Remember how we planted some tomatoes and peppers indoor to prepare for an outdoor garden? Well, I’ll be honest, they grew pretty well for a while, but I don’t think we transplanted them in time. They were doing awesome and then they all of a sudden started turning yellow… Yeah.
We had our garden box put together and were ready to transplant them, but for some reason we just didn’t get to it on time!! Luckily we had a back-up plan.
Today I’m sharing how we built our garden box tutorial.
Even if you don’t have a big yard or a lot of space, you can easily build a DIY garden box and plant a square foot garden! Square foot gardening
Sounds great, right??
I’m so excited to share with you how easy it is to put together your own DIY square foot garden box!
The standard size for a square foot garden box is 4×4, however, we built a 4×8 garden box. You can easily make the adjustments if you decide to do the smaller 4×4 garden box.
What you need:
- 3 – 8 foot pressure treated 2×8 boards*
- 1 – 8 foot pressure treated 2×4 board*
- Small Box 3.5-4 inch galvanized screws
- Small Box 1 inch screws
- gardening twine
- landscape fabric
- soil**
*You don’t have to use pressure treated boards, however, it will help the wood to last longer.
**If you can get topsoil from a landscaping company, you may be able to save money. You do want to make sure that your soil is good quality and has the necessary nutrients for your plants, plus fertilizer. We ended up purchasing pre-mixed soil from Lowe’s.
Additional notes: We used 2x8s; however, if you are planting vegetables that require deeper root depth, you may want to use 2x10s or 2x12s so that they can grow to their full potential.
Now let’s get started!
Step 1. Get your materials all set up so your project will go quickly!
Step 2. Mark and cut one of your 2×8 boards so that it is 4 ft. long. You should be able to get 2 4 ft. long boards out of one 2×8.
Step 3. Lay out your boards to form your square foot garden box like so.
Step 4. Screw your boards together in the corners.
Step 5. Cut your 2×4 so that it is 4 ft. This will form your brace board. Measure and place your brace board (2×4) in the middle of your garden box and screw it in place at the bottom.
Step 6. Choose where you would like to place your garden! You may need to level your ground before placing your garden box. Make sure to take into account the amount of shade and sunlight this spot receives so that it is the right amount for the plants you choose to grow.
Step 7. Flip your box upside down and tack or staple the landscape fabric to the bottom. This will protect your garden from excessive weeds.
Step 8. Once the landscape fabric is attached, put your garden box in it’s permanent location. Then fill the box with topsoil.
Step 9. Measure and mark every foot on the outside of your box so that your box is divided 8 squares long and 4 squares wide. Screw in a short screw about 2 inches down so that you can easily attach your twine. Make your grid with twine.
Step 10. Admire your work… Now you are ready to plant!
This project literally just took us an afternoon and it was all ready to go. That’s how easy it is… And really, anyone can do it. You don’t even need to have a saw because Home Depot and Lowes can cut your boards down to size for you, if you want!
So, are you going to make your own square foot garden? Make sure to check back – in a couple weeks I’ll be sharing some tips on how to plant your square foot garden!
