How to BUILD A RAISED GARDEN BED - New & Improved!

In this video we show you how to build our new and improved raised garden beds. We now have 12 of these in our raised bed garden and we absolutely love them. Thanks for watching and enjoy!

Materials List:
- 4, 2x4x12 Dimensional Lumber
- 5, 2x4x8 Dimensional Lumber
- 1, 2x2x8 Dimensional Lumber
- 1, 1x4x8 Dimensional Lumber
- 3 Sheets of 2x12 Galvanized Roofing Metal
- 1 Roll of Simpson Strapping (16 gauge)
- 1 Quart of Boiled Linseed Oil
- 1 Box of 3" Exterior Deck Screws
- 1 Box of 1 1/4" Exterior Deck Screws

Cut List:
- 6, 25 3/4" 2x4
- 6, 18 5/8" 2x4
- 4, 18 5/8" 2x2
- 1, 50 1/2" 1x4

Things in this video:

Related videos:

Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Materials & Tools
2:47 - Lumber Cuts
6:38 - Side & Corner Supports
8:41 - Sheet Metal Cuts
9:52 - Putting It All Together
11:36 - Bottom Simpson Strap
13:19 - Boiled Linseed Oil
14:42 - Installing Sheet Metal
15:14 - Top Strap
15:34 - What Did We Change?
17:06 - Next Steps/Hügelkultur
18:27 - Outro

A little about us:
In September 2015, our hearts were hijacked with the dream of living on a large farm, with community, growing food, caring for animals and loving on children in need of care and healing. It was a God moment, where our dreams collided with His dreams… a dream so big we could never do it in our own strength and wisdom. Since then, we have been on a journey to see that dream become a reality. This channel documents that journey.

[CodyEngel]

Materials have gone up 300% in 3 years, that's insane! Thanks for making these videos man, really appreciate you.

[UKCG_]

Thanks for revisiting this build. I put together three of these raised beds based on your original design, only to see each one bow out significantly in the middle once I filled them with dirt. I went back and used a long pipe clamp to pull the tops back in line and then nailed on galvanized pipe hanger strap to hold it in place.

Two alternatives to the Simpson strapping (since it's fairly expensive) are galvanized pipe hanger strapping (I found it was strong enough) or galvanized all thread. For the latter, drill a hole through the top and bottom of each mid-span upright and use washers and nuts and loosely tighten). Both options should be less expensive unless, of course, you’re making a lot of beds.

One “improvement” I made was adding chicken wire to the bottom of the bed to prevent animals (think ground hogs or moles) from burrowing into the bed and decimating my vegetables. Cheers.

[neilspell]

Mr. Goshen, I hope you don't mind me co-oping this. I've created instructions for an 8' bed in this style (either 2' wide or 4' wide), and added an optional "rim" and corner wood protection. I have pictures in the instructions, but here's the text below. Let me know if you want a word/wordpad file.

Raised Garden Bed
Make the cuts before starting the steps. I used pressure-treated wood as it will last longer and will not be in contact with the soil (so no chemical contamination). I used 2.5" screws for the "pieces" (steps 1-5), and 3" screws to combine the pieces (steps 6-10, except 9). I used 1.25" screws to attach the sheet metal lining. There are optional steps that probably don't need to be done; I've marked those steps.

(11) 8' 2x4's
(1) 8' 2x2
(3) sheets of 2.16' x 8' corrugating sheet metal
1.25" screws
2.5" screws
3" screws


2x4's
⦁ (6) 25 3/4" (Note: you can get 3 of these boards and one of the next out of an 8' board)
⦁ (6) 18 5/8"
⦁ (4) 24" (This is the width of the garden; use 48" for 4'x8' bed.)
⦁ (4) 8'
2x2
⦁ (4) 18 5/8"
Sheet metal
⦁ (2) 20" (This is the width of the garden minus 4"; use 44" for 4'x8' bed.)
Optional
⦁ 24" Simpson strap (48" for 4'x8' bed)
⦁ (4) 24" drip edge (usually sold in 10' pieces -- you'll need one piece)

1. Center 18 5/8" boards on the 24" boards and screw together. There should be room for width of 2x4 on either side of the smaller board. Two of these six pieces will be your side supports, the other 4 will become your corners.
2. Stack and screw the (4) 2x2 boards along half of the smaller board from step 1. These will be your corners.

3. Find and mark the center length of your (4) 8' boards.
4. Screw the corners to the 8' boards with the 2x2 portion of the corner overhanging on both vertical axis.

5. Screw the side supports onto your 8' boards in the same orientation as the corners. Use the center marks from step 3 to determine placement.
6. Screw the 24" (48" for 4' wide bed) boards into "gaps" left from step 4 at 90 degrees. This will create a rectangular box.
7. (Optional) Attach Simpson strap to bottom of side supports. This will help prevent the sides from bowing. (Not optional for greater than 8' beds)
8. (Optional) Attach drip edge to interior corners. This will help protect the wood in the corners from constant dampness.
9. Screw sheet metal to inside of frame.
10. (Optional) Build a lip around the top rim.
⦁ 10a Start with measuring and cutting a 2x4 that fits in between the side rails (do not include the side supports).
⦁ 10b Then center a 8' 2x4 on one side balancing on the side support. Use a pencil to mark around the board installed in 10a. Use a jigsaw to cut 1.5" into the board and fit it onto the side. Repeat on other side.

⦁ 10c Measure the distance between the outside ends on one side of the boards from step 10b and cut a 2x4 to length. Fit and mark the interior edges of the 10b boards. Cut 1.75" out of the corners. Repeat on other side.

[jacklaporte]

If you promise there won’t be a version 3.0 then I promise to stop procrastinating and try my hand at building one of these 😂. Really appreciate all the great content.

[michaelhirthler]

Thank you very much for the great video. No nonsense, just easy directions to follow. Also a huge thank you for the materials list!. I live in Pa. and just came from home depot. ( 5/11/25). I walked confidently around with my list. Everything cost me $157.90. This included 1 extra 2x4x8 to cut to use as bracing on the bottom instead of metal strapping Nd an additional box of 3 in screws. I immediately hit the subscribe button. Thanks again and looking forward to view your other videos.

[danhogle]

I built two last year and am currently making two more. Couple first, I needed to build a fence onto it for deer protection....its 4 ft tall and i built swing gates on the opposing corners to gain access to the beds. Second, I use Seal IT Green Garden Box Sealer for water protection. Its a plant based organic sealer and it bonds to the fibers of the wood making it practically impervious to water. It's pricey ($80/gallon) but so worth the extra protection. Wish I could put a picture of them up. The fencing made it even sturdier. Thank you for the great design idea!

[WorldsWorstGardener]

Thanks for the update on this build! I've been kicking around how I want to do mine and I think I'm going to go with this! Also love the strap idea - I was already planning on doing some bracing just using wood (like you did on top) and never would have thought to use something else. Lastly (after a brief internet search) I had also settled on linseed oil so thanks for making me feel better about that decision!

My only concern is that I'm going to try to build mine around a pre-existing hugle (because I like making things hard on myself) that's 20 feet long, so obviously I'll have to make some modifications plus I'll have to cut into the hugel where I want to put the straps (I'm going to go with 2 straps as well as one extra vertical support) so it'll still be roughly every 6 feet like yours. Wish me luck!

[johnjacobjinglehimerschmid]

I would have thought to apply linseed a) with a brush heavier coat and wipe down b) before assembly to ensure all end grains get a good coat.

[atticrenewal]

Excellent sir! Used your video to build a 8x4x2 foot bed due to limited space in our backyard. Linseed oil and Simpson strap just arrived. Will finish tomorrow and duplicate next week with bed number 2. Greetings from Smithfield, VA!

[pedalhardridefree]

Pro Tip: Measure Once Cut Twice... You can stack multiple 2x4s together instead of repeating the same cuts. This saves time and ensures both sides are exactly the same.

[nataliem.]

Will be tackling my 1st bed ever this weekend. Going to use your design to build a 8’ x 3’ bed. Thank you!

[MichelleEngeln]

Thank you so much for your video!! We really appreciate your instructions. We have just completed our 4th bed and we learned a few tricks to make it easier. 1) pre-drill all holes 2)set up both walls with 4 foot 2x4's under them then screw in top pieces 1st then flip the whole thing over carefully then screw the other 4 foot 2x4's so you are only working on top. Being over 55 it is much easier for us to do it this way. Less knee work and less tiring.

[glennjohnston]

Great plan and well explained assembly. I am on my 4th one and we love them.

Great job!

God Bless you and yours

[danbernskoetter]

Thank you for a great video. I cut my boards yesterday and oiled them. Today I will assemble. The only thing I added is hardware cloth for the bottom to keep moles out. Thanks again. Dan

[brosselot]

I build mine similar but on the long side I have 2 middle supports, and I use 3 metal straps on the bottom. I also have been putting a frame around the top to tie everything together. I like what you are doing very good. I only have 10 beds. But will say this if you don't seal the wood, about 5 years is all your going to get. I've got 4 beds that this will be the last year for them. Keep up the good work. Thanks for sharing.

[jamiesnider]

Just watched your video. One of the best Ive seen. Good job keeping it simple and cost effective.

[gingerehrhardt]

Excellent demonstration. Even I can build a raised bed with this instructional video. Thank you.

[joebidendidthat]

I built my first bed today. Bought enough materials to build 3 beds that are 4 feet by 12 F. Pretty much same method. $520 total cost for lumber, galvanized sheets, and screws. I had a 10% off coupon that saved me $50.
I put three cross braces across top and bottom however and three vertical 2x4’s on each 12 ft side and one on each end wall. So I definitely have more lumber involved. I like the boiled linseed oil so I’m going to do that for sure. Good tip.

[billknight]

I like your plans and will use it. Only difference is I will put the center tie under the 2x4 so I can cap the top.

[johnaguilar]

You made look so easy I hope it goes that way when I make one. Thanks for getting this video for beginners such as I.