. One of the most common threats to a raised bed is weed development, and this is what you can restrict with the help of a wide iron mesh.
Screw the iron-wired mesh firmly to the walls of the frame, and you are good to go. Also, if you have no iron mesh, you can place cardboard at the bottom, but this will surely not work as well as iron mesh.
Install heavy-duty plastic
If you are making a wooden raised bed to ensure that the wood is rot-resistant, install heavy-duty plastic on the inner walls of the frame. This would save your wood from rotting, eventually adding some years of life to your garden bed.
Put soil into the frame
Now, if you are done with making your raised planting bed, it’s time to put soil into it. But, make sure you put the soil in layers. First, you need to put some rotten veggies, fruits, and leaves, then add a layer of compost, and then place the final layer of premium soil. This is how you are supposed to layer your wooden garden bed.
How Deep Should a Raised Garden bed be?
I have seen some planting beds as high as 16 inches, but it is never essential to have such high beds. A 6-inch planting bed would be enough for you. However, you must keep the bed as deep as 6 inches. Anything below 6 inches will not produce the results you want. So, six inches would be the minimum depth of your plant bed. If you want to know the maximum, it depends on your own.
What’s the Best Wood for a Raised Garden Bed?
There are a lot of wood types that you can get from the market, but I would like you to have the best out of the rest. So, I listed some quality wood types and their benefits for a garden bed below.
Locust
Locust is a quite hard and strong wood type that you can use for a garden bed. It is one of the best-untreated wood that remains rot-resistant for decades. Although it is a bit more expensive than other types of woods, a locust stands out to be one of the most used woods for planting beds.
Redwood
Being the wood of the tallest tree globally, redwood is considered one of the strongest types of wood. This wood can last between 10 to 20 years with ease, even in harsh weather. So, for your garden bed, this can be a perfect choice.
Cedar
Cedar is also quite a strong wood with a tendency to bear harsh weather. It costs a lot, but it will be perfect for your raised bed in the long run.
Treated Wood
You will find a lot of chemically treated wood types for garden beds. They last long, but most gardeners still fear using them due to their chemical tendencies. Although most of the treated woods are EPA approved and can be used easily, I will ask you to bet on untreated rot-resistant wood.
How Will You Fill a Raised Garden Bed?
Filling a raised garden bed is a technical job that you must do with care.
At the bottom of the bed, you need to put either cardboard or iron mesh. Doing this will help you restrict weeds from entering your garden bed. Also, cardboard helps your plants get carbon dioxide easily. After it, you need to add some compost if available. Ensure to keep the soil loose so that the plants can grow easily.
For the final layer, it would be better if you got some premium soil with adequate nutrients. This is how you fill a raised garden bed properly.
Is a Stone-Raised Garden Bed Better Than a Wooden One?
Well, both of the beds are effective, and both look amazing in your garden. Though a concrete bed is cheaper than a wooden bed, I will always prefer a wooden bed. A concrete bed does not last as long as a wooden bed.
Also, a wooden bed would be quite easy to move as compared to a concrete bed. That’s why a wooden raised bed is better than a concrete raised bed. However, if you love having a concrete bed, you can go for it.
Conclusion
At this point, we both can conclude by saying that we know how to make and maintain a raised garden bed. The article above has served as medicine for those looking to have DIY garden beds. I discussed its maintenance, making, other minor details, and whatnot. However, I may have missed something and if you think so, let me know. I would love to help you out.
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