Raised Bed Construction

Raised bed construction is easy. In fact the only tools used making the one in this article consisted of a single screw driver.

If you have little experience or in my case, no experience at all in carpentry, you may want to consider this type of raised bed construction for your garden.

Initial Raised Bed Garden Layout

All vegetables need sunlight especially tomatoes, so make sure your raised bed will be built in an area of your garden that receives at least five to six hours of sunlight each day.

If you build near a wall, make sure you have enough room to comfortably walk around all sides of the bed for easy access to your vegetables.

That said... Let's go ahead and begin our raised bed garden construction.

Step 1

Note* The above picture is a little large to see the string layout.

You may have a good idea where you want to build your raised bed garden, but to really visualize how it will look and the space needed; it is a good idea to first do a string layout. If it doesn't look just right, adjust the string layout until you are satisfied.

Step 2

The raised bed garden we will construct will be four feet by eight feet as was the string dimension in the first picture.

I went to Home Depot for the lumber choosing four 8 x 6 x 2 lengths for the sides (as can be seen in the back of the picture).

To construct the ends, I purchased an extra two 8 x 6 x 2 lengths of lumber and had Home Depot cut both in the middle ending up with four 4 x 6 x 2 pieces that I'll use for the ends of the bed.

Step 3


I purchased hinges from a manufacturer on the internet to screw on the end of each piece of lumber. It came with screws requiring the use of only one screw driver.

When the bed frame was put together, I noticed the ground wasn't level and required smoothing so that the bed would be level on the ground.

Step 4

After I leveled the ground and replaced the bed, I noticed after walking around the sides that the garden bed was too close to the wall requiring me to move it out to have a four foot clearance.

Step 5
Satisfied with the position of my raised bed garden, I was now ready to lay the bed liner to prevent weeds from growing into the bed.

A really good point worth mentioning, add a layer or two of wet cardboard (or hose it when layed) on top of your liner. Over time, it will break down and by doing so will add nutrients to you soil.


Step 6
Everything looks good and all that is required to complete the raised bed vegetable garden is adding the second and final layer of lumber.

You can of course, add another third layer to increase height especially if using a wheel chair to make working in the bed more comfortable.

Last but not least, is filling the raised bed garden with good soil.

It is a good idea before you plant to let the soil rest for a couple of weeks to settle. If and when this happens, just top up again to your desired height.

Now you're ready for planting!

And remember...Don't forget to water your vegetables on a regular basis.

To learn more about raised bed vegetable gardening, click on this link raised bed garden to take you there.

If you have any questions, you can contact us by using our e-mail form below.

Happy Gardening

Vegetable Garden Page