DIY Building a Raised Bed with Decking Boards

A while back, I shared some of our plans for the garden and how we’d added more privacy since our garden is fairly exposed due to the trellis-style fencing. Instead of replacing the fencing, I wanted to combat the privacy issues by adding some climbing plants instead. Doing this will also add more colour and life into the garden. But, to plant some climbers on this side of the garden, I needed to create a raised bed and I thought I’d make it with decking!

In an ideal world, I would have loved to have made it out of railway sleepers. I love the thickness and aged look of these, but at £10-£20 a sleeper, it was hugely beyond our price range.

After much researching, I discovered some reversible deck boards at Wickes, which look like your average grooved decking board on one side and on the other, they look just like planks of thick wood. Perfect! They were on a 4 for the price of 3 offer at the time, and a total of 12 planks only cost £35. Bargain!

So I thought I’d share a little run down of this DIY, incase this is useful to anyone thinking of making something similar!

How to Build a Raised Bed Using Decking Boards

You Will Need:

• Decking Boards
• Supporting timber
• Wood Preserver
• Jigsaw (I’ve used this one) or Handsaw
• Decking Screws
• Decking Stain
• Weed Membrane
• Soil & Plants!

Step 1 – Treat Your Boards

Although decking boards are already treated for outdoor use, I did use some decking preserver to give added treatment and reassurance. This is also a good idea to apply on any end cuts too.

I applied this on a rainy day indoors with just a paintbrush. Our hallway looked somewhat hectic!

The consistency of the decking preserver was quite watery, but it dries completely clear and is suitable for staining over the top.

Step 2 – Cut Decking and Timber to Size

Next, we cut our decking to length using a Jigsaw. Our raised bed will be quite long, but of course, this can be as long or as short as you want! If you’re planning a long decking like us, you can stagger the boards so it looks a little nicer!

We also decided our decking would be 4-planks high, so we measured this and then cut our supporting timber to the same size. This timber will be used for securing all the planks together later!

Remember to treat all new end cuts with an end grain preserver as you do this step!

Step 3 – Lay Our Your Decking Boards and Screw Together

I laid the decking out along the floor and then laid the supporting timber over the top, where the decking planks would join together.

I decided to secure the decking raised bed together from the back so that no screws would be showing on the finished side. I simply used decking screws for this and I also left a gap of a few mm between each board, in case of wood expansion in the future.

It’s looking a little rough in this photo, but hopefully, you get the idea of how it’s fixed together! Each plank is secured onto the supporting timber which will sit on the inside of the raised bed. I used decking screws to do this.

Step 4 – Add Decking Stain

Before securing the raised bed into its final place, I gave the wood two coats of a decking stain. This one is by Ronseal in the colour ‘Rustic Pine’. I absolutely love the colour and I think it works really well with the colour of the reed screening too.

Step 5 – Fix Raised Bed in Position

After fixing all the pieces of our decking raised bed together, (no photos to show this, sorry!) I then fixed the bed, to the walls and the floor where it will be living.

I used some L-brackets to hold it to the floor, and some small lengths of wood to brace it against the fence posts.

I think it’s looking pretty good so far and I love the fact that there are no screw heads on the finished side. I think this really helps to make it look seamless.

Step 6 – Add Weed Fabric

I used some weed control fabric on the inside of the raised bed which I secured in place with some staples and nails. This will stop the compost from leaking through those few mm gaps between the decking planks.

Step 7 – Fill with Soil and Add Your Plants!

Finally, I filled the raised bed up with some soil from around the garden, and a large pack of compost over the top. Our neighbour also generously gave us some she had spare too. Thanks, neighbour!

I think it could do with a little more compost, but I’ll save that for when I start planting. I’m hugely pleased with how it’s all turned out, and I’m already eyeing up which climbers I want to buy 🙂

UPDATE – July 2020

I thought I would update this post and show you how the decking now looks, nearly six years on! We’ve made HEAPS more progress on the garden within that time, including replacing that trellis fence with a DIY slatted fence and recently, we’ve even finally ripped out the concrete path!

A couple of summers ago though, we shortened the raised decking to make room for our DIY Log Shed and I gave it a fresh coat of paint.

Six years later, it still looks great and now the climbers have really grown in, it almost feels like it was always there! A couple of photos before and after it was painted:

COSTS

(rounded to the nearest pound)

New Tools Purchased:
None.

Materials Used:
Decking x12 £35
Support Timber £10
Screws £10
Brackets £10
Decking Stain £24
Decking Preserver £10
Weed Control Fabric £5
Compost £6  

Total: £110

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