Plans to Build a Raised Garden Bed

Map Your Plan

• Measure the space available in a sunny spot in your garden if you plan to grow vegetables, herbs, many kinds of flowers or even a fruit tree or two. If you want to grow shade-loving plants, you can create a raised bed in a shady or partly sunny area. Plan to make your raised bed about 4 feet wide by 8 to 12 feet long; this will allow you to reach into the center of the bed without the need to step on the soil, which keeps it light and airy. Mark the border of each bed area with stakes and string or simply sprinkle flour around its edges.

Collect and Use Cardboard

• Start to collect cardboard boxes when you first decide to build your raised bed. When you flatten large cardboard boxes, then remove any tape or staples, you'll be laying them on top of the soil in your planned area or areas. They will smother any weeds or other unwanted plants growing there. If your chosen area contains a large number of small weeds, such as grasses, mow or cut them. You needn't remove them by the roots. If your area has larger plants, perhaps an old rose bush, you must cut it down to the soil level.

Gather Compost and Other Organic Materials

• The next ingredients for your raised bed are a number of different organic materials. Start collecting compost, peat moss, lawn trimmings, fallen leaves, annuals from last summer's garden that you chop into pieces no larger than 2 inches long, and others, such as sawdust or wood chips. You can also use topsoil, if you have a good source of fairly weed-free soil. After you lay your cardboard over your bed area, simply create layers of these organic materials. You can make your bed as deep as you want: keep in mind that smaller plants, such as herbs, require less growing media than larger plants such as fruit trees. Make your bed or beds the appropriate depth for the plants you want to grow.

Build a Frame If You Wish

• Raised beds look nice when they have a wooden or rock frame surrounding them. It's not essential to build a frame because with the raised bed method of preparation, the organic materials you spread on top of the cardboard will not erode or slide down the sides of the bed. If you want a frame, it might be easier to build it after you lay down your cardboard and before you pile up layers of the organic materials.