Building a new raised bed 1

A new raised bed

A raised bed is the most efficient use of space to create a good vegetable garden. The bed is fed with home made compost every year keeping the soil fertile and not requiring extra nutrients. Compost bins and raised beds work well together.

The old raised bed

The existing raised bed was constructed using building site leftovers about 10 years ago. The basic wood is rough sarking board used for roofing and square posts driven about 10cm into the ground.

Digging out the old frame

Leaving in the original post as markers, a trench is dug around the whole bed. It is best for the bed’s stability if it can be part sank into the ground. In this case, using 4 boards, the bottom board was part sunk.

Setting the first level

Construction starts from a selected point in the garden from where all the levels for the wooden frame will be set. This is usually a corner. In this case, the back of the garden sits at a higher level than front so the overall level of the raised bed was set to match the higher level of the back garden.