Build A Raised Vege Garden If you want to grow the biggest, healthiest, fastest-growing veges, build yourself a raised vege garden. Because everything’s contained you can fill your raised garden up with all the very best soil, compost, mulch, and fertiliser ... Read The Full Guide More Popular Guides ... How To Lay Paving How To Deal With Weeds How To Grow From Seeds How To Grow Potatoes

 

WHAT KIND OF TIMBER

 

There’s ongoing debate about what timber you should use to build a raised garden. An untreated hardwood like macrocarpa is rot resistant and looks great, but you pay a premium for it. H4 treated pine is popular because it’s economical and you can buy it anywhere. And because it’s treated, it won’t rot either. The debate is around whether the timber treatment chemicals will leach into the soil you’re growing your veges in. If you’re not comfortable with treated timber you can staple polythene sheet around the inside of the planks as a barrier between the timber and soil. Just remember that good drainage is important for a raised garden so don’t run the polythene sheet over the bottom of the garden.

 

 

SITE PREPARATION

 

This is pretty simple. Once you’ve decided where your raised garden will go and what size it’s going to be, mark it out, grab your spade, and skim offany grass and vegetation. You don’t need to take a lot. 20mm should get you down to bare dirt but you might find you’ll need to take a little more off in places to get your planks sitting even and level.

 

	Handy Hints If your planks are a little curved and the top and bottom planks aren’t lining up perfectly (likely more noticeable on the longer planks) just nail a vertical batten to the inside halfway along and it will help pull everything into line.

 

 

MACROCARPA BUILD

 

 

200 x 100mm

On the Easy As Raised Garden Build video we went up a step from standard 200x50 planks and used big 200x100 macrocarpa planks. The build process is the same either way, apart from the fact that with the bigger timber we screw them together rather than nailing. Start by getting your bottom four planks in place, line them up and screw them together using 150x12mm hex head coach screws. The screw holes have to be predrilled so you’ll need an electric drill and two different sized drill bits. One 25mm bit to countersink the head of the coach screws and one 12mm bit to predrill the holes below the head of the screw. DO NOT drill the 12mm bit through into the end of the other timber you’re screwing into. The screw thread needs to bite into solid wood to hold firm but you can use a smaller drill (no larger than 8mm) to make screwing into place easier. You’ll also need a socket set with a socket that matches the hex head of your coach screws.

 

Get all four base planks into position and lined up, predrill your screw holes (including the countersinking for the hex heads of the coach screws) and screw together. Use two coach screws in each corner.

 

Measure corner-to-corner diagonally to make sure everything’s square. If not, just bump into line until it’s squared up and diagonal measurements match. Run a spirit level along the top of each plank, use a spade to trim any high spots off the ground and once you’ve got everything sitting down level you’re ready to repeat the process. Put the top planks on, predrill, screw together then just skew-nail the top planks to bottom planks in each corner. It’s not essential, but for extra stability you can drive a wooden peg into each inside corner and nail it in place.

 

 

STANDARD BUILD

 

200 x 50mm planks

Going with the 200x50 planks will cost less plus it’s quicker and easier because it’s nailed together rather than screwed. Otherwise the process is just the same. Get your bottom four planks in place, line them up and nail them together using 100mm galvanized nails. Measure corner to corner diagonally to make sure everything’s square, use a spade to trim any high spots offthe ground to make everything’s sitting down level and you’re ready to put the top planks on. Nail them together then simply skew-nail top and bottom planks together in each corner. For extra stability you can drive a wooden peg into each inside corner and nail it in place.

 

 

GET GROWING

 

You’ve got the ‘raised’ part of your raised garden sorted, now it’s time for the garden. Spread about 6 layers of old newspaper over the ground to help prevent weed growth then wet down with a little water to hold the paper in place while you add soil. The first layer should be green material such as green waste and the sod you removed when you were preparing the garden. This green material will rot down and provide great worm food, attracting worms to your garden and creating nice rich soil. Then cover your green waste with layers of potting mix and compost, or make it even easier by simply filling with vege mix (a garden mix and potting mix combo). Aim to fill your raised garden up to about 50mm from the top, rake it level then, shoot down to the Mitre 10 garden department and decide what veges you want to plant in there.