Build a raised bed in one afternoon

A raised bed warms up earlier than a bed in the ground, handles water better and, above all, you do not have to kneel at it. It can be built in an afternoon — assuming you have the timber cut to size at the store.

Materials

For a 200 × 80 × 40 cm bed you need six 3 cm boards, four 5 × 5 cm corner posts, wood screws and a metre of geotextile. Larch or oak work well; spruce lasts three or four seasons and then falls apart.

The build

Cut the corner posts to the height of the bed plus ten centimetres — the overhang goes into the ground and keeps the frame steady. Screw the boards to the posts from the inside, not through them. Line the walls with geotextile and leave the bottom open so earthworms can get in.

What to fill it with

Do not pour in a metre of compost; it is expensive and pointless. Fill the bottom third with shredded branches and coarse garden waste, the middle with grass and leaves, and use good soil mixed with compost only for the top twenty centimetres. The lower layers decompose over two seasons and the bed settles — expect it and top it up in spring.