How to Install the Floor in Raised Flower Beds

Raised beds are ideal for people who have a small space and don't like to bend over. Most raised bed gardens are dug into the soil, framed to a height between 12 and 14 inches, and filled with garden soil. If needed, you can build a higher raised bed garden by building the floor into a frame at a height you choose.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Saw
• 4 1-by-3 1/2-inch boards
• 2 braced frame ends
• Drill
• Screws
• Landscape fabric

1. Cut the four 1-by-3 1/2-inch boards for the floor of your raised bed to the length you've chosen. Four to five feet long is a good length for this type of raised bed, but you can go up to 7 feet without needing a center support.

2. Take the frame ends you've already built. They should be made of two upright pieces of 2-by-4-inch lumber cut to a 3-foot height and braced with two lengths on 2-by-4-inch lumber cut to a 16-inch length. One brace connects the uprights at their base, and the other connects them at the height you want the base of your raised bed to be.

3. Stand the frame ends 5 feet apart, or the length you've chosen for your raised bed. Brace them to stay up with whatever you have handy. This bracing is temporary until they've been secured by the floor boards.

4. Place the four floorboards across the frame ends, on the cross piece you've installed for the height you want, and keep a small space between them for drainage.

5. Drill a hole through each end of each floorboard, being careful not to split the boards.

6. Connect the floorboards to the framed ends with wood screws through the holes you've drilled.

7. Move on to build the walls of the raised garden. Line the floor and walls with landscape fabric, but be sure to make small holes in them for drainage.

Tips & Warnings

• Whether your raised bed is raised from a ground base or an elevated base, you'll need good drainage to prevent root rot.
• Using a net type of landscaping fabric allows drainage, prevents garden soil from escaping and stops weeds from growing up into your raised bed garden.
• Once you've finished this raised bed garden, you can add casters to the bottoms of the legs so that it can be moved from one spot to another.
• Add good garden soil, not just dirt, to your raised garden. Check its pH as needed to make sure it's right for your plants, and be sure to fertilize and water more often than a regular garden bed.
• Don't use boards that have been chemically treated. These can kill your plants.