Rebuilding a Raised Bed

I've previously discussed how I build my raised beds from the ground up. But this spring I had to rebuild an existing bed that was falling apart.

When I bought my place five years ago the previous owners had built a small, L-shaped raised bed around a little porch area attached to the barn. After a couple years I realized there were no boards on the "back side" of the bed as soil would wash away under the porch after a heavy rain. I got tired of re-filling the beds. One spring, before establishing my herb garden there, I dug out all of the potting soil along the front side of the porch and added boards on the back side. The following year I did it on the side of the porch - there was probably a bag's worth or two of potting soil that I scooped out from under that porch!

Last fall the front part of the raised bed started to deteriorate. The corner braces were made from lats, and the nails were pulling out. On top of that the 2x6 boards were starting to warp with nothing to hold them in place.

My original plan was to pop the boards off, replace the corner stakes with something more substantial (2x4s, like the other beds), and reassemble everything.

But I wasn't counting on this:

Bugs (termites? ants? I don't know) had eaten out large sections of the boards. There was rot around some of the nail holes on the ends of the boards. And some of the nails had rusted away to the point where they were as big around as a needle. No wonder they were pulling away.

Time for Plan B. Start by digging out perennial herbs that were near the boards that were going to be replaced. Then keep digging until much of the soil is out so I can work unimpeded.

Into the wheelbarrow, and moved to the barn aisle and out of the sun.

Tarps are handy for recovering as much soil as possible.

The front part of the box came together pretty quickly. The tricky part was getting it level before screwing the boards down to the stakes. I used some scrap to temporarily tack the boards together until they were ready to be screwed down. Cinder blocks and angled scrap (from cutting the points in the stakes) were used to adjust the boards until they were level.

The tricky part was setting the corner and side. The side section was built into the grade. As I took it all apart I realized only the top board ran the full length of the bed. The lower boards were cut off at an angle rather than digging down into the dirt beneath. I had to use more scrap to tack the boards together before popping them into place.

Tacking the side section together. The bottom-most board (on the top here) will only be anchored to the corner stake.

Same section, now put in place.

The tricky part was getting the corner stake pounded. I placed the blocking holding the boards together in a position where there was just enough room for that corner stake. This way the blocking boards would help to drive it in the right spot.

To prevent any roots or weeds from sprouting out between the boards the inside of the box was lined with landscape fabric. This will also help prevent the soil from washing out underneath the boards, especially on the sloped side section.

Landscape fabric get stapled inside the box.

Finally two days after I started what should have been an afternoon project, and two extra trips to the home improvement or hardware stores for additional materials, the bed is done.

After putting back the soil that had been saved on the tarp the beds needed to be topped off. I used my preferred blend of two cubic feet of commercial garden soil and three cubic feet of top soil. After this I applied a layer of mulch.

Most garden vegetables don't tolerate mulch, but the herbs do quite well with it. I used some spilled hay from the horses, being careful to pick out the seed heads before putting it in the bed. I can easily punch holes in it to add new herbs, and it helps limit the number of weeds that pop up. It also is handy for discouraging the cats from using the bed as a litter box.

Give it a year or two and that wood will be as weathered as the porch beside it.