Build guides · Raised garden bed

How to build a raised garden bed

A raised bed is an open-top box that holds wet soil, and wet soil pushes outward hard. Long sides bow out and corners open up. Set your sizes below and the engine checks the box before you build it.

Check your size first

Free, instant and no account. The engine checks it the way a structural engineer would, and says so plainly when it won't hold up.

What goes wrong on a raised garden bed

Sides bowing out: Soil pressure grows with depth, so a long, deep bed pushes its sides out in the middle. The check looks at your span and depth.
Corners: The corners hold the whole box together against that pressure, so they're where a cheap joint shows up first. The plan shows how they go together.
Rot: Wood touching wet soil rots. Pick a rot-resistant species or a liner. The plan builds the box; the finish is your call.

The build, start to finish

Cut the sides from the cut list.
Join the corners.
Set it level where it'll live.
Fill it with soil and plant.

The full plan has the exact cut list, a shopping list, a 3D view you can stand in your room, and step-by-step assembly for your sizes.

Other builds

Setting up your bench…