How to Build Elevated Brick Garden Beds
Elevated brick garden beds can add interest to your outdoor space and can be a solution if you have poor quality soil. They are easy to maintain and can be be less stressful on your back when planting and weeding. You can build elevated brick garden beds from recycled materials or inexpensive new materials. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Metal stakes
- String
- Mallet or hammer
- Calculator
- Measuring Tape
- Hand Shovel
- Concrete
- Bricks
- Trowel
- Bricklaying Mortar (optional)
- Rotary Tiller (optional)
Instructions
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Look for a site that receives plenty of sunshine, has adequate drainage and is conveniently located to your source of water or within hose-distance of an outdoor faucet.
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Prepare the garden bed location by removing existing plants and exposing the soil beneath any existing growth. You may wish to use a rotary tiller, but it's not necessary.
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Pound metal stakes into ground at the corners of your garden bed using a mallet or hammer. Wrap with string to plan the size of your elevated garden bed by forming an outline with the string.
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Measure the perimeter of the elevated brick garden bed. Divide this number by the length of the bricks (usually 8 inches) to estimate the number of bricks you will need per layer.
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Plan to build an elevated brick garden bed that is 8 to 12 inches high for a flower garden and 12 to 18 inches high for vegetables. Choose your height and divide this number by the height of the bricks (usually 2.25 inches in the U.S.) to determine the number of rows you will need.
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Multiple the number of bricks per layer by the number of rows to determine the number of bricks you will need for your project.
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Using hand shovel, carefully dig a trench the entire way around the garden bed perimeter that is 2 inches deep and as wide as your bricks (usually 4 inches, but brick sizes do vary throughout the U.S.).
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Remove the metal stakes and string as you dig the trench.
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Pour newly-mixed concrete into the trench to form a stable base for your elevated brick garden bed. You will not need to use a concrete form if you've been careful with your digging. Allow the concrete to rest for at least three days before continuing.
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Build the elevated garden bed by mortaring bricks to the concrete footing and by applying mortar between layers with a trowel. While you can buy bricklaying mortar for this project, you can also use more newly-mixed concrete for the job. Think of the job as icing a cake and create a smooth even layer of mortar or concrete 1/4 inch thick between each layer of bricks.
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Allow your new elevated brick garden bed to cure for three days before planting.
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Tips & Warnings
A square or rectangle shape is considerably easier to build than a circle or unusual form.
Rather than trying to break bricks in half to suit your design, alter your design as needed to suit the measurements of the bricks.
Before planting, place a single layer of corrugated cardboard, 6 sheets of newspaper, and 3 inches of compost in the bottom of the elevated brick garden bed. This will prevent new growth from underneath the garden bed and provide nutrients for your new plants.
Don't sit or stand on your elevated garden bed. Your new bed will be sturdy, but it's not designed for the additional weight that sitting or standing on the bed will provide.
