Garden Box Construction

Last year we began constructing our garden boxes. I mapped out our vegetable garden area to include three 4'x8' boxes (6" tall) for standard root and summer vegetables, one 2'x12' box with a frame and netting for vine plants to climb vertically, one 2'x8' box for my raspberries, several 1.5' square boxes for tomatoes and potatoes, and a 3.5' tall angled box to act as a wall, which visually separates the garden from the rest of the yard.

This first close-up picture of the tall box shows how we constructed all the boxes. I used unfinished, 2"-thick cedar boards, which are actually 1.5" thick with the finished cut. Using a jig saw, we cut joints from the ends. (Please leave a comment if you want more detailed instructions on how we measured that.) My dad used his drill press to make a jig from a block of oak, which is a harder wood than cedar. We cut a 3/8" hole and used that jig to keep straight holes when drilling into the cedar. It was helpful to run the drill through the hole a few times to make it just large enough to easily hammer in 3/8" steel rods. I bought the steel rods at a metal retailer and cut them with a saws-all. A hacksaw works too; it just takes longer. The shallow boxes have rods 4" longer than the height of the box. The rods on the tall box go about 12" into the ground.

Constructing these by hand, not everything lined up perfectly. The smaller boxes were relatively easy, but the four levels of boards on the tall box made it difficult to line up exactly right, not to mention cutting for the angled corners. There are small gaps between the boards and in some of the joints. But it's just an outdoor garden box, so no big deal. None of the gaps are so large that the boxes can't hold soil and water.

Tip: In laying a box on the ground, carry it in pieces and not assembled. We put a box together in the garage and attempted to carry it that way to the garden. On the way, a board slipped and split. After laying the box out, squaring the corners, and driving the rods into the ground to hold it all in place, I used a level to ensure a flat grade for the box. To get the boxes level, I had to slip rocks under boards or dig into the ground a bit.


In this last picture, you can see the boxes at varying stages of completion.

The empty frame in the foreground is waiting to be positioned before we drive in the rods. The box on the left was busy growing cool-weather crops. The box with the grid had grown summer crops, which I had cleaned out for the fall (when this photo was taken). The tall box in the upper right of the photo forms a wall for the garden.

For the box with the grid, I attached a 4'-long 2"x4" across the bottom in the middle of the box to prevent the sides from bowing. I did not brace the other boxes because I later decided the boards are thick enough to not bow. I'll let you know if I notice any problem, but so far this season, they are all full of soil and plants and have not bowed.