Building a Raised Planter Box: 101

Since Rob and I can't just relax and enjoy our home, we decided to finally get around to building a raised planter bed in our backyard. We want to grow as many fruits, vegetables and herbs as possible to reduce our spending at the grocery store, so we packed them into an 8 X 4 foot area. First, we had to decide on the location. Most fruits and vegetables require at least 6+ hours of sunlight to thrive, so we chose the sunniest and most level area of the yard.

Potential area for planter box

Perfect spot!

Second, we bought all the plants, soil and lumbar needed to build it from scratch. We bought four 4X12' cedar deck planks, one 4"X4" for the posts, four 2"X2" stakes for the caging support, a package of 25' chicken wire to keep the rabbits away, a 50' soaker hose, ground liner, five bags of Miracle-Gro vegetable soil and twenty-five bags of topsoil. We started by cutting the 4X12' plank into 8' and 4' sections, and the 4"X4" into four equal sections for the corner supports. We dug 6-9 inches into the ground to bury our posts and drilled the boards into the 4"X4" corners. We laid the ground liner to keep out weeds, and staple-gunned it to the interior walls of the bed to keep it in place. Third, we drilled a hole into the planter wall and fed the soaker hose into the lined box. Now, the soaker hose can easily be hooked up to our expandable garden hose for easy watering. Next, we filled the planter bed with a mixture of topsoil and Miracle-Gro. Finally, we attached the stakes and chicken wire to deter rodents and pests from taking our bounty.

Lastly, we organized the fruits, vegetables and herbs into sections based on growing similarities. We also added a shepherds hook to hold tomato and strawberry topsy-turvies for added garden space. The result is a beautiful garden with a huge variety of produce, including cabbage, onions, broccoli, green beans, peppers (red, orange and green), cucumbers, zucchini, squash, an assortment of various tomatoes (Big Boy and cherry), strawberries, cantaloupe, chives, basil, parsley and cilantro. 

Before and after pic of the same area

Organized rows of produce

Variety of herbs

If you're looking to build your own raised vegetable garden, ours turned out fantastic! Can't wait to start harvesting!!