For about $20 a pop, Home Depot sells boards that are 2x12x8 (meaning 2" thick, 12" wide, and 8' long). For each box, I would need three boards. The two side boards wouldn't need any kind of cuts, and I would only have to make one cut to cut the third board in half to make my 4' width.
The last piece of lumber I needed was a 4x4 to act as the anchor for my sides. An eight foot long 4x4 was about $10 and could be cut into eight 12" pieces - enough for two garden boxes.
For those of you doing the math, that makes my raised beds about $65 for a 4x8. Much better than any other prices out there. Add on the cost of chicken wire, screws, and liner plastic (I'll explain how I used all that next) and the cost is probably closer to about $75 - 80 per box, but still, the price can't be beat.
With all my materials picked out, it was time to start cutting and building. I am by no means a carpenter, or even close to it. I had never even operated a power saw prior to building the boxes. And, with the magic of Home Depot, I did not have to operate a saw while building the boxes.
Home Depot offers a cutting service right there in the store. I was able to choose my lumber, find an associate, and tell them the length of cuts I wanted and they took care of it right there. If you are planning on doing smaller boxes, you can buy a smaller piece of wood and have them cut it to your size. There was a sign posted that said after the first five cuts there was an additional .10 charge per cut, but I was never charged. However, I would have happily paid the extra .10 if it meant it would save me time and a finger or two and the cost of having to rent a saw.
Home I went with all my supplies and I set them up on the driveway. The set-up of the boxes looked something like this:
I just laid out all of the pieces, put in a 4x4 anchor in each corner and got to screwing my boards together. I probably used too many screws, but I would rather be safe than sorry in having my boxes stay together, so each side got three screws into the support, and two screws into the neighboring board. Make sure if you are using PT wood you buy hot-dipped galvanized screws so that they hold up.
Once all the sides are screwed together, you should have a garden box. It's not much to look at, especially compared to what some real carpenters can do (as evidenced by my college roomate's herb box that her very talented father built her), but it is easy to make and will serve its purpose.
Once your box is all together it is time to put on the screen to keep the gophers out. You can use any kind of wire or mesh material, just make sure it will withstand pounds of wet, soggy dirt on top of it, and have small enough holes that gophers or other pests can't get through. I used chicken wire just because we had some left over from building our chicken coop. Cut it to size and staple it to the bottom of your box. Now is also the time to add plastic to the sides of your box if you want to protect the wood from the soil (or in my case, protect my soil from my wood). I just cut strips to size and stapled them all along the sides of the boxes wherever soil might touch wood.. Between the plastic and the chicken wire, it makes for an ugly mash of materials, but once the boxes are full of dirt and plants, they are pretty as can be.
So, to sum it up, for 4x8 garden boxes you need:
3 4x8x12 boards
1 8' 4x4
power drill
screws
chicken wire (optional)
plastic liner (optional)
Of course, if you are better with the saw than I am, there are plenty of great designs out there. Here are free plans for a few I found. They are still simple, but more look more polished than mine. Maybe one day when I am more learned in the ways of wood I will try my hand at something more aesthetically pleasing. But for now, I am happy with what I've got.
Plan 1
Plan 2
Plan 3
What is your experience building garden beds? Do you have a quick, easy way that looks great?
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