How Do You Make Raised Flower Beds?
Raised beds can help define a yard or solve a drainage problem; they’re also much easier on your back than beds that are flush with the ground. They can be built of almost anything, but landscape timbers, railroad ties and boards are popular, especially for do-it-yourselfers. Best of all, they’re not as hard to build as they look. Plan your beds by drawing them out within the context of a diagram of your yard. How many do you want? How large do you want them to be? How high will the walls be? (See Tips below for information about determining your beds’ height.) Calculate how much wood you’ll need for the beds you want to build. (Think of the beds as boxes without tops or bottoms.) Buy the lumber–make sure you get pressure-treated wood; otherwise it will rot quickly from contact with wet soil–and cut it or have it cut. (See Warnings for info about pressure-treated wood.) Remember that you’ll need four sides to each bed. Railroad ties or landscape timbers work well for very short beds.
