Hi Kimmy, I built four raised beds last year and there was a good thread about it somewhere. What I ended up using was 2x10 cedar, three high. I bought 10' boards and cut each into 6' and 4', which was the length and width of the beds. You can go longer but don't go much wider than 4 feet or it will be too hard to lean in and weed.

The beds looked nice and were easy to work in, but as you know we got very little rain last summer and they dried out pretty bad. I think in a wet year or if you have free water they would be ideal. I filled mine with a mixture of garden soil (about 1/2), steer manure (bags from Home Depot), bagged topsoil, and homemade compost. I put a thick layer of wood chips on top hoping to keep moisture in, but they dried out pretty fast anyway. Here they are when I first built them... (don't mind the atrocious lawn)

And here is one later on, with potatoes in it.
{{gwi:700682}}

Anyway I moved last fall and the last I heard from an ex-neighbour was that the new owners ripped them up and threw them out in the back lane. *Sigh*

Let me know if you are interested in the actual construction of these, I would be glad to give more details.

Oh yeah, and what did especially well (even with the dryness), was potatoes, zucchini, corn and tomatoes; but peas, beans and carrots didn't do much. Lettuce did fine in the early spring.

Gillian

Hi Kim and welcome. I have raised beds. For my veggie garden, I just use raised beds with no wood or anything around them....the edges are just slightly slanted. For certain areas of the garden, I also have raised beds with landscape ties around them. My raised beds do not dry out because I use soaker hoses on them. The hoses are just put on the top in early spring and the plants grow up and cover them. My soil is clay and for the veggie garden, good top soil was brought in, then lots of compost and peat moss added. For the raised flower beds, just compost and peat moss was added to the clay.

If you have more questions, just ask. There is a lot of experienced gardeners in this forum.

Sierra

Thank you for your swift responce! Love the pictures too. I was thinking 4' x 8' and making 3 to start with. I'm glad you said your soil mix as that was my next question. We live in the country and don't have much water but we have a dug out to haul water from and was thinking of soaker hoses as well. Sierra, when you watered, how long did you do it for? You've both been a great help. I don't know about you, but Spring fever has hit me bad. I've been planning and gazing at magazines like crazy lately!

The veggie garden gets watered 2 to 4 hours at a time when needed. Following the water restrictions we have here. The raised front beds get 4 to 6 hours of watering a week...more if needed. It really depends on the year....

Sierra

Welcome to the FN forum Kimmy!

Here's another design, a three-tier triangle raised bed that I grow my tomatoes in.

{{gwi:700323}}
Photo taken early Spring

Sharon

Wow ladies those pictures are beautiful - Sharon the tiered raised bed is totally gorgeous...

Thanks for the inspiration on the second day of spring

Fern