8 by 4 foot raised garden bed

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I followed a video on the SSL Family Farm channel to build a raised bed. The bracing prevents the bed from bowing out. Instead of Douglas Fir and two planks on each side, I stacked Redwood three planks high. It might be better to use 1x6s or 1x8s instead of the 2x6s I used in this build. The beds turned out very heavy and seem a bit overbuilt.

Materials

Try to find the most dimensionally-accurate cuts from the lumber yard. My local lumber yard delivered some planks that were off by 50% of the dimension (2½ inch thick 2x6s).

Equipment

A speed square is great for quickly drawing lines at measurement marks to follow with a hand saw.

Cuts

Make sure the 2x6 boards are actually 8 feet long and cut them to size if they’re off. If the lumber isn’t the same size, the sides won’t fit together.

Assembly

Lay two extra pieces of 8 foot lumber flat on the ground and place the 8 foot planks on them vertically, forming the two long sides. Place the 18 inch 2x4s vertically against the inside of the boards at the ends, and countersink two screws into each from the outside of the bed. With all four feet attached to the two boards, place two 4 foot boards at each end and use two more countersunk screws to secure those to the feet. With the first level of planks secure, it’s much easier to assemble the next two levels, following the feet as a guide.

Once all three levels of the bed are attached, the center brace can be added by finding the middle of the long side and attaching two more feet, using two screws in each plank. The 3 foot 8½ inch 2x4 runs between the two long sides and is attached using two screws into the middle feed, to prevent the bed from bowing out when filled with soil.