7 Beginner Raised Bed Garden Mistakes to Avoid

A simple way that I’m trying this year is to char the lumber on the inside with a weed burner. I have heard that some charred Timbers that are buried have been preserved for over a thousand years.

The paths between the beds should be wide enough to accommodate your wheelbarrow. 👍

I'm broke so we use material we already have from other things. Reused materials are not only to save the planet 😂

Fantastic video! I have been gardening for over 60 years and it took me a lifetime to learn the lessons you gave in 13 minutes!

I've built 15 raised beds of various shapes and sizes, but by far my favorites are the 4 ft. x 8 ft. beds. Most of my beds are 12" tall however the first bed I ever built was 24" tall and I made the mistake of filling it completely with raised bed mix which hit the pocketbook pretty hard so I switched to 12" tall beds to save money. One thing I do include on all of my raised beds are 2" x 6"'s mounted flat along two sides so my 70 year old posterior has a place to sit while I garden. I try to keep off of my knees as much as possible.

I used cinder blocks to make my beds because wood rots quickly where I live. I can move, rearrange, or disassemble the beds any way I want. I can also use the holes in the blocks to plant extra flowers or herbs. The blocks were less expensive than the lumber.

I don't have much time. Thanks for getting to the 7 points without a lot of BS. Gotta go. I don't have much time.

I almost watched EVERY video about raised beds on youtube, and yet this video is THE MOST USEFUL of all! I learned a lot and cannot wait to build my raised bed garden😊

Amazon has provided a huge amount of cardboard for the base of my raised beds. I should probably stop shopping now 😬😂

Every fall, my father covered his garden with his homemade Zinfandel grape pressings. His 'urban' backyard garden was so successful, the Detroit Free Press did a story on him. Heck, my grandfather had 2 productive fig trees in Detroit's old “Little Italy” where the limbs were tied down and tarp covered as protection from our harsh Michigan winters.

Do not use walnut leaves or branches as they poison the soil so nothing grows. I reinforced my beds on the outside to maximize internal grow space. I tried to line inside the bed walls to keep the arsenic from the roots. I also placed hard plastic on the top of my fencing so the squirrels could not climb in. I need to make chicken wire covers for my 4X4 beds so the birds can't eat my strawberries, before I can. Every thing else you spoke I agreed with. I also have to use a grabber to plant with and pull weeds because I can no longer bend down far enough to do it by hand and it works well for me. Another great video Brian. Keep on growing with it. May the Lord keep blessing you and yours.

We built one area to plant using basic cinder block and it works great. We also use the large totes with rope handles (made for your kids toys) to plant in and they have been wonderful! We line them down our arched cattle panels for a 16 foot arch for cucumbers and beans to climb....this year we are adding pie pumpkins and tiny watermelons. The only thing we plant in the ground is corn, this year we may add some carving pumpkins under the corn. For our tomatoes and some flowers we use the black buckets the floral department at Kroger displays in.....they give them away here and work wonderfully! We don't have near the size garden you do, but with our health issues what we do have is a lot for us!

I really enjoy your content, Brian. Your presentation style is great. However, for me, the overload of information is causing severe "cerebral flatulence". I watch a video, go to my garden, and forget what I just learned! You keep doing what you're doing. I'll keep working on me. Eventually, I WILL get it! Thank you and Blessings to all.

My beds are 3 x 9. I’m short so 3 ft is my perfect width and I chose 9 ft because I got 2 -12 ft boards and cut 3 ft of each one to make one bed. My beds are now 7 inches but my new beds will be 14 inches high.

I work at a warehouse, so naturally I built my beds out of pallet wood. Been about 6 years and they are finally starting to rot. I figured I’ll go one more year and then make them again. I filled the bottom half with sticks and limbs and mixed my native soil half and half with compost I made. I finally amended it with bone meal after years of gardening in the same spot. It’s not as difficult as some people make it out to be. I do need to bring in some more woodchips. That’s about all I’ve ever paid for. Cheers.

A very good summary of all that concerns, thank you. I recently combined raised bed concept with hugelkulture, and the result is marvelous. I always use crap boards with garden pond lining inside.

I built 4’x4’ 12” Deep then Put 3’ Legs on Them. Ran 2x4 on The Flat 3” apart, Put Square Fence Inside, Covered the Wire with Weed Matt, Stained Them Only on the Outside and Legs. They are very Nice. I am a Licensed Builder her in Michigan so I have 35 years of experience learning everything I could. We catch the Rain water from our Down Spouts because the Vitamins w/ Zero Chlorine. This is my Wife’s a first Time Using Raised Beds. So far so good. I built those for $59.00 for each One. We Used with Peat Moss Mixed with Topsoil. They are Growing like Crazy.

Brian...thank you for this. This year I built new raised beds in my small suburb garden to maximize the production this year....as I was building them, I was recalling all your tips from your how to videos on building them. Hope today is a restful day with your family...have a great week!🍅🏡

So glad you talked about the cloth beds and sweet potatoes and sizes.

Your videos should come with a warning to always have your pen and paper handy to take notes. I think you are a great teacher and I’m learning more than the brain can absorb. So glad these are videos that can be rewatched!