How to Build a Raised Garden Bed

Starting a garden has been on my list for awhile. So I finally built one. I'm going to show you how I built a Raised Garden Bed made of cedar, easily picked up at your local home center. It’s a simple build that is great for a beginner DIY project and works in just about any size yard.

If you’d like to build this Raised Garden Bed yourself, I have a FREE set of plans, which includes a material list and a cut list.

Check out the video tutorial above to see more detail of how to build it.

Stuff I Used:

• Circular Saw: https://amzn.to/2WSrF7Q
• Drill: https://amzn.to/2ULFuYm
• Impact Driver: https://amzn.to/2MJGYgp
• Outdoor Glue: https://amzn.to/3dzGcyv
• Dust Mask: https://amzn.to/2G8w8wm
• Pocket Hole Bit: https://amzn.to/2USh1yP
• Plug Cutter: https://amzn.to/2QVazWr

I’m starting this project with 6, 5/4 Cedar decking boards. They’re 6 inches tall and 8 feet long. I chose cedar because it is rot resistant and great for outdoor projects.

And then, I measured and marked so I could make a cut on each board, 3 feet in. My boards are 8 feet long, so this will give me 1 3 foot and 1 5 foot piece from each board.

To assemble this box I’m going to join the boards with screws. You could stop here, and just join the boards with screws. But I decided to take mine a step further and recess my screws so I could cover them with a dowel. For this, I grabbed my Pocket Hole drill bit to drill about half way in.

Then, I staged up a long board, a short board and an inside brace and used 2” screws to attach everything together. You could also incorporate wood glue if you like. Just make sure it’s exterior rated.

I continued by repeating the same steps on all 4 corners, working my way around the box.

And here it is. All put together. 3 feet by 5 feet. Super easy and looks so clean.

We got one yard of soil delivered, which gave us enough to fill the box with a little bit left over for planting some pots. You could also buy bagged soil at your local home center.

We moved the box into its backyard spot so we could start filling it with soil. We used organic gardening soil and loosely filed the planter box, being careful not to pack it in.

At this point we could finally plant our plants :)

You could be done here! However, I want to cut plugs to cover the recessed screws on mine. I’m using this 3/8ths tapered plug cutter. This way I can cut plugs from the same cedar I built with. I loaded it into my drill press and drilled out plugs.

To release them, I made a pass with my band saw and they popped right out. An alternative would be to just buy a cedar dowel.

To insert the plugs, I used some exterior rated wood glue and knocked them in with a piece of scrap wood and a hammer.

And with the plugs in place, this Raised Garden Bed was done! Such an easy build and so rewarding to grow your own food.

For detailed instructions on this Raised Garden Bed, be sure and watch the video and also check out the FREE plans. I'd love to see pics of yours if you decide to make your own!

For more projects and tutorials, be sure and visit my YouTube channel and my website. You can also find me on Instagram @makergray. Thanks for following along!