Best Way to Make a Raised Garden
There are many benefits to making a raised garden versus a garden directly in the ground. Raised gardens tend to reduce the amount of varmints that destroy the plants. They also allow for a more controlled environment for the plant raising the chances of the plant surviving. One can make a raised garden by following a few simple steps.
- Decide on an area the raised garden will be placed before actually creating the raised garden. Choosing a location that has enough sunlight if needed and adequate amounts of shade so that the garden does not get burned. Allowing approximately four to five hours of sunlight is usually the best. The raised gardens that are laid north to south will receive the best benefits of the daylight sunshine.
- Create 16-inch posts on the four corners of the boxed garden by sawing 4x4 pieces of wood to a size of 16 inches in order to create the four posts needed for the garden bed. This will essentially be the boxed garden.
- Cut 2x6 planks of wood down to half the size, and lay them on the short sides of the garden box.
- Screw these planks into the corner posts. It works best to use a 3 1/2 inch screw so that they stay in place.
- Place two 8-inch planks along the long sides of the garden box, and screw these into place as you did with the short sides of the box. At this point all four sides and corners should be attached to create a box.
- Add a layer of 2x6 planks on each short side, and then add a layer of 8-inch planks on each long side until the desired height is reached.
- Dig about five inches down into the soil, and place the posts to the box inside this area so they stand below the box to hold it in place.
- Lay hardware cloth down on the base of the garden box to prevent varmints from getting into the garden soil.
- Add soil to the garden box, and begin to plant a garden.