How can I make a raised bed garden cheaply without wood working experience?

Question

I would like to make a raised bed garden for my vegetables this year. The area I have to work with is 14'x6' and I'd like to make a couple of boxes (both squares and rectangular) to go into that area. I plan to grow lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, and a couple misc. vegetables. I would like to do this in the most cost effective way because I'm just a cheap person, but I'd also like it to look nice. I would love the beds to be made of wood, but the lumber isle of the hardware store is scary. Let alone trying to get the lumber home and heaven forbid I have to cut the wood. I think you get the idea. I see a lot of nice kits online, but once again I'm just too cheap to buy them when I think I can make something nice myself. Any ideas?

Answer 1

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I did this,raised garden beds for lettuce and other vege's. Go to a factory or some industrial area where they get wooden crates from orders, they just throw these out when finished,choose some good ones for your job, brig hammers and a friend to help break down the crates. Find short lengths usually made from wood, about 15inchs or longer, use these as stakes either side of the wood, stood on side, you can then slide another piece into pegs to make wall higher.Put some dehydrated lime on the ground inside the planter box, then add cardboard,you can put pitch fork through to make holes if you want,then a mixture of organic fertilizers, then top up with soil brought from nursery, water well in, then put approx 4inchs of hay bale hay on top and water well in.You can plant straight into that and have a successful crop.The cardboard layer will stop weeds and allow somewhere for the earth worms to start breeding and in no time at all,the worms are naturally fertilizing your garden for you.Good luck.

Answer 2

You could get 8x8x16 concrete blocks and turn them on edge. You can fill the holes in them with soil and plant the herbs there. Another option is to have the wood cut at the store. Many stores do this very reasonably and maybe even free. Good luck.

Answer 3

you could use landscape timbers. You can probably get them cut at the store. Drill holes at the ends stack them up as high as you want and hammer 1/2' re-bar through the holes and into the ground. Then fill with dirt and grow stuff.

Answer 4

Get some 8x8 landscape beams (check with your local home and garden stores) i think they come 8 ft long, lay some weed block matt down set your 8x8s and your done.
You will need to cut the beams unless you can go bigger like 16x8 then no cutting needed. Some beams come notched like Lincoln logs just overlap ends.

Answer 5

A few things you can do...
You will have to spend something, so bite the bullet, and open the purse.

Pre-cut 3/4" lumber comes in 2 1/2", 3 1/2", and 5 1/2" widths. Wider, but I think this is in your range.... determine the sizes you wish to make....Think of them as picture frames. Carefully draw the frames, showing joints so you know the length of each piece. If it is square, then two pieces will be 1 1/2" longer than the other two pieces, allowing for the overlaps. When you know the size box you have, you now need to make a bottom. The bottom will be the exact outside dimension of the frame. You now have a cutting list of materials. You can go to Home Depot, and they will cut plywood or OSB (oriented strand board, which is cheaper than plywood) (3/8" or 1/2" will probably work) to your exact sizes.

I would keep the sizes of the boxes in increments of 8" 12" 16" or 24", as this will allow you to design the sizes with a minimal amount of waste. They will also make the cuts for the linear material (sides) if you provide them a list. Unless you use cedar or redwood...this will only last a season or two, as the cheap lumber will rot.
You may also try old pallets or skids....some of these are made of hardwood, but sounds like you are not handy enough to cut them up... As a last resort, try various construction sites that have dumpsters. You will be amazed at how much wood is thrown out. But most of this will require the removal of nails.

Answer 6

i would like to do the same thing in my yard,probably want get to but,anyway,i was thinking about making a rock wall around it but you would have to quite a few rocks, that an option if you had rock and but you some cement,best wishes to ya.

Answer 7

I've used raised beds many times over the years and they work great. The first time, I dug trenches around each bed and just piled the topsoil on to the beds, I ended up with 12 beds about 3 feet across and 6 feet long, The trenches were 2 feet wide and gave a good walkway for weeding and access. We took over 400 ponds of tomatoes and 400 pounds of potatoes out of the patch along with peas, and beans, and squash. What we did then was great, I no longer have access to that patch, but the bed I do use now is 2 1/2 feet wide, a foot high and 7' long, with a SW exposure and a concrete backing to it on the N & E. It holds 6 tomato plants that yield about 400 Lbs. a year. Plenty for a family of 3. I use old pallet lumber for the frame and cover it with black plastic. No one sees what it is underneath, and after the plants grow, they cover the whole area.

Answer 8

Okay, you're cheap, I can understand that, but there are some areas where spending money and doing it right the first time is cheaper in the long run and this is one of them. You don't want to pay for and do this again in a few years, do you? In some cases "nice" and "cheap" are not compatible. Lumber stores will usually cut to length and deliver. I think your best bet since it sounds like you're not handy, is to get one of the kits which let you just slide the wood in and use a few screws, minimal tools required. Get the right kind of wood, cedar or redwood, or it will rot in no time. If you can use a screw gun, the next best alternative to the kits would be to have the wood cut to the lengths you want, then use plumbers' strap to hold the corners together, it's in the plumbing department and you will need metal shears or sidecutters and strong hands to cut it.

Answer 9

I would use landscape timbers, If you make your garden 16x8 there wouldn't be any cutting required.