How to Build a Raised Bed, DIY TERRACE GARDEN for Patio or Backyard

What's going on, producers? I'm James Piggioni, coming to you live from Jersey today. I'm going to show you how to easily

build

your own

terrace

d

raised

bed for your

patio

or

garden

. Come on, the idea is to end up with two planting areas that are four. feet wide and two feet long, but we can't make the

raised

bed only four feet wide because we're going to put these caps on it just like I did on this raised bed here, so we have to take the width into account. Of these, I'm going to put a cut list in the description to give you an idea of ​​the entire length of the boards I'll be using and cutting and I'll also describe them more as the video goes on.

In this raised bed, we will essentially

build

two rectangular boxes and then take a smaller one and place it on top. For these raised beds, I decided to use a two by ten here and I needed a two by ten at 64 inches and a 52 inch for the length and width, but I couldn't find any two by tens that were like eight uh six feet tall. long, they only had ones that were eight feet long, so what I did was I went to the people at Lowe's and asked them if they could take a 12-foot two-by-ten like this and cut it in half for me, so that That's what they did for free in total.

I needed seven pieces of these two-by-ten's, so I just asked them to take four. two by tens that were twelve feet long and cut them in half, but if you already know your measurements like the ones I'm going to write down on the cut list, you can cut them to the perfect size from the beginning, like this. here, for the first length, I'm going to cut it to 62 inches. I have my measurement at 62 inches. Now I just set this square to crash against it this way I get a nice straight cut because I'm not a professional carpenter. that's cut to 62 inches, we're going to do the same for the other side, we have the length of both cut out now we're just going to get the width and it's going to be 52 inches, so we're going to mark it and cut, we're going to cut this and then do the same with one more of them and then start assembling our bottom box.

I just finished cutting the second piece at 52 inches and if not you are going to follow my exact measurements. I want to explain to you a little bit why I couldn't just cut this to 48 inches, so we want to end up with 48 inches wide, which will be four feet, but I couldn't just cut this to four feet because first we have to take into account the fact that I'm going to hit this on the inside, so what we have to do is take that 48 inches and subtract one and a half inches from this side and one and a half inches from this side, which is three inches, so we take that 48 inches, we subtract three, which gives us 45 inches, then we also have to take into account the fact that we're going to place these rails, so when I place this rail here, each rail is going to be three and a half inches, so we have to add three and a half inches on each side, so we take the 45 inches we have left and add an extra seven inches, giving us 52 inches, so we put the rail on this. side and the rail on the other side and I'll show you it's going to end up with 48 inches on the inside and that's what we want, 48 inches right there and it's not absolutely perfect yet because I haven't connected it. all the pieces together, let's do that now.

I'm going to start putting this all together. I'm going to make sure that the 52 inch is the one that clashes with the 62 inch and to join it together. I'm just going to use these clamps at a right angle, it makes it very easy if you're alone. I have this attached, it looks good. I'm going to do the same in the other corners and this would be much easier. If you did it on a flat surface, I'm just going to do it on the ground here to give you a better view. I have the right angle clamps on three sides, I'm just going to put this one on the fourth side and this one isn't completely necessary, just like I said, it makes it easier and ensures that you get some nice right angles, so let's attach this and then start screwing, that looks good like this and to join everything together we will use two. inch and a half deck screws and they always come with this extra bit which is convenient so this is the right bit that we're going to use and we're going to make sure to pre-drill before drilling.

Since we don't want the wood to split, we will use four screws in each corner. We'll start at the bottom so I can put it all together as I do it and this is the countersink bit. also, which also makes it a lot cleaner to get the screws nice and flush with the wood, so we're going to be the first to make sure we're counting for the bottom and make sure everything is level. We will do the same. three more we are going to do the same on three other sides there is the final screwing right there the bottom box is already finished being built now I am going to take two of these two by tens and we are going to build this top box, so the measurements for the top box will be a little bit different and I'll show you why if we made the same size as for the bottom box, then it would sit on the inside like this and we don't want to make sure that this extends along the entire length, so we're overlapping the top here, so all we really have to do is measure the distance from one side to the other for this top box which is going to be 55 inches, so we're going to cut two pieces 55 inches apart from this 2x10, so let's mark this at 55 inches, cut it and do the same with the other one.

We have both pieces cut to 55 inches, now let's just pull them up. here make sure they are perfect this one will be in the back this one will be in the front here this is what the back will look like you can see we have that overlap there now we want this distance the planting area inside here will be 24 inches, but just like before, we have to take that 24 inches and then subtract an inch and a quarter inch, an inch and a half and an inch and a half, which is three inches that will give us If we have 21 inches, then we have to go back Let's add the seven inches because we're going to have two three and a half inch pieces, so we need to make a piece in the center here for a total of 28 inches, so let's mark that 28. and then cut two pieces, both pieces are cut to 28 inches.

Over here looking at me, he's a little afraid of the saw, but he still wants to be here with us, right, boy, his nose is a little dirty, he was digging a place before. making sure it has a good shady spot to get some sun now, but we're going to line this up right here and we're going to place this box right on top of the other one and I'm going to attach it. The same way I made the other box, here we go, we put the last screw in, we'll take them out and then we have the top built, it's not put in yet, but we'll put it in after we bring it in. in the location now I'm just going to show you a little bit about how we're going to put it together, we're going to have these caps on the top and these caps provide a few different things, uh, good about one of them is that it's going to lock everything together, so it's going to lock all of these boards together, making them much stronger.

It'll also be really nice for when we're working, we could just come here and sit on the lid like this. and work inside our bed, so it's got a bunch of different things that are really nice, this is how we're going to set it up, we're going to have that cap up there, we're going to have another cap right here so we're going to have this cap going this way, I still have we cut them all out like this and then I'll show you how we have a distance in the center, this cap will be over here and then when you get closer You see, by putting these caps on the top, it's going to give us a two foot space, two feet in the inside and then four feet inside here, which will give us the perfect size so we can do some nice square foot landscaping.

The same thing is going to happen at the bottom, we're going to take one of these boards two by four, we're going to place it here like this, then we're going to take another 2x4 and we're going to place it. here like this and again the same thing, we can sit on the edge, we can put our seeds here, it makes everything super convenient and that will give us space for both feet inside and then after putting the lids on the other side, the forefoot space, so if you want to save some money and don't want to do extra work, you don't have to put these caps on top, I think this makes it look a lot better. it makes it more convenient to work with and overall I think it's definitely worth it, so we're going to measure and cut all of this out and then we'll start moving the bed to the location so that the top cap will be the same as the long here, it's going to be 55 inches, you don't even have to measure if you don't want to, you can just put this board on the edge and then mark it right here, so let's do that for this cap and then for that cap, then we'll measure the distance between these two right here, so let's measure this at 55 inches and we're going to cut four of these pieces at 55 inches.

We have those four pieces cut out. So now we're just going to move them up here and these were eight foot pieces, so whatever's left over we're going to be able to use as these side pieces here, so we're going to move them up like this, this is how that one's going to go. This one here we'll join together and then we'll measure this piece and cut it. I'm actually not going to put it together yet because I need to get the box to where I'm building it here. so you can see it easier so let's get this distance from here to here it looks like it's going to be 24 inches so we're going to need four 24 inch pieces so let's measure this to 24 inches and then we'll just use these leftover pieces of what that was left over before we left, that's the final piece cut and this whole thing might have been easier if you just had a circular saw, but I like to use a circular saw like that and just a couple of drills.

To show you that anyone really can do this, you don't need any amazing tools to build your own

garden

bed, so we're going to lay out all these pieces, this is how they'll be laid out in this section. here, so we have all these four pieces cut out, now what we're going to do is take this whole bed in pieces to the place where I'm actually going to plant because I don't want it to be super heavy when I bring it in, just put this piece on the bottom first and this is the place where I'm going to build the bed, so we're in the back of the food forest right here, but I have this concrete platform back here and I'm not really using it for anything, so I thought I'd build one raised bed that we can place on a

patio

to take advantage of the space.

You can see that we are still getting good sun. here in this location, so I've measured it, that's why I built a bed this size, so we're going to put it here, set it up and then start putting it all together, that's essentially what it's going to be like, we're just going to sort it out. of matching the platform here and then you'll notice that the platform is actually very uneven and there are spots where if I just put dirt on this bed right now, it's just going to drain the bottoms like down here, so what are we going to do?

What I need to do is level this out, so I'm going to build this kind of little basket system underneath to make sure the dirt doesn't run off. I'm going to start by taking some chicken wire to attach them to the inside. and then using landscape fabric over that, I'll show you now, I forgot to mention that before I build that wire mesh basket inside, I'm just going to apply linseed oil to this and all the other pieces, this will help preserve the wood and It'll also give it that nice look on the outside, so we're going to be generous with the linseed oil, do the first two and then turn it over and do all the other pieces.

I've got all the pieces greased with linseed oil and it's basically all set, now I'm going to take you inside, we're going to build that fabric basket at the bottom and then we're going to put everything together. Now that we're inside the bed, here I'm going to Take this chicken wire and run it through the bottom and almost make like a little basket. Let's open this first. We've got this all untangled here. Now what I'm going to do is I'm just going to take this piece, spread it out and essentially I'm. I'm just going to cut it in half because it's 10 feet and my distance from this side to the other is 55 inches so it should be perfect with a little bit of overhang, looks like this guy wants to be part of the video huh boy, Let's measure this. although exactly five feet, so that's going to be roughly here, I'm going to mark it and then I'm going to start cutting like this, we already have that piece cut out, now we're going to step inside and I'm going to cut two of these corners, so I can also fold it in the inside of the bed, so I'm just going to cut one of these corners here and then this piece here, the width is 36 inches, so two pieces will give me 72 inches, this whole bed is 62 inches.

That gives me about 10 extra inches, so if I want I can overlap four inches here and that gives me three inches on each side, so let's go ahead with that, so what I did was I folded about four inches here and then I folded them . cornersNext what I'm going to do is take these screws here and they have washers. I'm going to screw it in there so it's nice and easy for me and it comes with a little bit too. right here, so let's put it in and place a little bit. I have inch and a quarter screws here too so it doesn't go all the way through the board.

I'm going to put one at the top, in fact I'll start one at the bottomlower. Here and then I'll put another one on top if you want, you can use the U nails, the poultry nails, but I think this is a lot easier now, I'm just going to screw this one in the corner and then I'll screw this one on the other side. on the wall right there, that's going to make my corners nice and I just wanted to mention again that this is only really necessary if you're in a situation like I'm in here where the concrete is very uneven.

If you're in a normal garden then you don't have to do any of this background stuff here and if you have very flat concrete you may not even have to do this. I've got this other side here and I'm not too worried about reaching in and cutting my hands off because I'm going to have the lid on the side so let's screw this one in first along the corner and then you can see the overlap here so we'll continue down. The reason I'm making a basket like this instead of just attaching it to the bottom is because I'm worried that over time the concrete will work into the metal and just crack and leak, so I think this is going to be the way safer to create a basket to hold the soil because I'm going to place the landscape fabric right on top of this, we've got it all connected like a little basket that I'm going to hold up to show you and this is going to be Very cool, what we're going to do next is just put that landscape fabric down and that's going to make the soil able to stay there without running off, but they're still going to allow the water to run off the bottom so it doesn't run off.

I'm just going to go anaerobic by sitting there all the time. Now we're going to use the landscape fabric, this is also 36 inches so I'm going to do the same thing, I'm going to place it about four inches and then just overlap it a little bit now we're going to place this landscape fabric and I just have this stable gun here and I have half inch staples that I'm going to use. Okay, we've got this all lined up now. I'm going to start in this corner here, I'm just going to staple it now that we have the landscape fabric and everything down there, we're going to start attaching the top part and this part is important because we want to make sure that we are When placing this part top on the north end, the highest part has to be on the north side because our sun sits in the south, we don't want to make sure that we're shading any part of the bed that we don't want. to shade any of our plants, now we are going to take one of our scraps 2 by 10, we will place it like this to join these two pieces, the two boxes, we will leave it flush at the top so that when we screw on our lid, this It can also be screwed down into the lid so we have dual use of this.

We're not actually wasting anything because this is our scrap, so first. I'm just going to place this top part and then place it on the bottom. Now I want to make sure the outside is level, so I'm not going to go crazy sinking these screws because I have to work against the mesh. just a little bit there we go, that looks good like this, now that the top is connected, we're going to do the exact same thing on the other side. I have those straps in the back here. I ended up using three and they are all flush on the top so they fit perfectly on the lid.

Now I need to put something down here so that when I put the lid on I have something to screw it to, so I'm going to put one here, one here and one here and then. For this one here I'll be able to screw it in from the back, I'll show you, so I'm going to get this one flush pre-drilled and then plug it in and I'll do the same thing on the other sides. now let's just take these lid pieces and uh just put them together, pre-drill them and attach them directly to the top like this to make sure they're as level as possible, they should be the perfect size and then I'm not worried about this whole bed moving around. once I'm done and fill it with dirt and stuff, it'll be so heavy it won't move at all, so we'll do the same with the rest. then we'll take this center piece, it should fit perfectly if our math is good, there you go, slide in nice, so we'll just put it in for now, we'll just put a screw in the center and I'll do the same thing on all of them.

We screwed the rest there for the last time. I'm very happy with the way it turned out. Now you can see we have this

terrace

d raised bed of two sections two feet long by four feet long, so here we also do the square feet of landscaping. and I love these caps on top. I think they make a big difference. Now what I'm going to do is fill this with some soil and if you want, with this deeper bed right here, you can feel some sticks and just mulch on top. down to save space, but the reason I wanted this terra style is because if you're just going to grow on concrete, some of the deep rooted vegetables won't do as well with only about 10 inches of soil, but up here you can grow different kinds of things that like deeper soil some carrots and any kind of things like deep soil so that's the idea with this so I think we can get a lot of use out of it I almost have it all full and if you want to know what soil did I use I just made my own soil and showed you how I did it and how to start a container garden so basically it's all packed I just need to make one more mix I'm very happy with the way it came out and I think it's going to produce a lot of food.

I'm getting all this extra space growing in the yard that I've never had before, so let me show you the dimensions on the inside, how it came out just the way we wanted, we wanted two feet in, so we have exactly two feet in there and then we wanted four feet as width, so the perfect four feet so we can set this to the square. foot protection method, which is what we're going to do and we have these nice sides where we can just sit and reach for the sole on whatever we want and I think it's a super convenient way to do it.

One thing I forgot to mention. Actually, I didn't show it. You're going to want to make sure this entire bed is level, so we went over and leveled all of this or I did before I filled it with soil, so just make sure your bed is level. and that's one of the reasons I have to put the fabric and landscape fabric on the bottom because my pad isn't perfectly level, so now I'm not going to have dirt running off when I order it, that's what today . video growers thanks for watching I hope you enjoyed it I hope you got something out of it I hope you take the time to build your own raised bed even if it's in a yard like this you know it's going to be great to be able to grow this food in a place that I had never farmed before.

A couple of things we want to make sure is that the highest part is on the north side and it will be good to plant all of our deep root crops here and some of our Here are more shallow red crops, like our lettuces and so on, so So if you enjoyed the video, hit the like button, hit the subscribe button, share with your friends, don't forget to check out the merchandise in detail and remember when you're on Amazon, start shopping. with our Amazon affiliate link talking to James, we will be back on board very soon.