Starting your 1st Raised Bed Garden

Here are some suggestions on how to start a garden easily from using fabric grow bags to using 2′ x 6′ lumbers. You can start a garden anywhere, even on your apartment patio. So what are you waiting for? Start planning!

Option 1

You can buy a raised bed kit made of composite wood which is very quick to assemble. Walmart, Sams, Costco, and Amazon have for sale around $40 for a 3.5 ft x 7.5 ft size. The box is quite heavy, about 50 pounds, so bring someone to help lift it. There are no screws or nails. The complete assembly took my husband and me 5 minutes.

CLICKED HERE for raised bed kit

Option 2

Buy some smart pots (felt fabric grow bags) from Amazon. It’s also inexpensive depending on the size that you want and it can easily be placed anywhere outside for an instant no assemble garden. These fabric bags are better for growing plants and veggies because it allows air to circulate so the plants don’t get root bound. This is one of the methods I am using in combination with building wood raised beds.

CLICKED HERE for Smart Pots Junior grow bag.

CLICKED HERE for Honest Outfitter grow bags.

CLICKED HERE for Vivosun grow bags.

CLICKED HERE for rectangle 6′ x 3′ grow bag garden.

CLICK HERE for another rectangle 6′ x 3′ grow bag garden.

Option 3

Buy some 2′ x 6′ or 2″ x 12′ untreated lumber from Home Depot and have them cut it down for you. This will require some carpentry skills of 4″ wood screws being drilled and screw on every 4 corners together to form a raised bed. For my raised garden bed, I used 2′ x 6′ and stacked them to create a 2′ x 12′ because I plan on planting crops with deep roots. If you are growing herbs and lefty greens, the 2′ x 4′ will work.

Option 4

Whiskey Resin Barrels

Another container option that looks more appealing than the fabric grow bags. They are about 22-24″ in diameter, with about 4 square feet of growing space. You can find them at Sam Clubs, Costco and Home Depot. Ensure to drill some drainage holes at the bottom.

For Additional raised bed gardening tips, please check out wellgardening.com.

Raised Garden Bed Tips by Well Gardening

The square feet gardening technique

This is the method that I am currently utilizing in my garden. There is a great book you can buy that will give you all the details on how to build a raised bed, the correct soil mixtures, and how many seeds or seedlings you can plant per square feet in order to maximize your yield. There is a newer 3rd edition if you want to purchase the latest version. The basic plating information is the same for all editions.

If you are needing a template to equally space out your seeds, you may want to purchase the seedling square available on Amazon. It’s optional, you can always make an estimate of spaces in between the planting hole within each square feet.

CLICK HERE for Mel Bartholomew Square Feet Gardening book.

CLICK HERE for the Seedlings Square.

Garden Accessories

These accessories are a great option to have for growing your vegetables or keeping the garden pest out of your garden.

trellis netting (Home Depot and Amazon) – used for vine climbing crops such as cucumber, beans, and melons.
mosquito netting (Amazon) – drape this netting over your crops to keep pests from laying their eggs or eating up your crops. Keep in mind that some crops need to be pollinated by bees such as cucumber and squash. The use of these netting will be limited for crops that need to be pollinated by bees unless you hand pollinate.
wind chimes – great for keeping rodents such as rabbits away. Rabbits have great hearing so the noise from the wind chimes spooks them away from your garden.

CLICK HERE for trellis netting.

CLICK HERE for mosquito netting.