1st timers Raised Vegetable Garden

silvercaster · Joined: 11 Mar 2004 Posts: 9

Hello,
This is my first time building a raised vegetable garden and have
quite a few questions.
The garden is going to be a foot deep underground and a foot above
ground.
The dimentions are going to be 8'x4'.
I'm going to use 2"x12" redwood lumber. It's not treated.

First, and I've heard yes and no to this question, should I treat the
redwood lumber that I am going to build the planter out of? If so,
with what?

Second, what kind of "L" brackets and screws will last the longest?
Should I use galvinized screws and brackets? if not what?

All suggestions will be appreciated.

jrosto · Joined: 03 May 2003 Posts: 241 Location: Arlington

Sounds like you are going to have a very pretty raised bed garden there. If you are worried about the zinc leaching out of the galvinized hardware, you can use brass hardware. I'm sorry, but I do not have any treatment recomendations for the lumber in a raised bed application.

Henman · Joined: 07 Jun 2003 Posts: 24 Location: Huntington Texas

I would recommend stainless hardware for attaching everthing. As far as the redwood I wouldnt think it needed treatment

dcluck · Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 315 Location: Dallas,TEXAS

My guess is that the red wood shouldn't need any sort of treatment. I built my patio roof out of redwood last summer - beautiful stuff! You might want to give Lee Roy Jordan Redwood Lumber (in Dallas) a call and see what they recommend. The know everything there is to know about the wood and ought to be able to help you out.

~Dave

silvercaster · Joined: 11 Mar 2004 Posts: 9

Thanks folks.

Tony M · Joined: 31 Mar 2003 Posts: 1086 Location: McKinney,TEXAS

You might want to try something I've built that is 5x cheaper than redwood.
I purchased 12'x12" wide "hardie boards" which is a concrete product that is primed and nearly indestructible. I screwed an untreated 2x4x12' to the top to give it rigidity and a ledge to rest my buttocks. I have a slope to deal with so some parts are underground 10" and the other end may be near the top of the surface. Mulch the walkways between the raised beds with straw (not hay) about 6" thick. When the straw composts, shovel it into the raised beds and put down new. Kinda like as they say in the Corporate world, multi-tasking. This is my first year but I don't anticipate any problem. If there is a problem, I will adopt my wife's attitude, "it was an experiment".
PM me if you want to see them.
Tony M
ps: look in the penny saver for straw that is old and wet for a big savings

Gar · Joined: 08 Mar 2003 Posts: 533 Location: Lavon,Texas

Tony,
I never thought about using Hardie. I should have saved the pieces that were left after my house was sided with Hardie. It should last many years since it will never rot, being a cement product.

Tony M · Joined: 31 Mar 2003 Posts: 1086 Location: McKinney,TEXAS

A friend of mine built his garden over the years using composted manure, etc. We added a number of nutrients this year, after we dug every weed up, and tilled it about 10 inches deep. If weeds do come back they should be easy to pull.
He lined the perimeter of the garden (about 30x30') with hardie board to prevent bermuda creep. I will let you know how that "experiment" goes.
I put something different around mine because I have a different situation, but I really like his idea.
Tony M