For the past few years , cucumber , squash , andzucchinihave wilted in my garden –   no matter what .

My best guess is that my territory is infected with a virus , be it phytophthera or some other crippling condition .

Since then , I have planned to build a raised bed for cucurbit , which would give me some bracing filth to adjudicate growing them again .

A wooden garden planter box filled with brown soil, with a few green seedlings growing in the planter.

Well , I lastly stimulate around to it ! I construct a raised bed out of dog - eared cedar fencing posts and pressure treated 2x2s . It measures 6 foot longsighted by 18 in wide by 11 inches high .

It ’s a little penny-pinching for squash and courgette plants , but I was desperate to create an orbit with fresh soil without breaking the bank . So , we ’ll see how it endure !

While the sizing of this DIY bed may be a stretch for big plants , like courgette and squeeze , it is beyond perfect for grow root crops , which necessitate loose , loamy stain to reach their full potential .

A collage of photos showing different views of a homemade wooden raised bed.

Place it up against a fence or add a objet d’art of trellis to the back and it ’s every bit great for climbing crops , like peas , green beans , and cucumbers .

I pass around 20 dollars on lumber and already had exterior turnkey on hand . And it was less than 35 dollar to fulfill with grunge – but this will diverge depending on what type of soil you utilise and have usable .

While I do n’t deliberate a aggregate of 55 dollar a small sum , I do consider it an investment .

Vertical top-down view of a piece of lumber beside a measuring stick or a narrow piece of wood, on a blacktop driveway.

Next year , I ’ll just have to top off the soilwith some compostand possibly more backbone for added drain . So it ’s closely a one - clock time expense .

Want one ( or five ) for your garden ? Keep take to ascertain how to build up your own DIY raised bed at home ! !

What You’ll Need

Materials

Tools

Get to Work

First Things First – Cut Everything to Size

Cedar is expensive – but bribe hound - eared fence posts is a path to get it for cheap .

Keep in mind that you ’ll have to cut all of the dog - eared stop off the fence posts before beginning gathering of your beds .

To do this , take one fence post and mark a straight line with your speed square just below the dog - eared end . It should measure a little less than 6 feet .

Several pieces of lumber of various sizes, resting in piles arranged according to size on a blacktop driveway.

Cut the end off with your rotary or miter saw .

Use this picket as a guide for all of the others , so they are the exact same duration .

place four of these pieces apart – they will be used for the long sides of your novel bottom .

Two pieces of wood connected to form an L-shape propped on its side on a driveway, beside a yellow electric drill.

For the curt sides , you ’ll cut one fence post into four equal section , around 18 inches each .

They may be a little longer or myopic than 18 inches – it will depend on your particular card . The important thing is that they are all the same size of it .

Then you ’ll take your final 6 - substructure fencing picket and cut it into four to six section , each part value roughly 11 column inch , which is the elevation of the raised bed .

Vertical image of half of the frame for a wooden garden planter, resting on its side on a blacktop driveway next to a yellow level, a tape measure, a box of screws, a black box, and other assorted tools.

These pieces will be for stabilise the long sides , as well as tote up a little chip of character .

All you will have left at this point is the 2×2 . Cut four section from the 2×2 , each measuring 11 inches . These will become the corners of the structure .

That ’s it ! Those are all the pre - cut pieces you ’ll require .

Top-down view of a wooden raised garden bed filled with dark brown soil with one green seedling growing at the top left corner, with bare brown soil visible around the wooden frame, with a chainlink fence to the right.

Assembly

Now it ’s prison term to put it together .

First , assemble the farsighted sides .

Lay two of the 6 - foot fence watch on the priming , one above the other with the end flush .

Vertical top-down view of a wooden planting frame filled with dark brown soil, with a few green seedlings growing in the dirt.

Then , take two of the 2×2 section you reduce and run along them up with the ends of the boards .

Pre - drill your kettle of fish , then attach the 2x2s to the cedar tree picket with 1 ¼-inch exterior screws .

Cedar can separate relatively easily , so do n’t skip the step of pre - drill .

Vertical image of a wooden garden planter in the sunshine, filled with brown dirt and surrounded by brown earth, next to a chainlink fence with grass growing on the other side, with a shovel propped against the fence and sticking into the soil.

reduplicate this mental process with two more 6 - foot picket and two more 2x2s . These will be the long sides of the bed .

Next , attach the short picket section – the ones that measure around 18 inches – to the same 2x2s that are now on the long picket section .

Just a head up : the ass will show from the exterior on the short side of the bottom .

If you do n’t need the prison guard to show , you have a few option :

I generally void the Kreg - jig , since I have discover this pick to be more unmanageable to do with cedar .

At this point , you should have the intact corner gather .

To better secure and stabilize the long side of meat , utilize ¾-inch exterior prison guard to attach the remaining 11 - inch surgical incision of cedarwood to the long sides of the bottom .

you’re able to choose to put just one per side or several per side , or sandwich the bed between two of them like I did in the picture above .

If you want to add a little bit of reference , try set these pieces on the exterior of the physical body – but attach them from the inside , so the nookie are n’t showing .

I ’ll be honest though , functionality was my chief concern while I was building this .

Take whatever originative liberty you like to make it seem a little more finished and wizard , if that ’s your expressive style .

Filling Time

As for fill this mantrap with grease , I went ahead and purchased four 3 - three-dimensional - foot bag of organic raised garden bed soil .

I also summate a 50 - hammering bag of coarse , multi - purpose Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin – the bag in reality listed soil amendment as one of the suggested uses .

I feed it a sound admixture , watered it well , and sowed my seminal fluid .

Not Much to It

That ’s all you necessitate to do . Really !

This is just a guide to get you started , so sense free to extemporize fit in to your own whims and needs . you could always employ dissimilar materials and adjust the size , or make your own embellishments to the basic style .

Do what works for your garden !

If you need something larger , I would recommend using 4×4 cedar or pressing address posts for the corners rather of the 2x2s .

Also , keep in mind that invoke beds dry out faster than plant flat in the ground . So , particularly before seeds germinate and while they ’re still seedling , you ’ll need to keep the soil consistently moist .

Have you ever built a raised layer before ? Think you ’ll give this one a effort ? If you do , let us know how it go . We would love to hear your feedback !

If you delight this guidebook , then these might be helpful :

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Amber Shidler