Now that our weather is warming up, we have been working hard to get our Spring and Summer garden going. Last week we added new soil to our raised boxes and planted new plants and seeds.
This week, I set out on a new adventure. We don't have any more room in our raised garden boxes, and I really wanted to have an herb garden. So, we took a look at what space we had left in our garden and decided that an elevated garden box would be the perfect addition!
This is the first time I've ever tried using an online program to develop a building plan ... usually it's paper and pencil for me!
Here's what you need to know to build your own. We purchased our supplies at Lowes, but you can find all of these supplies at your local hardware store or lumber yard.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Finished Measurements:
- 3 feet (36 inches) tall
- 18 inches wide
- 4 feet (48 inches) wide
Materials: (use redwood or cedar wood that is for outdoor use)
- 4 - 2x4x8
- 3 - 2x6x8
- 3 - cedar fence pickets (6 foot long)
- 2 1/2 inch outdoor deck screws (lots)
- drill and bits
- table saw or miter saw
- tape measure
- pencil
- a few hours
Cut List:
- 4 - 36 inch 2x4's
- 4 - 22 inch 2x4's
- 2 - 45 inch 2x4's
- 4 - 45 inch 2x6's
- 4 - 15 inch 2x6's
- 7 - 18 inch fence pickets (you won't use the tops where they have the corners trimmed off - save those for another project down the road!)
Assembly:
1. Begin by assembling the two inner boxes. Line up your pieces as shown in the diagram below and attach the larger pieces to the smaller pieces using the deck screws. Repeat for the second layer box so that you have 2 of these assembled.
2. Attach the two leg pieces together. Lay the smaller one on top of the larger piece, and be sure to line up the bottom edges so that your leg will not be wobbly when you stand up the garden box. You will need to build four of these ...
4. Attach the bottom slats to one of the boxes you built in step 1. We used cedar fence pickets, but you can use cedar planks if you want, just be sure they are 5.5 inches wide. If yours are larger or smaller, you may need to adjust the number of slats you cut and attach. It kind of looks like a giant xylophone.
5. Now you get to attach the legs to the box with the slats on it. Remember, the slats are the BOTTOM of your garden box. They should be sitting on the runners that go between the garden box legs.
I found it easiest to slip the top pieces of my fence pickets underneath the box without the slats. Then put the box with the slats on top of that (with the slats on the top) lining it up as best I could. Then I set the legs on top of that... essentially building it upside down. Drill screws through the runners, into the slats, and into the bottom box. You may need to sink your screws a little bit (the head of the screw will be inside the wood instead of even with the top of the wood) in order to reach down into the garden box itself. I attached mine with about 4 screws spaced out on each of the runners.
6. With help, flip it over so it's standing right side up. Secure the box with the slats to the legs of the garden box with a few screws. Then add the second box on top and secure it to the legs as well. At least two screws into each leg is enough. The top box layer is not actually connected to the bottom one, it is only connected to the legs.
7. Line the bottom with a wire mesh, available at your local hardware store. I used my staple gun to tack it down in a few places. Then, I added a layer of weed barrier on top of it to hold the dirt in. The wire mesh supports the weed barrier in the spaces between the bottom slats. I simply wrapped the inside of my garden box like a present and added a few staples to hold it in place. Then you can add your favorite vegetable or plant soil and start planting! Be sure to put your elevated garden box in place before you add the dirt... it already weighs a lot, and once you get the soil in there it will be nearly impossible to move it.
If you want to see step by step how I built ours, head over to my YouTube channel and take a look at the video!
hubby has been trying to come up with a simple plan to do this and found yours...it's perfect!! He just left to go to the store and buy the supplies! My question...i'm adding to this with tiered potted plant shelves on either end...any chance you would be willing to share your sketch-up drawing so that i could add those shelves w/out having to redraw your whole design? Thanks so much for putting this out there to share!!! 💙
ReplyDeleteVery nice well illustrated plans thank you for the wonderful information
ReplyDelete