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How to build a 2x8 raised garden bed

A narrow 2 × 8 ft raised bed for a fence line or the edge of a path, from five 8-foot 2 × 6 boards, a 6-foot 4 × 4 and 40 screws, reached from one side.

The plan at a glance

This bed measures 96 × 24 inches on the outside and stands 11 inches tall. The long boards are used whole, the 21-inch end boards fit between them, and a 4 × 4 post sits inside each corner and at the middle of each long side. The inside is 93 × 21 inches.

At 21 inches across, the whole bed is within a 24-inch reach from one long side, so it can stand against a fence or a wall; the width and reach guide explains the rule.

96 in outside93 × 21 in inside
From above, drawn to scale: long boards whole, end boards between them, posts inside.

Cut list and materials

A 2 × 6 board is 1½ × 5½ inches when you buy it dry, and a 4 × 4 is 3½ × 3½ inches, the dressed sizes the American Wood Council lists. The lengths below use those sizes and allow ⅛ inch for each saw cut.

Cut list for the 2 × 8 ft bed
PartCut fromLengthPieces
Long side boards2 × 6 × 8 ft, used whole96 in4
End boards2 × 6 × 8 ft, four cut from one board21 in4 (from 1 board)
Corner and middle posts4 × 4, at least 6 ft11 in6
ScrewsStainless steel exterior screws, 3 in40

Build it

96 in
1. Each long side: 2 boards of 96 in, 3 posts, the end ones 1½ in in from the ends.
21 in end boards
2. Stand the sides up and fit the 21-inch end boards between them, into the corner posts.
96 × 24 in outside, 11 in tall
3. Square it, set it level and fill 10 in deep: 10.9 ft³, 8 bags of 1.5 ft³.
  1. Choose a level spot and mark a 96 × 24 inch rectangle. Keep a path along the open long side.
  2. Cut one of the 2 × 6 boards into four 21-inch end boards, and cut the 4 × 4 into six 11-inch posts. Check each cut with the square.
  3. Build each long side: lay two 96-inch boards flat, edge to edge. Place a post on them 1½ inches in from each end, leaving room for the end boards, and one post centered at 48 inches. Drive two screws through each board into each post, 12 screws per side.
  4. Stand the two long sides up, posts facing in, so the boards are 21 inches apart on the inside.
  5. Fit two 21-inch boards at each end, between the long boards and against the corner posts. Drive two screws through each end of each board into the post, 16 screws in all.
  6. Measure both diagonals from corner to corner on the outside. They should both be about 99 inches; push the frame until they match, then check it is level.
  7. If gophers or voles dig in your garden, fasten hardware cloth across the bottom before you set the bed down. UC IPM advises hardware cloth or ¾-inch mesh poultry wire under raised beds for gophers; Colorado State University Extension gives ¼-inch hardware cloth for voles and pocket gophers.
  8. Set the bed in place and fill it.

How much soil it takes

Filled 10 inches deep, the inside of this bed takes 10.9 cubic feet of soil once the posts are taken out: 0.4 cubic yards, or 8 bags of 1.5 cubic feet. That leaves an inch at the top of the 11-inch walls for mulch.

Open this bed in the soil calculator to change the depth or split the soil into a mix.

Wood and screws

Use cedar heartwood and stainless steel screws, as in the 4 × 8 cedar plan, which gives the reasons; the best wood guide compares the other choices.

What this plan does not cover

This is a plan for a bed on open ground. It is not an engineered design and makes no load rating. For a bed on a patio, deck or roof, read the hard-surface guide and have the surface assessed for the filled weight first.

References