How to Build a Raised Garden Plot
Your guide
to building a successful raised garden plot
from Brewer Park Community Garden
2
How to Build a Raised Garden Plot
The following illustrated step-by-step guide is based on how Brewer Park Community Garden
members build their raised 8 foot by 4 foot, three level garden plots.
Materials Needed
• Six 8 foot long planks (1 1/4” x 8” x 8’)
• Six 4 foot long planks (1 1/4” x 8” x 8’)
• Two 2 foot “joiner planks” (1” x 4” x 2’)
• Six screws for joiner plank
• 12 corner brackets from Lee Valley (Screws are included.)
• 9 by 4 feet of chicken wire
• 7 by 11 feet of Geotextile
• This prevents soil and weed contamination and the soil
from falling through the gaps.
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• Sand and soil
• Cordless drill and extra battery
• Construction T50 stapler plus staples
• Level
How to start your raised bed
• We prefer to build the first frame before spray painting
the perimeter.
• We place the frame on the ground in the correct location then
spray paint around it.
• Mark the location with spray paint. Pegs and string help to
gauge a good angle and distance.
• Dig out a trench about 1 inch deep and 5 inches wide
contour which your bed will sit in. This will help make a
good foundation.
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• Add some sand to your trench. This will help to level out
the ground as well as help prevent the wood from
decomposing.
Assembling the raised bed
• Attach planks in a rectangle using the metal stacking
corner brackets.
• For the base frame, the bracket does not need to
overhang for stacking
• For the top two frames, the bracket
will overhang to perform the stacking function.
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• Place your first layer into the trench and level it
using the level.
• Use sand to help with the leveling.
• Once level, fill in around the base with sand.
• Take your pre-cut length of chicken wire and staple it along
the base of the frame flat on the ground It will slightly go up
the walls which is good.
• Staple it to the walls. This will prevent critters from
accessing the roots of your vegetables.
• Stack you three frames on top of one-another.
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• Staple Geotextile into the inside surfaces of the box.
• The Geotextile will go up the walls of the box up to the
third frame.
• This will prevent the soil from coming out between the planks.
It also prevents soil contaminants from coming into your box.
• Screw a “joiner plank” inside the box and in the middle of
the 8 feet planks to join all tree levels together. This will
make the box more solid.
• Use 3 screws to hold the plank in place and screw it from
the outside of the box.
• Do this on both sides of the box.
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• Fill your bed with about 6 inches (15 cm) of sand.
• Fill your bed with soil almost up to the top.
Happy Gardening
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Brewer Park Community Garden (BPCG)
Telephone: 343-883-7967
Website: http://brewerparkcommunitygarden.weebly.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrewerParkCommunityGarden
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrewerGarden
Brewer Park Community Garden is a non-profit communitybased organization that operates a community garden open
to all who live, work or study in Old Ottawa South and in
neighbouring areas.
Credits
• Writer: Alison Duncan
• Consultant: Guy Souliere
• Illustration: Alison Duncan
• Design and Photography: Ed Kucerak
• © 2013 Brewer Park Community Garden
Brewer Park Community Garden