How To Build DIY Raised Garden Beds That Will Last For Years!

Raised garden beds are a great way to create an organized garden space even when you don’t have a ton of room to work with. They also provide an easy drainage solution and help keep pests out.  We DIY’d our own 4′ x 8′ raised garden beds and they work GREAT!

Ready to build your own raised garden beds? Below is the exact tutorial on how we made ours! (Short on time? Pin this post to reference later!)

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Supplies used:

• 2″ x 10″ Lumber
• 12″ Swanson Speed Square
• Carpenter’s Pencil
• Tape Measure
• Dewalt 60V Circular Saw
• Drill
• 3.5″ Deck Screws

For lumber we chose to go with untreated 2″ x 10″ construction lumber.  It’s cheap, contains no unwanted chemicals, and (supposedly) should last at least 5-7 years in a dry climate like ours.  (The longevity of untreated lumber for raised garden beds really depends on climate – in wetter climates the wood may only last for a few years, whereas in the driest of climates they could hold up for 10+ years.)

Each 4′ x 8′  raised bed requires three 2″ x 10″ boards. 

Using a 12″ Swanson Speed Square, we marked two of the boards at 4′ and made the cuts using a Dewalt 60V Circular Saw (any circular saw should do the trick, we used this one).

Related: How to Build a Rustic DIY Patio Table

Once all of the cuts were made, it was time to assemble the beds. We placed three 3.5″ deck screws along each corner to secure the frames into place.

Psssttt..

Want to know which crops do BEST in raised beds? Grab my free cheat sheet!

After the raised beds were finished, we moved them to the back yard to fill them up with soil. We decided not to lay any cardboard or landscape cloth down beneath the soil. Instead we used a weed-wacker to cut the grass down extremely short and left the clippings as our base.

We will see how well this method works and may opt for something different next year. (UPDATE: this method worked great for us, there was no need to add an extra barrier.)

Related: Small Patio Makeover REVEAL (on a budget!)

The soil we used was a ‘premium grower’s mix’ we purchased from the local nursery which was a mix of 1/3 top soil, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 compost.

(Don’t forget to pin this post to your Garden Ideas board on Pinterest!)

After the two beds were filled, it was time for the fun part – planting!

Grab my free cheat sheet to know which crops thrive in raised beds! Enter your name & email below and I’ll send you the cheat sheet instantly!

I used Popsicle sticks and my favorite DYMO embossed label maker to make simple (and cheap!) labels for my crops.

Looking for more outdoor inspiration? You’re gonna love these posts:

DIY Outdoor Patio Table

How to Style A Small Patio (on a budget!)

9 Outdoor Rugs on Amazon That’ll Transform Your Outdoor Space

 

Be sure to checkout all of our DIY tutorials in the Project Gallery!