Wood Raised Garden Beds: 5 Tips to Consider for Building and Maintaining Them

Constructing wood raised garden beds is one of the most exciting outdoor activities a homeowner can embark on. Growing your own fruits, vegetables, and flowers is a rewarding experience, and using a wood raised garden bed can help bring your vision to fruition like never before. 

To get started on the right foot, check out five reasons you should care about the materials you use for your wood raised garden bed because it really does matter.

Materials and Basic Instructions

Before we dive into why you should use the best materials for your garden bed, let’s discuss what ideal materials you should use. The best options for wood and wood frames are fir, cedar, and redwood, as they are durable, rot-resistant, and high quality. 

Check out these instructions to hear how our very own GM of Reliance Timber, Gary Campbell, assembled his raised garden bed. You obviously don’t have to follow these to a T but they are good suggestions if you are just getting started: 

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  To start, he used a Douglas fir 6×12 bottom as the base.
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  Next, he tarred the bottom of the 6×12 that touches the earth.
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  Then, he used Thompson Water Seal for the rest of the 6×12.
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  Moving up to the garden beds, he used 1×12 Douglas fir and ripped what he had leftover to accent the top edge.
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  Then, he water-sealed all of the garden beds, which is why it’s important to lay them on their side.
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  Once they are sealed and dry for 48 hours, he put a healthy layer of black mulch in the bottom to act as a filter for the drain holes — this keeps the dirt from clogging the drain holes.
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  Finally, he poured in a layer of old garden dirt and finished it off with bagged topsoil.

While there is certainly some leeway when making your garden bed, using Douglas fir as your wood choice is a great jumping-off point for gardeners looking to set their garden beds up for success. 

Reasons to Maintain Your Wood Raised Garden Beds

Once you assemble your wood raised garden beds, it’s important to maintain them properly. Covering your garden bed with clear, light plastic will help protect the wood from excess moisture. Additionally, it may be obvious but try not to step on your raised garden bed. When soil compacts too much, it inhibits growth.

1. Better Materials Mean Better Soil Retention

When you opt-out of cheap wood, the soil has less of a chance of slipping out through shoddy woodwork or big cracks. 

As a result, you will gain much better soil retention when you use high-quality materials. And better soil retention means a more thriving garden. 

2. Better Protection Against Temperature Changes

We all know that temperatures in Boone, NC, can change on a dime. With high-quality wood, you are able to better insulate your garden from skyrocketing temperatures and plummeting winter breezes. 

By providing your garden with more temperature stability, you ensure that your wood raised garden beds have the best protection against fluctuating temperatures.

3. Recycled Materials Makes It More Eco-Friendly

When you care about the source of your materials, you have a better chance of making a more environmentally friendly garden box. 

4. Keep Pests Out

With high-quality wood like redwood, the likelihood of developing pests drops significantly. Why is this? Redwood is incredibly rot resistant; it can last up to 20 years for some homeowners! 

When wood develops rot, this is a welcome invitation for pests to come and set up camp. After too many pests live and eat in your wooden raised garden bed, your plants will eventually get destroyed, too. 

Eliminate that risk and protect your wood raised garden beds by purchasing high-quality wood supplies from a vetted lumber supplier.

5. The Right Materials Look Professional

No one wants to look like an amateur, especially if you live in a neighborhood where residents might try to be one-upping each other or one with strict HOA guidelines. Consider using materials like fir, cedar, redwood, or juniper to give your raised garden bed a beautiful, professional-looking finish. Although appearances won’t make your garden grow better per se, they will improve the aesthetic of your home and ultimately can raise your curb appeal. 

Looking for the best garden bed frame supplies? Give Reliance Timber a call for all of your wood raised garden bed supplies and needs. Gary may even give you a tip or two!