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Home » Animal and Land » Gardening » Building Raised Wooden Planter Boxes

Building Raised Wooden Planter Boxes

04/24/18 | Gardening

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Building raised planter boxes is very easy, and usually more cost effective than purchasing them. Follow this easy DIY raised garden box tutorial for an easy design, step-by-step instructions and cost breakdown.  #garden #gardening #DIY #gardenbox #raisedplanter #raisedgarden #raisedgardenbed #raisedplanterbox #gardenbox #planterbox #buildingraisedgardenbeds #DIYgardenboxes #DIYraisedbed

Building raised planter boxes is very easy, and usually more cost effective than purchasing them. Follow this easy DIY raised garden box tutorial for an easy design, step-by-step instructions and cost breakdown.

My tutorial for building raised wooden planter boxes is easy and affordable. After you get the materials, you can make a planter box in about 15 minutes.

Wood selection

  • Cedar – this is the most durable outdoors and also the most expensive.
  • Douglas Fir – not as durable as cedar but more affordable. You can purchase food-safe weather-proof stain for garden boxes to help it last longer.
Wood used to build raised planter garden boxes.

Size of Wood (6, 8, 10, or 12)

  • 8 inches: this is the lowest I’d recommend going. This will give you good box depth for your soil and save you some money on lumber.
  • 10 inches: This gives you a bit more height and can improve the look of the boxes in your space.
  • 12 inches: This is similar to the 10 inch height in that it is great depth for growing and looks good. If you have remarkably poor soil, this is a good depth.

Length of Boards

  • I prefer boxes that are 8 ft by 4 ft. This size is easy to work in. You can reach across the box easily and work the entire thing without having to get inside of it.
  • I’ve also made 4 ft by 4 ft boxes and I like those as well. Any smaller and it’s not enough bang for your buck.

These DIY Raised Garden boxes do not have a bottom. I don’t usually recommend putting a bottom on garden boxes. You want your plants to be able to grow down into the ground below the box and establish deep root systems. This minimizes how much you have to water and maximizes your plants size and productivity.

Looking for more in-depth chicken-keeping information? Take my course, Gardening 101!

My exclusive Gardening 101 course guides you through each step, from starting seeds to harvest. This course will teach you everything you’ll need to know about planning and growing your own garden.

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What to Fill Boxes With:

  • You will want to fill your planter boxes with high-quality soil. This is usually called a sandy loam and can be purchased from a local gravel and soil company.
  • After I’ve filled the boxes 2 inches from the top of the box with the soil, I mix in 2 inches of peat moss into the top 2 inches of the soil. This adds organic matter to the soil texture and ensures a good planting and growing bed.
  • I also add about 1 gallon of pearlite to each 4ft by 8 ft. box. Pearlite is an inert substance found naturally that will help you soil stay light and avoid compaction. If you’ve ever purchased potting soil, it’s the white pieces you see in the mix.
Cut wood assembled for raised planter garden bed.

Since we build 20 boxes in all, I sorted out 40 pieces of wood for the straight edges and then cut 20 pieces of wood in half. It’s much easier to assemble the boxes if you make a straight cut. Here is how to get a good, straight measurement.

Measure 4 feet from one end of the board and make a mark close to one edge.

Measuring 4 feet on an 8 foot piece of wood for building raised planter beds.

Do the same thing on the opposite edge of the wood so that you have two tick marks both at 4 feet.

Measuring 4 feet on an 8 foot piece of wood for building raised planter beds.

Use a straight edge to connect both the tick marks. This makes sure your line across is nice and straight. But just because you have a straight line doesn’t mean your cut will be straight….ask me how I know. Ha! I’m not the best with the saw, but the great thing about this design is it’s very forgiving and even with my bad cutting skills the boxes went together easily.

Connecting both 4 foot marks on wood with a straight edge for raised planter garden box.

How To Build Raised Planter Boxes

  1. Measure a level line halfway across one of the boards so that you are dividing it into two 4 foot pieces.
  2. Using a skill saw, carefully cut along your level line.
  3. Place the edge of a 4-foot piece of the board even on the edge of an 8-foot board. It doesn’t matter if the 4-foot board or the 8-foot board is on the outside. Just keep it the same on both ends so your box is evenly wide all the way down.
  4. Drill pilot holes slightly smaller than your screws into the boards while you are holding them together. It is easiest if someone helps you with this. There should be 3 pilot holes evenly spaced along the edge of the board.
  5. Once the pilot holes are drilled, screw the ends together using the pilot holes.  We joined the edges of the boxes together very simply, with just three screws on each side. We used 3 1/2 inch screws so that the joint was strong enough. 
  6. Repeat this until all the edges are screwed together.

Looking for more in-depth chicken-keeping information? Take my course, Gardening 101!

My exclusive Gardening 101 course guides you through each step, from starting seeds to harvest. This course will teach you everything you’ll need to know about planning and growing your own garden.

Take me to the course!
Three screws securing corner for raised planter garden beds.
Corner joint for raised planter garden beds.

Since I am building this new garden area for my CSA, I wasn’t sure how many garden boxes I would need total until I closed share sales. As I mentioned before, we ended building 20 raised planter boxes, using 2 apple bins for potatoes, and building a strawberry planter {tutorial on that coming soon!}. I’ll definitely be updating this post at the end of the season with more pictures of things actually growing in the garden boxes. We stacked the raised planters until I decided where I wanted everything to go, it was quite the stack!

Stack of built raised planter garden beds.

The other essential part of building raised planter boxes is filling them! You cannot just put any old dirt in your garden boxes and expect your plants to thrive. We actually have great soil here, but on our property, the rocks are so bad I can’t grow and pull carrots or any root vegetable successfully. And, since our property was unmanaged for more than 10 years, the weed-seed load is outrageous. I’m hoping to be able to minimize the weed seeds and manage weeds better by using these raised planter boxes.

I purchased a very high-quality sandy loam topsoil for the boxes and then added peat moss and pearlite {helps with soil compaction} to the top inch or so of each box. Later I will add more composted material, but since I moved our entire garden area I didn’t have a composting situation set up yet.

Kids playing on sandy loam soil pile for raised planter garden boxes.

Here is a cost breakdown for making and filling 20 raised planter boxes {I’m in Utah, pricing will vary depending on your area}:

  • Wood: Each plank was $12, I used 60 planks to build 20 boxes so the total cost for wood {after tax} was $780.
  • Screws: I bought a contractor pack that was 5 pounds for $24.
  • High-Quality Soil: I had 14 yards {1 giant dump truck load} delivered and it was enough for all 20 boxes and cost $380 after tax.
  • We already had a skill saw, the drill, bits, and a truck to transport that much wood easily.
  • Total cost to build 20 raised planter boxes: $1,184.
  • If you wanted to calculate one box, it would be roughly $60 a box which is still much cheaper than purchasing a box, remember that total price included filling the boxes with dirt.
Planting onion starts in a raised planter garden box.

Now, is it in everyone’s best interest to build 20 raised planter boxes? Nope, probably not. If you have workable soil that you can manage it will be less expensive to just garden in the ground. But as I said before, I wanted the extra control of gardening in boxes and I like the way it looks. It’s also much easier for me to manage verticle growing, which makes the expanded space gardening in raised planters takes up worth it.

It’s going to be a great gardening season! I can’t wait to show you more updated pictures as the season progresses.

Looking for more gardening posts?

  • How to Make Hummingbird Food
  • Tips for Growing Herbs Indoors
  • Building Raised Planter Boxes
  • Gardening Tips for Beginners
  • Winter Squash Storage
  • Garden Soil Preparation for Planting

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Build and filled raised planter garden boxes.
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DIY Raised Planter Boxes

Building raised planter boxes is very easy, and usually more cost effective than purchasing them. Follow this easy DIY raised garden box tutorial for an easy design, step-by-step instructions and cost breakdown.
Prevent your screen from going dark
Prep Time 10 minutes minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes minutes
Total Time 30 minutes minutes
Servings 1 box
Author Alli
Get ad-free recipes in PrepearLearn more about Prepear here!
Cost $40

Equipment

  • Cedar Planks
  • Skill Saw
  • Drill
  • Wood Screws
  • Square Level
  • Tape Measure

Ingredients

  • 3 8 ft boards cedar or douglas fir
  • 12 3 in wood screws

Instructions

  • Measure a level line halfway across one of the boards so that you are dividing it into two 4 foot pieces.
  • Using a skill saw, carefully cut along your level line.
    Connecting both 4 foot marks on wood with a straight edge for raised planter garden box.
  • Place the edge of a 4-foot piece of the board even on the edge of an 8-foot board. It doesn't matter if the 4-foot board or the 8-foot board is on the outside. Just keep it the same on both ends so your box is evenly wide all the way down.
    Corner joint for raised planter garden beds.
  • Drill pilot holes slightly smaller than your screws into the boards while you are holding them together. It is easiest if someone helps you with this. There should be 3 pilot holes evenly spaced along the edge of the board.
  • Once the pilot holes are drilled, screw the ends together using the pilot holes.
    Three screws securing corner for raised planter garden beds.
  • Repeat this until all the edges are screwed together.
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Notes

Follow all safetly guidelines when using any power tools. You are responsible to take necessary safety measures to protect yourself!
Tried this recipe?Mention @longbournfarm or tag #longbournfarm!

Looking for more in-depth chicken-keeping information? Take my course, Gardening 101!

My exclusive Gardening 101 course guides you through each step, from starting seeds to harvest. This course will teach you everything you’ll need to know about planning and growing your own garden.

Take me to the course!

Comments | 16 comments

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Comments

  1. Gregory W Slayton says

    June 1, 2018 at 4:23 PM

    Alli,
    A tangent to your raised garden beds would be a discussion of a hugelkultur.

    I have enough trimmed limbs and slab wood from cutting my own lumber that I will be building one or more this summer and adding a top to extend my growing season here in Northeast Arkansas.

    Reply
    • Alli says

      June 4, 2018 at 7:44 AM

      Interesting! I’ve not heard of that before but just looked it up. I’d love to hear how your experiment goes.

      Reply

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Hi, Friend!


Alli Kelley is an Agriculture focused entrepreneur. She runs a successful food blog, a consulting and coaching business, and all the social media connected with an online presence.

She also enjoys home improvement projects, experimenting in the garden, and collecting colorful eggs from her chickens.
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