Veena Chimes: Raised Beds With Cedar Pickets

Last year, I got my first raised bed. It was made by cutting to size a 10 by 2 solid cedar plank that was 16 foot long. The raised bed dimensions were 6 feet by 2 feet. I did not take any picture of it while it was being assembled together or even as soon as it was made. Here is a picture of it at a later date, with plants growing in it. It is strong and sturdy, but after putting it out in the yard, I thought it was small. It served very well last year, with a great crop of cherry tomatoes, peppers, and three different kinds of basil, but I decided to work on increasing the working area when I got more raised beds in future.

This spring, I added one bed identical in size to the one last year.

I also added another raised bed, improvising and getting some more working area out of the cedar plank. This new bed is 4 feet by 4 feet. Sixteen square feet as compared to twelve in each of the above.

These beds are very sturdy and because they are made of cedar, they are untreated and safe to use for vegetables. However, I was looking at a more cost effective way to add more space to the vegetable garden. While at the home improvement store, I chanced upon cedar pickets and decided to build raised beds using them. The cost of the pickets is much lower than that of the sturdy plank, but I am compromising on quality and am not sure how long these beds will last. This is a trial, and here is how I made the beds.

The sizes of pickets available were of two lengths- 6 ft and 8 ft. Both sizes were 6 inches in width. I used galvanized nails and a hammer to assemble the planks together.

Raised bed 1-

Two 6 feet cedar pickets, each cut into two pieces of 4 feet and 2 feet

Bed dimensions- 4 feet by 2 feet, with a height of 6 inches

This is a very basic design and I hope I can get it to work for a couple of years. I will post updates later.

Raised bed 2-

Two 8 feet cedar pickets, each one cut into four equal planks of two feet each, yielding 8 pieces

Bed dimensions- 2 feet by 2 feet, with a height of 12 inches

I decided that the new bed would need extra depth than the basic design above, so two pickets were stacked one above the other and stakes were used at the corners to secure the pieces together.

A twelve foot long 2 by 2 cedar post was cut into twelve pieces of a foot each to use as stakes.

Assembling the pieces together, securing one plank above another with a stake at either end. Then nailing together the sides on the stake.

The finished product.

The bed placed in the yard and filled with soil. Notice the difference in the thickness of the cedar. The sturdy cedar plank bed is twice as thick as the one made with pickets. It is a couple of inches deeper than the older raised bed though.