Cedar Raised Garden Bed

Two 8-ft boards stay full length. Cut two more to 45". Cut the 4x4 into four 11" posts.

That's the entire cut list. If the store will crosscut for you, take them up on it.

Do this before assembly, not after. Clear the grass, and get the ground reasonably flat.

A raised bed on sloped ground fills unevenly and its corners pull apart over a couple of seasons as the soil pushes on the low side.

Stand a long side and an end piece together in an L. Set a corner post inside the corner, flush with the top edge.

Drive four 3" exterior screws through each board into the post — two per board face. That's 8 screws per corner, and it is plenty.

Repeat for all four corners. Check the diagonals — equal diagonals means square, and square means the lid or any future trim will actually fit.

A few degrees out of square is fine here. Soil doesn't care.

Place the bed. If you have burrowing pests, staple hardware cloth across the bottom now.

Fill with a mix roughly 60% topsoil, 30% compost, 10% aeration (perlite or coarse bark). A 4x8x7" bed takes about 16 cubic feet — order a yard if you're building more than one, it's far cheaper than bags.

Don't seal or finish the cedar. It will silver to grey and that's exactly what you want.