I made raised beds out of composite deck boards. I used 1x 8Âs . I bought the regular deck screws. They are not supposed to rust. If you go to Lowes or Home Depot they will cut your boards for you. They are more expensive to build, but should last much longer than wooden boards and they look nice.

Scott

Glad I decided to go past page 1!

I went back into the archives and found a photo from when we (me, Mr. Sparks and the friend who's in the pic) built the planter. I THINK you're asking about the contrasting side trim, right? It's actually not a 4x4, but a board that was ripped to two different widths and attached to the corners from the inside, so it looked like a post. (You can see the cut pieces on the left.)

We built the planter about 7 years ago and it still looks as good today as it did on day one. I've got the plans somewhere so if you're interested, let me know and I'll dig them up and scan them. They were from a Better Homes and Gardens special interest mag.

Looking back, my garden has come a long way. We were still battling the neighbors' bamboo and I was crossing my fingers that it wouldn't invade the planter because I was really, really tired of hacking up my backyard.

Mmmmmm.....very nice.

Damaged composite can often be sourced at H-D very cheaply.

I got about 12 16 ft. lengths for $5 apiece (normally about $35)

Wow! Those look fantastic. I hope the ones we're building come out as nicely. We are using composite lumber as well, but not decking material; instead we're using fascia board, which comes in much wider widths. I used 7.25" widths and stacked two 4x4 boxes on top of one another, joining them with a metal 8" mending plate in the center of each span. We're now waiting for it to warm up enough outside to be able to silicone the inside joints and caulk the outside joints. We're also adding a small one-piece corner molding to the corners, mainly because we didn't want to bother cutting miters for all eight boxes. Then we will paint out the whole thing (exterior only) with white paint.

HI sparks5478,
Very nice looking beds! Are these the 50/50 wood/plastic composite decking or trim? What is the height of each tier, and what board is the contrasting top flat rail? Is this a safe material for veg beds in that they wont leach toxic chemicals into the soil? Is looking for damaged boards at a discount the cheapest one can get or is there a cheaper source? Did you intentionally select this material due to its durability or did you just happen to have them from other projects?
Sorry i know too many ques, but I'd appreciate any one sharing their knowledge and experience as I am eager to make a decision and get started with the actual project.
TIA