Make your own raised bed out of wood

Which types of wood are suitable for building raised beds?

You have the choice between Softwoods and hardwoods, each with specific advantages and disadvantages. Softwoods such as spruce, pine, Douglas fir or poplar are usually extremely cheap to buy. On the other hand, however, these types of wood rot within a few years, especially when they come into contact with moist soil (as is unavoidable in a raised bed). Untreated spruce, for example, has to be replaced after around three to four years. However, you can extend the shelf life by taking protective measures such as attaching dimple or pond liner on the inside and a protective glaze. However, hardwood such as larch, robinia, black pine or oak is the most resistant to moisture and rotting. However, these woods have their price and are therefore significantly more expensive to buy.

Use impregnated wood only for raised beds for ornamental plants

The durability of softwood in particular can be extended a little by applying a glaze or impregnation. However, these are only suitable for Ornamental raised beds. However, you should not use materials treated in this way for raised vegetable and herb beds, as the chemicals can migrate into the soil and thus also into the vegetables and fruits. Instead, however, you can use non-toxic technical measures such as lashing out the raised bed with foil.

Suitable materials from wood

In addition to different types of wood, there are of course also different forms of material that differ not only in price, but also in practicality and appearance. By using different materials, you can create a varied garden design that can be classically elegant but also very rustic.

These are pre-sawn and smoothly planed boards made of spruce or fir wood, which are usually used to build shelves. They are available in different standard dimensions of 20, 30 and 40 centimeters wide and 60, 80, 100 and 120 centimeters in length. This makes them ideal for raised beds of different sizes, even without major cutting work, which can also be completed in a few simple steps. Unfortunately, the raised bed boxes made from it can only be kept for a few years.

Lumber and boards

Squared timber, boards and floorboards are also available in many different sizes, and you can have them cut to the exact lengths you want in the hardware store. Raised bed variants of different heights and widths can be built with little effort, quickly and inexpensively. Such woods fit particularly well in small gardens, where more massive material such as palisades simply looks too bulky. In contrast to glued wood, you have the choice between different types of wood for construction timber and boards and can thus decide on the wood of your choice.

Palisades, logs, poles

If you want something more rustic, you can also use unpeeled spruce logs or poles for the construction of the raised bed. Here, however, a little manual skill is required, because these timbers have to be stacked in a block construction. For this purpose, the round timbers are grooved precisely at the corners, so that stable connections are created. Alternatively, you can use for a low raised bed but also position round timbers of the same thickness between the lateral support posts. The support posts should be sunk into the ground at least 25 centimeters, and additional internal securing using tension wire is advisable. It is easier to get involved, however Raised bed made of finished palisade walls that can be used as walls either horizontally or vertically.

Pallets and transport boxes

Particularly uncomplicated, quick and cheap Raised beds made from Euro pallets build, whereby these are usually even more durable than conventional glued wood or Softwood boards. You can get such pallets cheaply at furniture dealers, in craft businesses or at companies in the industrial area. You can also buy them for a little money in the hardware store or order them on the Internet, because the companies are Due to the strong growth in demand in recent years, not always happy to return the pallets get rid of. Euro pallets(€ 29.99 at Amazon *) enjoy great popularity due to their versatility. the end wooden shipping boxes you can, on the other hand, design mobile raised beds, which are wonderfully suitable for the balcony or terrace and which can be planted with herbs, for example.

Effectively protect wood against rot and fungal attack

So that the wood used does not rot after two winters and has to be replaced, you should protect it from moisture. You can do this with the inside of the raised bed Pond or bubble wrap undress. This is with Roofing felt nails or attached to the frame with the help of a staple gun, leaving the bottom of the raised bed free, of course. Otherwise the irrigation and rainwater cannot drain away, with the result that the raised bed literally drowns in waterlogging.