How to Design a Raised Flower Bed

A raised bed is ideal for home owners with poor soil quality or limited workable ground. It also is often easier to work in a raised bed because the soil is warmer sooner in the season, and there are fewer weeds. Raised beds are easy to make. If you want to build several raised beds, the design possibilities are endless. Line them up together, make patterns, or spread them out throughout your property.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Flathead shovel
• Four 2-by-2 inch corner posts, 15 inches long
• Eight 1-by-6 inch boards, 4 feet long each
• Nails
• Hammer
• Level
• Garden soil
• Peat moss
• Compost

1. Choose the location of your bed. Keep in mind factors such as how much sun the bed will get, depending on what kinds of flowers you want to plant. Mark a 4-foot-square area in the sod or grass.

2. Use the flathead shovel to remove the sod, or top layer of grass. Dig the soil up enough to loosen it and form a slight trench along the perimeter of your square. The ditch should be about 2 to 3inches deep.

3. 
   Make four side piece units.

   Hold two of your boards horizontally side by side. Place a corner post vertically just underneath the boards. One end of the post will be flush to the top board, while the other will extend three inches beyond the bottom board. Nail through your boards and into the corner post with two nails in each board. Repeat this to form the other three sides of the bed.

4. 
   Create a square to make the raised bed.

   Arrange your four units into a square. The excess of the posts should be facing up with the posts resting on the inside of the square. Nail the other ends of the boards to the newly lined up posts. If desired, cut a slight point into the excess of the posts to make working it into the ground easier.

5. Flip the bed over and move it to the cleared area. Set the bed frame down over the trenches and hammer the posts straight down to secure. Check to make sure your bed is level. Lift or lower different ends of the bed, if necessary, until you are satisfied with its positioning.

6. Press the loose soil around the edges of the bed to further stabilize it and fill any gaps. Add gardening soil and peat moss to fill the bed. If you make your own compost, mix it in as well. Your soil shouldn't be too thick or too fluffy. Stop filling when you have about two inches left at the top. This will give you space to work without spilling your soil over the edge.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want a larger bed, be sure to keep the width no longer than 4 feet. That distance makes it easy to reach plants in the center from either side of the bed.

Resources

• Maximize your growing space with Square Foot Gardening