BUILDING A GARDEN BED

Are you looking for a cost effective way to organise your garden without costing an arm and leg? We have created this garden bed for as little as $49. We tried to keep it simple so that you could easily do it in an afternoon.

What you will need the following materials to build the garden bed:

1 x Tape Measure
1 x Circular Saw or Hand Saw
1 x Ruler
1 x Pencil
1 x Hammer
1 x Cordless Drill
1 x Hex Head Bit
1 x 3.5 mm drill bit
1 x 7.5 mm drill bit
1 x 100m Builders/Masonry Line – $4.00
1 x Box of Flat Head Nails (25mm x 1.5mm) – $2.50
20 x 100mm Zinc Alloy Bugle Head Batten Timber Screws – $6.35
3 x (200mm x 50mm x 2400mm) Rough Sawn Pine Sleeper – $20.65
2 x (100mm x 50mm x 2400mm) Rough Sawn Pine Sleeper – $5.50
2 x (100mm x 25mm x 2400mm) Rough Sawn Pine Sleeper – $10.00
Total – $49.00

The Bed

1. On one of the 200mm x 50mm x 2400mm Sleepers, mark 800mm from each end. This ican be seen on the images below.

2. Cut along these lines, producing 2 x 200mm x 50mm x 800mm sleepers, and an offcut.

3. At Each end of the new 800mm long sleepers drill 2 x 3.5mm holes as shown. (8 holes in total)

4. On the remaining 200mm x 50mm x 2400mm sleepers, drill 2 x 7.5 mm holes as shown, at each end. (8 holes in total)

5. Bolt together your garden bed.

6. At each corner, using your hex head drill bit, fix 2 x timber screws into your freshly drilled holes.

Setting up the Trellis

7. On both 100mm x 50mm x 2400mm sleepers, drill 4 x 7.5mm holes as shown.

8. Bolt the 2 x 100mm x 50mm x 2400mm sleepers into the centre of your garden bed frame.

9. On the remaining 100mm x 25mm x 2400mm sleepers. Hammer in nails along one edge.

10. Make sure not to hammer the nails in all the way. These nails will be used to string the trellis.

11. Nail or Screw your 100mm x 25mm x 2400mm sleepers to each upright post of your garden bed. (Both Top and Bottom)

Stringing the trellis

12. To start the trellis tie a know on the bottom left hand nail of the upright.

If you don’t know how to ties knots, tie lots and lots and lots.

We are going to string the trellis in one continuous run.

Keep tension on the line and run the line across to the other upright, it is extremely important to keep tension throughout otherwise the line will not be able to support any plants.

When you get to the other side, wrap the line around the nail a few times, go up to the next nail, wrap it around a few times and then walk across to the other upright.

Continue doing this until you get to the top.

Once at the top, string across to the closest nail on the top nail board and begin the process from top to bottom.

This time weaving in and out of the lines from left to right.