Raised beds certainly aren't required for gardening, but they are ideal for growing a variety of plants. Raised garden beds are often more productive than beds in the ground — not only do they warm up easier (translation: a longer growing season), but they also allow for better drainage so that your plants don't get waterlogged. Raised beds are also the perfect solution for gardeners who don't want to constantly bend and crouch to the ground to tend to their plants (us).
If you're just starting your garden, we highly recommend raised garden beds. And lucky for us, there's a brilliant way to build DIY raised garden beds without any power tools. Yes, really.
Video of the Day
The gardener in this popular TikTok video gives a quick and easy-to-follow tutorial.
To tackle this genius gardening hack yourself, you'll need 12 concrete garden blocks and six pieces of 2-inch-by-6-inch cedar plywood. You can purchase these items at your local home improvement store.
First, figure out where you want to place your rectangular raised garden bed. Then, place the concrete planter wall blocks in the corners of this rectangle and insert the pieces of wood between each concrete block to form a complete rectangle.
Tip
To ensure that the wood in your DIY garden bed doesn’t bow out towards the top, you should also buy six 36-inch pieces of size #5 rebar. Once the concrete blocks are in place, insert the rebar through the holes in the blocks and push it into the ground, like a tent stake, to hold the pieces in place.
Fill your new raised garden bed with potting soil and get busy planting your favorite vegetables, fruits, and flowers.