Raised Garden Bed Materials and Construction:
When I decided I wanted raised garden beds, the materials to use was not an easy choice.I went from concrete, metal, wall brick and wood.
Wood was the material of choice, because we already had the wood tools, but the wood had to have some type of preservative and be "food safe".
It wasn't until this year that " food safe wood " was invented by Homedepot.
Wood structure raise beds works for me even though they don't complement the architecture of my home, but the raised garden beds are in the backyard and the pressure treated mini ties were on Sale.
Materials List for Wood Raised Garden Beds
- pressure treated mini-ties "food safe" from Homedepot - it should say "food safe" on the yellow label stapled to the end of the mini ties- 6 and 8" Timber Tite Screws from Hellman
- 5/16" nutdriver
- saw - for cutting ties to size
- measuring tape
- square
- level
- hammer
- pencil
- shovel - to dig a small trench for first row of mini ties
Best Raised Bed Designs:
I think this a personal choice.How much do you want to budget for this project?
My main concern was, whatever I used had to be durable, "food safe" and be easily dismantled if it needed to be.
As for design, I just went with the flow.
However, if my raised beds were near or besides my home it would be nice if the raised bed frames complemented the style and material of the home. Then the garden raised beds become an architectural element of the home.
In my case, my raised beds are in the backyard.
I think the best raised garden bed designs, are the ones that feels comfortable to work in it.
To me it has to fit like a glove.
I am the gardener at our house - so - I was the one that decided how high my garden walls were to be. Don't want to have go find a stepping stool everytime I want to sit somewhere OR worse, having to sit on a really low wall.
Tests that my garden raise beds had to pass - they had to be easy to weed, water, maintain and pretty to look at. :)
My high raised beds are at the back of the garden and the lower ones at the front. That way, I can see what's planted in my vegetable garden beds from the house. :)
Size of my raised beds vary in width.
Length - they're pretty much the same.
My raised garden beds sizes are:
4 feet, 5 feet and 7 feet wide.
The 7 feet wide beds - works well for potatoes and corn.
The 5 foot wide beds - that's where I have berry bushes.
The 4 foot beds - are great size for any produce that I have to pick everyday, because then I can work on the bed from both sides easily.
Path between the vegetable beds are 2 feet.
Wide enough for the grandkids to bring their wagons in. :)
The main path down the middle of the vegetable bed is around 5 feet.
Wide enough to turn around if I'm pushing a wheelbarrow.
The paths on the outside of the vegetable beds - are around 3 feet.
Wide enough to push a wheelbarrow easily.
That's it! I hope some of my ideas helps or inspires you to go and build yourself a garden.
Happy Gardening!
If you wish to read more about raised beds - you're welcome to use "google search box" at the bottom of the page.
My raised vegetable garden beds are made with landscape - pressure treated - food safe - mini ties.
They are pressure treated landscape mini ties attached together with 6" and 8" timber tite screws.
The first mini ties are buried for stability. The timber tite screws are made by Hellman and screwed in with a 5/16" nutdriver.
We ran out of screws and had to wait until the store brought more in.
Otherwise, I wouldn't be here talking about gardening, but gardening instead. :) All good!
My raised vegetable beds made with landscape mini ties.
Closeup of the corners.
Basic construction for raised beds.
Corners are staggered and screwed a triangular pattern to make them rigid.
First row of ties were levelled and slopped for drainage.
In our case - it slopes south where the catch basin is.
Basic construction for the flower raised beds.
They were made the same way as the vegetable garden raised beds, but not quite as high.
I just wanted them to be higher than the gravel or lawn.
I know - I am a neat freak! :)
My favourite raised flower bed
When we had our house foundation excavated, I asked the backhoe operator to put aside the rocks that he found on the property and he did. Hence the raised rock garden flower bed.
I think I'm also growing rocks naturally, because wherever I dig that's what I usually find.
As you can see my rock garden is growing.
The rock border is certainly doing the job of holding back the soil and the lavender - loves it.