How To Build A Raised Bed Garden

There has always been one kind of garden or another here at the Cottage. We liked the idea of the ease of care and wanted to work smarter at our gardening and weeding while replacing what we are buying at the grocery store with what we could plant and eat at home. We tossed around different garden designs for a while before we decided on a raised bed garden design.

The History of the Victory Garden

Contents hide

1 The History of the Victory Garden

2 Why Start A Raised Bed Garden

3 Weeding A Raised Bed Garden

4 Raised Bed Garden Layout

5 How To Build A Raised Bed Garden

6 Preparing The Lumber For Your Raised Bed Garden

7 Other Options For A Raised Bed Garden

8 Raised Bed Garden Soil

8.1 Accessories For Your Raised Beds

These gardens started during World War II. The government approached the public with the plea to begin a garden in their own backyard to help with the war effort. People that were self-reliant were not dependent on the government to care for them jumped on the bandwagon.

People were urged to take care of themselves and to do their patriotic duty “Victory Gardens” began to spring up all over our nation. Popular magazines of the day like the “Saturday Evening Post” and “Life” printed stories about them. Women’s magazines gave instructions on how to grow and preserve garden produce as a result of this there was a rage in the purchasing of canning equipment across the U.S. Americans purchased 249,000 more pressure canners in the year 1944 than they did the year before.

They were serious about their gardens. The USDA estimated that there were 20 million Victory gardens planted here in America. Now that is a lot of produce! Fruit and Vegetables harvested in these home and community gardens were estimated to be 10 million tons of food. Even if you don’t think that you have the time, you have less than a green thumb, you CAN do this. Let us help you with great ideas for your own raised bed garden.

Why Start A Raised Bed Garden

With all the other types and ways to garden out there, maybe you are wondering why you should try a raised bed garden. A raised bed garden is a GREAT option for people with:

very little time.
poor soil.
less than a green thumb.
Have trouble bending over

We chose to add a raised bed garden to our yard several years ago. Our soil was horrible clay which made amending it a pain. We also were really busy which meant we were struggling to keep our garden weeded. Raised bed gardening helped to really cut back on the amount of weeding we were doing every year. And using raised beds instead of growing in the ground meant we had better control of our soil which in turn meant our plants did better.

Weeding A Raised Bed Garden

The weeds were controlled for the most part by the shade cloth that we used for under these boxes and the trellis kept it all up off of the ground. As a result, we have a large garden area that is pretty simple for us to have control of.

You could further add a drip watering system to reduce the time you have to care for the garden too (we don’t go into that here). Read on and see how simple these beautiful raised bed gardens are to make to begin your garden and take a step toward food independence (besides, there is nothing like a little dirt to make you feel good).

Raised Bed Garden Layout

You can pretty much use whatever layout you want when it comes to laying out your raised bed garden. To start decide on where you want your boxes, how many you want based on your needs, the size that you need them. This will tell you how many boxes you’ll need and give you an idea of the best layout for your new raised bed garden.

As far as where to put your raised bed garden there are a few things you should keep in mind. You need to make sure that your plants will get enough sun. Herbs can stand more shade but anything that produces a vegetable will need sunshine. We’ve successfully grown all kinds of veggies including pumpkins and tomatoes in our DIY raised beds.

Wooden Raised Bed | How to build a raised garden bed, raised bed, easy garden design, raised bed garden, how to make raised bed garden soil, by rosevine cottage girls

To make your raised bed garden check on Craigslist for lumber or your local hardware store. The best wood for raised bed gardens is non-pressure treated wood. Pick something not treated with chemicals if you are going to be using these for food. You really should go no less than 12 inches deep for your boxes to make sure there is enough soil for your root system (especially if you plan to grow things like carrots or tomatoes in them).

For our raised bed garden we used:

2x12x8 untreated lumber
decking screws
heavy duty metal staples to hammer into the wood to attach the cattle panels.
Electric Drill
Shade Cloth
Staple Gun
Staples (to attach shade cloth to the bottom of the box)
Cattle Panels (also called hog panels)

Preparing The Lumber For Your Raised Bed Garden

Building Raised Beds Step 1: Cut your lumber to your desired length, we chose 4×8 boxes. Lay the 4′ board at an angle forming an L-shape and then screw the boards together using an electric drill and deck screws at the corners of the box.

Building Raised Beds Step 2: Repeat with the other three corners.

Building Raised Beds Step 3: Place the shade cloth on the top of your box and have a helper hold it in place while you staple it all around.

Building Raised Beds Step 4: Then, flip the box with the shade cloth on the bottom in the spot where you want it to be. This will help to prevent weeds from coming up in the raised beds.

Building Raised Beds Step 5: Get a helper to help you get the cattle panels in place. Place the short end of the cattle panel against the ground and flush up against the long end of your raised bed Bend it in an arc and place the opposite side against the next raised bed. We have two cattle panels on each box.

Building Raised Beds Step 6: Using your heavy-duty staples and a hammer secure the panel to the side of your box in several places, continue with the next panel. Next, move over to the opposite side of your cattle panel that is up against the next box and staple it securely. Continue for each box that you will want your climbing vegetables in.

Plants growing in a raised Bed garden | Raised bed garden, raised bed gardening, growing beans in raised beds, growing squash in raised beds, easy raised beds, raised bed garden soil

Other Options For A Raised Bed Garden

Raised Bed Garden Soil

You want your raised beds to have the best environment possible for your vegetables and fruit. It is possible to fill your raised beds with potting soil from your local garden supply or make your own.

We used:

1/3 of each

Wearing a mask from your hardware store or bandana combine your ingredients and mix well and add it to your raised bed garden box. Make sure you fill it well. As a result, it will give the roots of your garden plants plenty of room to grow and give you large, healthy plants and lots of delicious food.

Accessories For Your Raised Beds

Check out our Amazon Store Front for all the tools you’ll need.

Border Collie Pup licking her nose in a raised bed garden By Rosevine Cottage Girls

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Before you go, check these other articles out!

The History of the Victory Garden

Why Start A Raised Bed Garden

Weeding A Raised Bed Garden

Raised Bed Garden Layout