DIY Raised Garden Bed

I love to watch plants grow!  For some reason it just thrills me to see a tiny seedling grow into a mature plant.  My husband often tells me that I personify things.  I can sympathize with them when they have too much water, and feel for them when it's too dry.  You can even catch me talking to them here and there.  I guess I'm a little weird that way.  ;0)

Since we now have a dog, I began thinking about the importance of where I plant my garden.  

Hershey loves to eat just about anything, so I knew I was going to have to keep most of it out of his reach.  As you can see from this picture, Hershey isn't so happy that the plants are out of his reach.  :0)

We decided a raised garden bed would be the best.  This garden bed is entirely made out of fence posts and 2X4s.  

The finished dimensions of the plater ended up being approximately 24" X 24" X 55".

The most inexpensive wood we could find were fence slats.   We used those for most of the body.  The gaps between the slats allowed for water drainage.  In order to not loose all the dirt through the gaps, we placed newspaper on the bottom of the planters before we added the dirt.  

We wanted the planters to last for years, so we coated them with semi-transparent sealant made for decks.  We decided to have the sealant tinted in order for the planters to match the brick on the back of the house.  I love the way they turned out!

One of the planters has been dedicated solely to strawberries.  Mmmm, mmmm!  Strawberries love to spread, so I figured I'd give them the whole area.  Right now I have just a few strawberry plants, so I decided to fill the other half of the strawberry planter with Romaine Lettuce.  

My second raised bed is for my vegetables and herbs.  The tall skinny plants are onions, and that little leafy one you see there in the center, is broccoli.  I was able to fit three broccoli plants and over 15 onion plants.  I also planted two garlic cloves, parsley and oregano.  

How about you?  Do you have your garden planned out?  Do you plant a large garden, pots, or use just a corner of the yard?  Are you trying anything new this year?

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