Raised Garden Beds

By Rogue Engineer

SKILL
easy

Since moving into our new house we have been wanting to build some raised vegetable gardens. We finally decided that this was our year to tackle it. Ultimately, we settled on two 12ft by 4ft beds which is just enough for us. One thing we wanted to do was to make this as easy to use and maintain as possible. So we also decided that irrigation was a must.

Tools

  • 18V ONE+ HP Brushless 7-1/4" Circular saw
  • 18V ONE+ Heat Gun
  • 18V ONE+ 3/8" Crown Stapler
  • 18V ONE+ HP Brushless Reciprocating Saw
  • 18V ONE+ HP Brushless 1/2" Drill/Driver
  • 18V ONE+ HP Brushless 4-Mode 1/4" Impact Driver
  • 18V ONE+ 7-1/4" Sliding Compound Miter Saw

Accessories

  • 65 PC. DRILL AND IMPACT DRIVE SET

Materials

  • (2) 4x4x8 Posts
  • 1/2" Line
  • 2x4's
  • Micro Line
  • Micro Sprayers
  • Plant
  • Plastic Lining
  • Stepping Stones
  • Stone Gravel
  • Topsoil
  • Weed Barrier
  • Wood Stain

Steps

STEP 1: Layout and Topsoil Removal

Use a tape measure and some spray paint to mark the boxes. Then, use a hose to layout an area that will be landscaped with rock to make mowing and edging easier.

marking garden boxes

STEP 2: Layout and Topsoil Removal Continued

Remove the top soil and cut a nice clean vertical edge. Getting rid of the top soil will help make sure weeds don’t grow and will provide solid ground for the raised beds.

Raised flower beds

STEP 3: Roughing in the Irrigation

To get water to the planters, I trenched a line from the nearest spigot and laid 1/2" sprinkler line to each raised bed location.

roughing in irrigation

STEP 4: Roughing Irrigation Continued

I used a tee to go from one bed to the other and made sure to leave enough line exposed so that when the bed was filled with topsoil it would still be exposed.

roughing in irrigation

STEP 5: Weed Barrier and Stone

To make sure those pesky weeds don’t grow up we pinned down some weed barrier before the stone was laid.

adding weed barrier

STEP 6: Applying a Finish (Optional)

Stain the lumber with a waterproofing stain, this is optional because it is treated. Doing so before assembly can save a lot of time and effort.

staining lumber

STEP 7: Assembling the Boxes

I set one end of the 2x10x12 board on the ground and clamped the other end to a 4×4 post. After getting this board perfectly level, I secured it to the 4×4 post with two lag bolts.

Tools

Impact Driver
assembling garden boxes

STEP 8: Assembling the Boxes Continued

Stagger the joints so each board has one end flush with the edge of the 4×4 and the other overlapping the 4×4 by 1-1/2″ so the next board could butt into that.

Tools

Impact Driver
staggering joints

STEP 9: Assembling the Boxes Continued

After the first row was done I measured and cut the 4×4 off at what will be the top of the next row.

Tools

Reciprocating Saw
cutting off 4x4 excess

STEP 10: Assembling the Boxes

Fill the gaps on the bottom of each planter with boards. To do so I simply laid the board down the side and measured how much I would need to cut off at each end.

Tools

Circular Saw
cutting boards to fill gaps

STEP 11: Assembling the Boxes Cotinued

Before filling the planters, I added 2×4 pieces inside the boxes to tie all the sides together and help keep them in line while minimizing bowing.

Tools

Impact Driver
adding 2x4s inside the planters

STEP 12: Attaching Liners

Before filling with topsoil, we stapled plastic to the sides which will help keep water and soil from seeping through the cracks as well as protect the lumber and plants from direct contact with each other.

Tools

Crown Stapler
attaching plastic liners

STEP 13: Filling with Topsoil

Add the topsoil into each of the planters, then level out the topsoil.

adding topsoil into planter

STEP 14: Finishing off Irrigation

Dig a trench for the main line down the center of each bed and locate about where you want the micro sprayers. Install as many as desired for the bed.

digging a trench for sprayers

STEP 15: Finishing off the Irrigation Continued

We then drilled holes in the main line at each sprayer location and attached micro lines to connect each sprayer and plugged the ends of the main 1/2″ line.

Tools

Drill/Driver
drilling holes in the main line

STEP 16: Finishing off the Irrigation Continued

Last but not least, terminate the other end of the 1/2″ line with a 3/4″ hose connector and tied that into the hose spigot with a timer on it for daily waterings.

Tools

Heat Gun
Finishing up hose connections

STEP 17: Laying Stones

Remove stone and use a little sand to level the area before placing the stepping stones and backfilling the stone around them.

placing stepping stones