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Build Your Own Raised Beds
comments (26) February 24th, 2009
Raised beds solved many of the garden problems that faced me 20 years ago in our new southern California home. Among the challenges were terrible soil, a concrete-paved yard, arid growing conditions, small children, and a big, exuberant puppy. I found the raised bed solution to be a great success, and only now am I having that first set replaced with new ones.
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The sizable sunny space turned out to be about 2,000 sq. ft. of concrete pavement, minus a 3-ft. planted perimeter. True, it was large enough for a decent-size garden. But also true was that what little soil existed was heavily compacted and lacked organic content.
Once before, we had been faced with difficult growing conditions. On a granite ledge with no soil in New Hampshire, my husband had built a raised bed where I grew a small salad garden. Why not design a system of raised beds that would allow me to grow vegetables year-round?
Getting more for less from a raised bed
In addition to the concrete and poor soil, there were a number of reasons raised beds seemed the perfect way to garden. First, my husband, Frank, was an accomplished carpenter and could build the boxes. Second, we could leave the concrete in place and simply break up the portions under the boxes to provide drainage.
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Dirt poor, the original subsoil (left) became black gold (right) by amending it with chicken manure, compost, and topsoil. | |
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Because we live in a Mediterranean-type climate with less than 10 in. of rainfall per year and almost none between April and November, we knew we would have to irrigate. Raised beds allowed us to set up an irrigation system that included a hose bib in each box. This would allow us to water each bed independently.
It didn’t take long for us to see that our raised beds had several unanticipated advantages. Our golden retriever puppy loved to race around the beds but rarely jumped into them. Our children, Josh and Jessa, could easily ride their Big Wheels around the obstacle course we had unwittingly developed for them. And neither these activities nor my gardening compacted the soil because no one ever walked on it. It remained fluffy and well aerated, allowing plant roots to grow freely.
Deciding on the design
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Redwood is the material of choice for West Coast gardens, and once you have your materials together, the beds take only about half an hour to build. | |
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The 4-ft. width of the raised beds allows the author to reach the center from either side. Paths 3 ft. wide accommodate a wheelbarrow. | |
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The design of the beds was derived from several practical considerations. The dimensions, 4 ft. by 8 ft., were based on the fact that lumber was available in 8-ft. lengths, so it would require a minimum of cutting and no waste. I could comfortably reach only 24 in. into the beds, so a width of 4 ft. would allow access from both sides to the middle.
I also measured several of our chairs and found they all had a seat height of 16 in. to 19 in. Since we had decided to use 2x6 redwood, we could stack the boards three high and end up with a finished height of 16-1⁄2 in. (the actual width of a 2x6 is 5-1⁄2 in.). This made the edge of the box a comfortable height on which to perch and gave more than enough root run for the plants.
The boards were nailed to 4x4 corner posts that extend nearly 8 in. higher than the sides. I use bird netting during seed germination and clear plastic to warm pepper and melon seedlings. I drape these covers over the posts. The paths between the beds are 3 ft. wide to accommodate a wheelbarrow, which I use to transfer compost from its bin to the boxes.
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Two nails per board secure the boards to the post. The bottom board should be flush with the bottom of the post; the top of the post extends about 7-1/2 in. above the top board. | Stand the long boards with posts on the ground, parallel to each other and 4 ft. apart. comoplete the bed by nailing the short boards to the posts. | |
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posted in: raised beds, structures
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Comments (26)
Posted: 3:42 am on August 20th
Posted: 2:04 am on August 20th
Posted: 5:55 am on July 26th
Posted: 2:16 am on July 26th
i put bottles down, then a layer of leaves and then 2 bags of garden soil, 2 bags of cow manure and another 2 bags of garden soil. this was enough to fill a bed 4 feet long by 2 feet and 2 feet deep. the soil will need to be stirred up and added to each season before planting again.
after the growing season, i put a layer of leaves on the soil and mix it up to help fertilize the soil over the winter months. i live in wisconsin and the snow covering the leaves helps to keep them in and also keeps moisture so the leaves will deteriorate. save your water bottles and lids or any plastic jar with a lid. have any question? i'll try and answer them for you.
Posted: 1:05 am on April 8th
Posted: 11:17 pm on January 28th
Any thought on how to do this without spending a fortune on soil? Is there something we could fill the bottom in with?
Posted: 9:38 am on January 27th
Posted: 12:26 am on October 10th
This approach alleviates any worries about the type of wood you use and makes it possible to use whatever is available because it does not come in contact with the soil.
Posted: 2:09 pm on May 27th
Ummm, I'm just a dumb Maine hick but as far as I know there is 27 cu ft in a cubic yard. Not sure how you get over 5 cu yds from 48 cu ft?
You are also calling the bed 4' x 8' x 1 1/2 ft deep but it is not that deep. The author uses three 2 x 6 section for the sides, since these are actually nominal 5 1/2" the bed is actually 15 1/2" deep. Subtract the 4" freeboard
The author suggests and you have actual depth of 11 1/2". So, it would take between 1.08 & 1.18 cu yds of material to fill a raised bed using the Authors dimensions/plans.
Posted: 9:28 am on May 20th
Posted: 9:52 am on July 3rd
I think I will have to add about 6 more bags once the dirt settles some.
Posted: 3:57 pm on March 30th
Posted: 5:16 pm on January 24th
Posted: 12:38 pm on January 1st
Most do not address challenges and the minutia that are usually lessons hard learned.
Unfortunately I found this article just a little bit too late in my project to address some future challenges - that have been addressed so well within this article; there are several things I would have done differently 3 days ago ;)
My project involves the design & installation of two 4X12 raised beds over hard clay / builders backfill. The client specified 12" deep beds, but I suggested at least 18" (given what they wanted to plant) given the nature of their native soil.
I found a really cool 4'X4'X1" X9" high finger joint cedar 'kit' complete with 4X4 trellis (Suncaster - http://www.suncast.com/productdisplay.aspx?id=647&pid=138) on sale for $30 (from $79). Having explored various other construction material options, from both a labour & cost perspective (with serious emphasis on bed depth), I chose to buy 8 of these kits to create two 4X12X1" (thick) X 18" deep beds. None of the 2X, or commercial 1X or 5/4X could compete with the price to create a similarly deep bed.
I had to install cross bracing to prevent the 12' long sides from mis-behaving at the 4' joint points, vertical posts to tie the 2 levels together and lend greater stability to the 1" thick walled beds, and install narrow strips of land-scape fabric to prevent the soil from seeping out between the lower and upper courses and at the finger joints (my aluminum 1/8" thick X 1" wide X bed width cross bracing increased the inter-level gappage to 1/8" at the aluminum pin down points holding the finger jointed 4X4X9" boards + brace together.
I would have handled many things differently had I come across your article 3 days ago ;)
Lucky for me, having found your article before the end of the project, I will consider installing landscape fabric differently for the perimeter paths, exterior seating vs. capping the bed tops with seating boards (given that they will interfere with turning the beds - never thought of that), and flexible / easily removable options for irrigation system.
You guys are great - thanks for sharing your hard found knowledge.
Posted: 8:49 pm on October 14th
The raised beds above hold 1.18 yards (32 cubic feet) of dirt if you leave a 3 inch gap at the top of the boards.
How to calculate your dirt needs:
For this box:
Depth x Length x Width
1 ft x 8 ft x 4 ft = 32
Conversion to Yards = Cubic feet / 27 (1.185 as shown above)
For slightly more comlicated depths or sizes, the pattern still works, but everything needs to be converted to the decimal version of measurement:
18" of soil = (18/12)feet = 1.33 feet deep
5'7" long = 67" = (67/12)feet = 5.58 feet long
2'4" wide = 28" = (28/12)feet = 2.33 feet wide
1.33 x 5.58 x 2.33 = 17.29 cubic feet
17.29 / 27 = 0.64 cubic yards
Hope this helps.
And remember, most businesses sell soil or compost by the half yard, so in both of the cases above, you might want to buy topsoil and then supplement it with a few bags of peat, compost, or manure to add nutrients.
Posted: 2:32 pm on April 30th
Id sure love to see how you used the bricks as Ive just been offered a truckload of used bricks if I want them.
justachick
Posted: 6:23 pm on March 1st
Posted: 11:04 pm on February 29th
Posted: 1:15 pm on February 29th
Posted: 10:34 am on September 3rd
Posted: 2:48 pm on February 14th
Posted: 8:45 am on January 19th
Thank you!
Posted: 9:41 pm on January 18th
Posted: 4:53 am on May 5th
http://www.finegardening.com/design/articles/pressure-treated-wood-in-beds.aspx
Posted: 9:49 am on April 27th
If you read the research on Ever Guard and similar micronized copper products, it seems that although some preservative leaches out over a long period it is sequestered by the soils and not taken in to plants.
It is probably no worse than water from some municipal supplies, or copper plumbing.
Posted: 9:23 am on April 27th
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