Fence Picket Raised Garden Bed (Narrow)

Table saw route: set the fence to 1-1/4" and rip one picket into four strips, then crosscut into eight 11" posts. The math works out to a meaningful saving if you're building a garden's worth of beds.

No table saw: buy 1x2 cedar and crosscut the posts. Same bed, slightly dearer corners.

Screw and glue two 72" pickets to a pair of corner posts with the 1-1/4" screws, posts OVEREXTENDING the panel ends by 5/8" — that overhang is the puzzle tab that laps the end panels at assembly.

The two pickets meet edge-to-edge in the middle of the panel; a third post scrap or a pocket-hole joint there stiffens the seam (the source did the latter — either works).

Exactly the same construction at 17-3/4" — two pickets high, posts overextending 5/8".

Stand the four panels up and interlock them — each post overhang laps its neighboring panel. Fasten the corners with the 2" screws and glue, and check square across the top.

Set the bed in place, drive a couple of stakes inside the walls to locate the bottom, and add the optional top trim cut to fit. Then fill it with more soil than seems reasonable and grow something you'll brag about.