How to Make a Garden Box
By pmiller in How-to, Instructions, Wood Projects Posted May 25, 2017 Tags garden box,Instructions,outdoor projects
The Best Garden Box Design
My wife asked me this year to build her a garden box. She wanted to grow a garden and teach our kids about how things grow. I remember having a rather large garden as a kid. I always hated having to weed it and I personally have a disdain toward garden boxes. I don’t think I have ever seen a garden box that I liked. They all seem to weather and look bad over time. This gave me the opportunity to challenge my attitude and perspective on garden boxes.
Watch the Video
Here is a video showing how I built the garden box. If you haven’t already please subscribe to my YouTube Channel, I post additional information about the projects I am working on there.
Materials
- Two 1x10x8 Cedar Boards
- Two 1x10x4 Cedar Boards
- One 4x4x6 Pressure Treated Lumber
- One box of outdoor hex screws
- One Roll of Weed Cover Fabric
Tools
- Circular Saw (on Amazon)
- Drill (on Amazon)
Step 1
I did some prep work before I assembled my garden box. I first had to scout a location in my back yard that got the right amount of sun. Next, I prepped my materials before I assembled them. I pre-cut the corner posts and stained the ceder boards.
Step 2
Next came assembly, this was rather easy because all I needed to do was screw the boards into the four posts. However this later became a challenge because I had forgotten to compensate for the ground and its sloap.
Step 3
I compensated for my uneven ground by using leftover cedar boards to jack up and level the garden box.
Step 4
Next, I added the garden fabric to keep the weeds from growing because I didn’t want to have to relive my childhood of weeding the garden.f
Step 5
When building a garden box I would recommend adding a lip or and edge to the box. This is important because it will help keep the dirt in the box as well as provide your box with a nice added detail.
Step 6
Take a look at the bottom left corner of the garden box in the picture below. You can see that I added some additional boards to compensate for the uneven ground. This is important because it solves two problems. The first is that it gives your box a completed built-in feel. Second, it prevents the dirt from seeping out the bottom. I also stained the cedar with one more coat of stain. I would recommend apply an outdoor polyurethane, this will protect your stain and wood from sun and water damage. I consider the outdoor polyurethane as my secret sauce, this will prevent the box from weathering and looking bad.
Step 7
Finally when the box is complete you simply need to fill the box with good quality dirt and plant your seeds.
I ended up building two boxes. The second one is a bit bigger.
