Sunday, May 10, 2009

The 5th Garden Bed

The birds are killing my strawberries. Don't mess with my strawberries.

I needed to build an enclosure to protect them. By the time I went to the trouble I might as well build a new bed. So a little after 3PM today I made a trip to Lowe's. I picked up a roll of plastic mesh, 7 cheap studs, a box of deck screws, 20 blocks and 4 bags of sand.

I cut one stud in half and using two others still at full length I made a 4 by 8 frame.


The remaining 4 studs I cut to 5 feet each to be the legs. I screwed them into the corners building the enclosure upside down.

The roll of plastic mesh is 48 inches wide so I stapled one end of it to the frame and rolled it on out stapling it along the way. This will be the top.


The I ran the roll around the sides like a skirt and stapled it only along the top. I then cut slits down the 4 corners so the sides can be lifted for harvesting and weeding. Screws half-way in on the corners allow me to "button" the mesh down and keep it secure from hungry birds and digging pets.


I mocked it all up in my driveway first to make sure it would all work. I will build the raised bed with the block. The stud legs fit down in the corner holes and then those holes get packed with sand. There are a number of reasons for this final detail. It helps lock the corners together, the sand drains well so the wood will last longer and the sand can be just raked in later if I decide to take it apart.

PVC frames can be made also but you need to make sure and use a pipe that will bend. It costs a little bit more but lasts longer. I needed something quick and cheap so I may work on a PVC version in the off season.

- Wade Baker

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