Building Raised Beds

Sprout has 8 raised beds connected together, which are great for urban gardening! Here are the materials and instructions to build 1 raised bed that is 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and roughly 18 inches tall. 

Materials:

• (6) 2 x 6 x 12 feet Cedar lumbar. Have each piece be cut once, so you have 6 pieces that are 8 feet long, and 6 pieces that are 4 feet long.
• (1) 4 x 4 x 8 foot Cedar lumbar. Cut into 4 pieces that are 2 feet each (if the store can’t do this, you could always use a handsaw)
• (1) Pack of 3.5-inch steel flat-head star wood screws
• (1) Hardware cloth (optional)

Steps:

Set two 8-foot pieces and two 4-foot pieces up on a flat surface to make a rectangle. Put the 4 posts standing up on the inside of the rectangle at each of the corners.

With someone helping to hold it in place, drill 3 screws to attach each board to the post. Make sure to check that the angles are around 90 degrees before connecting 2 boards!

Once you have all of the boards secured together to the posts to make a nice, sturdy rectangle, begin working on the next level. Drill 4 boards directly on top of where the first level of boards are, making sure there is no gap between boards.

Repeat this with the last round of boards, so the raised bed is 3 boards high.

Congratulations, the raised bed is done and ready to use! If you have hardware cloth, cut it into a 8-foot by 4-foot piece, and lay it on the ground where you want the raised bed to go. Put the raised bed directly on top of it, and fill it with soil.

Alternatively, if you do not have a drill, this can easily be built with a hammer and nails. We opted for screws because it tends to hold up better in the long term, but either way works great. You can also stain them if you wish.