How to build a raised garden bed with wood?

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Answer
Here is how to build a raised garden bed with wood:

Materials Needed

  • Cedar or untreated lumber for the sides, such as 2x4s or 2x10s34
  • Wooden posts or stakes to anchor the corners4
  • Screws or nails to assemble the frame4
  • Landscape fabric or hardware cloth to line the bottom and prevent weeds34
  • High-quality soil to fill the bed34

Steps

  1. Choose a level location with good drainage and at least 6 hours of sunlight per day3.
  2. Decide on the size of your raised bed. Aim for 4 feet wide maximum so you can reach the center from either side3. Cut the wood to length for the sides.
  3. Assemble the frame by screwing or nailing the sides together. Use wooden posts or stakes at each corner to anchor the frame4.
  4. Line the bottom of the frame with landscape fabric or hardware cloth to block weeds and burrowing pests34.
  5. Place the assembled frame in the desired location and level it if needed.
  6. Fill the bed with high-quality soil, mixing in compost or other amendments34. Fill to about 1 inch below the top of the frame.
  7. Plant your desired crops, spacing them according to their needs. Water thoroughly after planting.
  8. Add a 2-4 inch layer of mulch around the plants to retain moisture and suppress weeds3.
Building raised beds allows you to control the soil quality, improve drainage, and create defined growing spaces. With a little planning and effort, you can build a productive and attractive raised garden bed to grow your own vegetables, herbs and flowers34.




Author: Acres Of Adventure Homestead



Key insights

  • Building a raised garden bed doesn't have to be expensive, it can be cost-efficient and effective.
  • Building raised garden beds in cold climates requires specific materials and measurements to ensure success.
  • Using screws to put the boards together allows for easy disassembly and reuse for future projects.
  • Treated wood for garden beds may contain chemicals that are not good for gardening and can ruin the food you're eating.
  • Using two by threes cut to a specific height can help create a sturdy and functional raised garden bed.
  • Pre-drilling holes before screwing the boards together prevents wood from splitting and ensures a sturdy raised garden bed.
  • The process can be completed in about 20 minutes, making it a quick and efficient way to start a garden.

Timestamped Summary

  • 00:00 Build a cost-efficient raised garden bed for beginners to start planting outside in sunny weather.
  • 00:40 You'll need 2 by 10 boards, 8 feet long, to make raised garden beds that are 2 feet wide by 6 feet long.
  • 01:13 Use 2x3 boards, a saw, and screws to build a raised garden bed that can be easily disassembled for future projects.
  • 01:48 Use linseed oil to seal untreated wood for a raised garden bed to avoid chemicals and protect the wood.
  • 02:19 Measure and cut the boards to build a raised garden bed, then cut the two by threes to the same height, and all measurements are done.
  • 03:26 Cut and screw together the boards to build a raised garden bed, adding support for extra stability.
  • 05:36 Use linseed oil to protect the wood of your raised garden bed and avoid using treated wood to prevent chemicals from getting into your food.
  • 07:01 Build a raised garden bed cheap and easy with minimal tools and effort, perfect for growing a garden in the current economic climate.

Video Full Text

  • 00:00 All right everybody you clicked this video because you need to make a garden bed and everything that you've either looked to buy or you look to make yourself ends up being a little more expensive than you'd like. If you're looking for super fancy. Super nice looking you might be on the wrong video but if you're looking for something that's cost efficient and still effective to do the job. It's supposed to do then stay along and I'll show you guys how we're going to make these garden beds. So I don't want to really waste your time and get into a whole big story. But this is our first time gardening and what I'm going to do is make. These garden beds real quick for you. Guys show you guys what we're gonna do. We're prepping our garden right. Now we need these garden beds to be made so we can start getting the plants outside because it is super sunny right now and the weather is starting to turn yeah.
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  • 00:40 We live in michigan that place right there that looks like the mitten. It gets cold here. But finally it is starting to change so we need to get that done as soon as possible. So we'll want to go over the things that you're going to need for it. Let's just go through them real quick you're going to need boards. These are 2 by 10 boards. They're 8 feet long. We're gonna be making three beds so I have six of them for these garden beds. They're gonna be at two feet wide by six feet long. So really all you're gonna need. If you wanna make your own beds like that. All you need is two of these boards for one bed but I have six of them because we're gonna be making three beds.
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  • 01:13 The next piece of equipment. You're gonna need. You're gonna need a two by three and this is what actually I have but you could have got away if you can find like a two by two I kind of wish. I would have done that instead but we're gonna be using two by three. You're gonna need a saw of some kind of sorts to cut the boards. Circular saw works really good for these kind of projects because it cuts it nice and straight any kind of saw that you have that's going to do. The cut will do the job and you're going to need stuff to screw them together. Some people will use a power nailer. We're going to be using screws to get these boards together. The reason we chose to do that is so that we can unscrew them and use these boards for other projects in the future.
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  • 01:48 If we want to try to change up what we're doing with the garden beds last. We have some linseed oil and this is because the pieces of wood that you're gonna buy make sure that they aren't treated. Some people use treated but it has chemicals in it. So. It's not as good for your gardening if you can get untreated wood and then try to put a sealer on it of linseed oil. Linseed oil is a great sealer. It's a natural one. It'll help protect the wood make it last longer without using the chemicals that's going to ruin the food that you're eating so so linseed oil all right and that's everything you need not very much my kind of project.
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  • 02:19 Let's stop wasting your time now and let's start getting these built. Since these boards are eight feet long and we're gonna do a two by six. All we gotta do is measure out make sure it's eight foot board and then I'm gonna measure out two feet do the cuts on each single one and that'll be your two feet width and you're six feet long by just cutting two feet off of each of these boards. So I'm gonna measure then we'll start cutting losing wanna make time last try to let go of the past. I close my eyes embrace the blast all right. So the next thing we gotta do for these two by threes. We're just gonna cut this for the same height so basically about 10 inches. I'll probably do about nine inches just so that I don't do anything extra sticking out of it. So just gonna cut these into nine inch little slots and you'll see broken is tragic. We're not all elastic but maybe there's magic all right. All the measurements are done.
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  • 03:26 Let's get cut vastness of all that is blackness when you're done cutting with the wood. This is what you should have you should have two of your two by tens cut in six foot long here's my two by ten that's two foot long. Two of those two of those and then I have four of those two by threes cut about nine inches. So now you have all your boards that you need to cut now it's time to screw them together so you're going to want to do that in the place of where you're going to put the beds so here and you can see my chickens we dug up two by six little trenches here in each spot so. I'm just going to show you guys in one of the spots and start putting one together make sure that you pre-drill the holes so that you don't split your wood. Also so. I'm gonna screw the box in together and I'm gonna put those support nine inch cuts in each corner. Afterwards. Tell me you can see. I have the whole frame now done so what I'm gonna do is use. Those nine inch cuts that I did by the two by threes put them inside here on the corner just for extra support. Just so it doesn't go loose or breaking or anything like that. Just gives it that extra support. I have the braces in now for each corner.
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  • 05:36 So the main thing that we got to do now is get that linseed oil just so that it has a nice protectant on it and like. I said this isn't really used with chemicals. This is a natural base using flaxseed so that will help seal our wood make it more protected and get it to last longer because like. I said before you don't want to use treated wood for your garden because you don't want chemicals getting into the food that you're going to be producing and eating so let's get this on tell me tell me the one thing. I would say put the linseed oil on first before you do your cuts and put it down here so that it's already pre-done. It'd make it a lot easier for you so make sure that if that's something that you're looking for. I would have done that before putting it on afterwards after doing all the cuts and putting it together and there you guys have it.
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  • 07:01 That's all it took as you can see not a lot of tools not a lot of effort and I can get this done probably in about 20 minutes if it wasn't for having to film the video so that took me a little extra time but if you want something done cheap effective and you want it to be done where you can get a garden growing. This is the way to do it especially with how inflation's been and all the prices going. I believe this is probably one of your cheapest options you have so if you guys like the video please remember to subscribe and I'm thinking in the next video you guys are going to be seeing us filling this bed so if you're curious of what to fill the bed with and how to do that follow along with our journey. All right. I hope you guys enjoyed it. I hope you guys are getting ready to get planning and remember make the best out of your guys day. We'll see you in the next vlog oh.
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