Building a U Shaped Raised Garden Bed

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It has been a few years since we've had a garden. Hubby and I have both missed fresh veggies from our backyard. It was time to build a new garden bed.

At our Stonybrook house we built raised garden planters, but they were lower to the ground.

DIY Garden Planters

Of course, those stayed there when we move to our little brick house. It was time for some new ones. Since we are getting up in years... we decided we wanted an even taller raised beds. So, we scoured the internet and came upon some designs we liked.

We decided on a U-shaped garden and saw that the easiest way to build it would be to make panels. Then attach the panels together. Hubby did all the math... not my specialty. We built 7 panels.

1 - 10' panel
2- 8' panels
2- 5' panels
2 - 3' panels
1- 4' panel

Basically, something like this.

We purchased treated 2x4s, galvanized roofing sheets and a some composite deck boards to cap off the garden.

Each panel was basically built like a ladder. Two long boards with rungs at both ends and evenly spaced in between. The height was determined by the width of the galvanized roofing. Which was a little over 21".

It is important to make sure that the panels are square. We used a large square to help in the process. Then we attached the 'rungs'. The easiest way to attach the 'rungs' was to toenail them in. You can see the screws ready to be screwed in.

It helps to pre-drill the screws. They will go in much easier and prevent boards from splitting.

After the panels were made it was time to attach the galvanized metal roofing sheets. Here you can see Hubby cutting the length with a grinder. This is one heck of a tool. We've cut metal, tile... you name it! It's very handy! Dewalt Grinder

The galvanized metal roofing sheets were attached with galvanized roofing screws. It was pretty straightforward.

Now, that all the panels are finished, it's time to put it together!

You'll notice that the one panel doesn't have the metal roofing on it yet, we ran out and need to get another sheet. No big deal. Here's Hubby attaching the last piece.

Okay, the garden bed is all put together. That was the easy part. If you're ground is level, then you're set. Ours, on the other hand, was not level at all. This part seemed harder than building and putting it all together!

We added and stacked boards to make it as level as possible. I truly wanted to skip this part, but Hubby was right. In the end, we wanted to be completely happy with it. And once it was full of dirt there was no way it could be leveled. It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it!

We added straps to help keep the panels from pulling away once filled with debris and dirt. It don't think this thing is going to move much. It's pretty solid!

Next, we covered all of the corners with window flashing tape. (This is similar to what we used.) Helping to keep dirt and water and debris from entering through the ripples of the metal roofing panels.

Then lastly, we added a 'cap or ledge' on top edge of the garden bed. We wanted to cover where the panels met and keep it from rotting the best we could. Plus, this gives us a ledge to use for tools, drinks, etc... We chose to use composite decking.

Yay! It's finished!! It looks so good!

We decided to go the extra mile... and added a little walkway all the way around. Now, it will be much easier to mow.

Whew! The garden sat like this for the fall and winter season. We knew once spring hit, we were going to have some more work filling this up. We dumped all of our fall leaves in it, plus any branches and whatnot we could find.

Then before you knew it, it was spring! Time to really fill this thing up! We were lucky enough to have a place we could get free wood chips! We hauled a big load and shoveled it all in.

Then 3 loads of a top soil/compost mix. What a workout!

Time for plants! Since it was our first year back into vegetable gardening, I kept it simple. I found some tomatoes, green beans, snap peas, peppers, zucchinis, and strawberries. My DIL also gave me some lettuce plants. I'm so excited! I can't wait!

To help with retaining moisture we added some extra wood chips on top. Our garden is doing great! We even added a little arch for the snap peas to grow on. I should have purchased more... oh well, next year. There it is... our sweet little garden. We are thrilled with how this turned out!

Blessings!
Lori