You don't need to "build" garden beds. You just remove what's growing on it and dig it over.

thanks for the comment. my wife would like some garden beds for her flowers in front of our deck and on the sides as well. happy wife happy life lol.

Make sure the bed is deep enough to hold the full grown size of whatever you plan on growing. Looks bad when the plants are spilling over the yard and then have to be chopped down to fit. Also, if you're growing hedges leave to space for air circulation at the foundation, and don't cover the weep-holes with mulch.

thank you Raye. . .embarrassing to say but I don't even know where to start lol. . .she wants flower beds. . .one along the front of the deck with is about 20 feet long. . .and 2 on each side which are 10 feet each. I don't even know how to start them. never done them before. I know the length of them but don't know how far I should come out with them and how to even begin building them lol.

No 'building' required :-) Just dig out the sod or whatever is currently there, loosen the soil and add a few bags of compost you can purchase at the box stores or garden center. They are ready to plant!

You know the lengths....the width (or depth) of the bed will be dependent on what you choose to plant there. And to some extent, how proportional they are to their length. At a minimum, I'd make the 10' lengths three feet wide and the 20', 4-5 feet wide. Wider if you wish to plant more shrubs or to avoid a line of soldierly looking plants. Shrubs will provide structure; perennials will provide periods of color that carry you through at least three seasons; and annuals will provide a lot of color impact nonstop through the summer months. And don't forget to add bulbs if the wife has an interest in flowers for cutting.

ty gardengal. . .she likes the idea of having her flowers boxed in with wood. i will definitely take ur advice and go 3 or 4 feet wide on the sides. . . and 4 to 5 feet wide along the front. means a lot to me me for the insight. just gotta figure out how to build hmthem out of wood for her

Here is a pretty basic plan to follow:

You will need to change the dimensions as appropriate but it all applies in theory. And the wood does not have to be redwood, it can also be cedar or treated lumber. Or something less expensive like pine or Douglas fir but treated with a sealer to prevent rot.

And with these kind of boxed or raised beds, you will probably need to bring in soil to fill.

you're an angel. thank you so much for the advice and for finding that photo for me. I'm wondering if there's any preparation of the ground I need to do before I lay the wood down. I have a square and round point shovel and a steel rake to loosen dirt.

It sounds like your wife is wanting decorative plants, but if she wants to include edibles, please don’t use treated wood to build them. The chemicals they use to preserve the wood are not healthy! Please post some photographs for us to appreciate your work!

One more thing to consider - depending on the size of the plants she wants to include, think about keeping your garden beds narrower so that you/she can reach across to weed and tend to the plants without having to step into the beds (this compacting the soil). That generally means a maximum of 4’ across if you can access the bed from both sides, but only 2’ if one side is up against a wall or fence.