How to Build a Raised Bed for Gardening

Raised beds are ideal for growing vegetables and low-growing fruit. Once built, they don't need to be dug. It is easier to discourage and combat perennial weeds, and they can be tended without walking on the soil. Here's a beginners' guide to building a raised bed for gardening.

You will need:

• Tape measure
• Stakes
• String
• Spade
• Saw
• 8 lengths of treated wood (each 1.2 m x 15 cm/4 ft x 6 in)
• 4 posts (each 75 x 10 x 10 cm/30 x 4 x 4 in)
• Galvanized nails (7.5 cm/3 in)
• Hammer
• Compost
• Rake
• Bark chips, landscape fabric (optional)

1. Using a tape measure, stakes and string, mark out an area one metre and 20 centimetres (three feet, eight inches) square. Measure diagonally from corner to corner — if the bed is square the diagonals will be equal. Clear all weeds and dig to a depth of 20 to 30 centimetres (eight to 12 inches), piling the soil into the centre.
2. Nail corner posts flush with the tops and edges of two pieces of board, then fix a second, lower board to each. Position the edging boards on opposite sides of the bed, one metre and 20 centimetres (three feet, eight inches) apart, and tap down until the lower edge of the lower board is flush with the surface level.
3. Nail the side boards into place. Mix compost into the dug soil and rake level. Surround the bed with bark chips if you wish. Water well if necessary and add plants.

• Railroad ties make excellent raised beds and don't need nailing to corner posts. But make sure you buy new railroad ties: reclaimed railway stock will be steeped in toxic oil that's harmful to plants and people.
• If your ground is weed-prone, remove all the soil as you dig and line the bed with landscaping fabric. Fill the bed with fresh topsoil and compost.
• Make sure beds are small enough for you to reach across without treading or leaning on the soil. For a higher bed (and less bending) use longer corner posts and more boards.
• Make paths between beds wide enough to push a wheelbarrow through.