How to Build a Raised Garden Bed

Raised garden beds are an excellent way to add beauty, interest and practicality to your yard.  They look wonderful, but only if they are done properly.  The main key to remember is to build a stable, solid foundation that is always level.  It's a lot of work, but not difficult if you know what to do.  Here are the steps you need to follow to create your very own raised garden bed.

Buy the bricks that you will be using.  Bricks come in different sizes and shapes.  If you want a square or rectangle garden bed, you can buy square bricks.  However, if you would like the garden bed to have curves in the wall, then you will need to buy bricks that are trapezoid shaped - that is they have one side that is longer than the other. 

Next, choose a spot in your yard where you would like to create a raised garden bed.  Then, lay out the bricks on the grass to determine the shape of your garden bed.  Your goal here is to come up with a design that you like and to determine the number of bricks you will need for your project.  Remember to do all four sides of the garden bed.  Once you have a design you like, then use a marker to number the bricks.  Place the number on the top of the brick.  For example, if you have 30 bricks, number them 1/30, 2/30, etc.  This marker will be permanent, but since the bricks will be covered it doesn't matter.

You are now ready to remove the grass below the bricks.  Use an edger and go around the edge of the bricks on both sides.  Push the edger deep enough in the ground to cut the grass so that it will be easy to remove.  Once you have gone around all the bricks, you can remove them and place them to the side.  Remove the grass - start with where the bricks were placed.  Once that grass has been removed, you can dig down a few inches.  Then remove the remaining grass.

Once all the grass has been removed, you are ready to prepare the foundation for the bricks.  The bricks must sit on at least two inches of screening and must be two inches below the ground from the lowest point of the garden.  This last point is very important, as most yards will have a slight slope to them, however, you do not want your garden bed to have a slope.  It must be level; otherwise it will not be stable or attractive looking.

 Here you will learn how to properly prepare the foundation by digging a trench and adding screening. From there, I will show you how to put the bricks in place, one layer at a time, before adding the finishing touches. Once you are done, you will be able to show off your beautiful raised garden bed with pride!