Free Gardening & Landscaping

A really popular trend right now is having raised garden beds in your garden. There are a lot of different reasons why people prefer this type of gardening. One is that it lets you have total control over the soil and it is an ideal option for those gardeners that have yards that are plagued with bad soil or not the right kind of drainage. Also the border that is provided around the raised garden beds adds a nice clean look as well as a very modern look to any garden, it will also keep kids and pets from trampling through the flowers or vegetables you might be growing. They are also easier to maintain because they are raised and this means there is a little less bending and less strain on the back. Creating your own raised garden beds is actually pretty easy and if you set your mind to it you can have it completed in one day.

The first step you will need for creating your raised garden beds is to find an area of your garden that you want to put them. You want a spot that gets morning sun and afternoon shade. If you want a small family garden you might want it to measure 4ft by 6ft and then mark that perimeter with a chalk line. This size is just an example, it can be any size that you want it to be.

Once you have marked it out you will want to dig out the space designated for the raised garden beds. Even though your garden is going to be above the lawn you still will need to remove the grass from the area. So you will need to take a shovel and shovel away all the turf and a couple of inches of the soil in order to create a plot for your garden.

Next you need to have some gravel and pour a thin and even layer of it onto the plot you just dug out. This gravel is going to help suppress the growth of any weeds as well as grass. Flatten all of it down by walking on it to make a level foundation for your raised garden beds or bed.

Now you need to build the garden frame. Take a drill and some wood screws to connects boards together into a rectangular shape. Make sure they are the same size as the measurements of your garden plot you just created. You will need to screw in five screws that are about an inch apart from the outside of your 6 foot boards into the edges of the 4 foot boards making sure the corners are flush.

Take the frame you have created and put it on the plot and if then you can either make the plot a little bigger if the frame is too big or add back some turf if the frame is too small. You don't have to worry about redoing the frame itself. Once you have the frame down, take some of the turf you dug out and pack it around the outside of the frame to create a nice secure fit.

Once your frame is secured you can then take your garden soil or compost and put it in the frame. The 6 x 4 frame in these instructions will hold about 24 cubic feet of soil. Make sure to fill the frame up to within one inch or so of the top of the frame.

Now you are ready to either transplant seedlings or just sow seeds in your raised garden and enjoy the rewards once the garden grows and produces flowers and or vegetables.