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Tips & Techniques

securing a raised garden bed to the ground

11 years ago

I'm planning to build a 12' x 4' raised bed that will be around 17" - 20" tall. I'm planning to use large 5x5 cedar timber laid out in 4 or 5 layers. The plan is to bury 1 5x5 layer in the ground and secure each layer to the bottom one by using large timber screws.

The question is how should I secure the bottom most layer to the ground? Many instructions online suggest drilling rebars through the 5x5's - the problem is my soil is extremely rocky, so I'm not sure I'll be able to pound the rebars in. My hardsaper suggested I just make stakes using 2x4's and use those as posts & screw into the 5x5's - would this work?

Question is should I secure the 5x5 with rebars or stakes?

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Comments (2)

ThinMan Z5 MI
11 years ago
In my experience, rebars are a lot easier to drive into the ground than wooden stakes. If I were doing it, I wouldn't bother fastening it to the ground at all. It's not like it can blow away. Once you get it all filled with soil, that baby is not going anywhere.

TM
purslanegarden
11 years ago

You could dig down to a depth of 5", clearing out the rocks. That first layer will be one of the 5" timbers. The next 3-4 timbers will be on top of that, with that bottom one as a foundation.

I also think the rebars are a good idea to get them in. I guess a 24-36" length would be good, so that some of the bar is in the ground.

Otherwise, use the wooden stakes to hold the timber down similar to other wooden raised beds, as you have described. The effort is probably harder but it's all possible.
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