How to Build a Raised Garden Bed with Fencing

Building a Raised Vegetable Garden

5/7/2025

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Steph is not a gardener, but her friend and kayak buddy, Stephanie is! Stephanie wanted to build a raised garden and asked Steph to help.

Steph was totally onboard with helping with the build. The design is Stephanie's.

Throughout the video, you'll see Stephanie's goats and greyhounds "helping!" No animals were harmed in the building of these structures, but they did add some challenges and joy!

Take a look at how it all came together.

Materials:

(4) 8ft 4x4

(14) 8ft 1x6

(9) 8ft 1x4

(2) 8ft 2x4

(2) Green Steel U-Fence Post (Home Depot)

(4) Hinges

(2) Latches

Garden Fencing

Hardware Cloth

2in, 3-1/2in, 4in Outdoor Screws

Garden Box Sealer (Amazon)

Tools:

Canopy tent

Dewalt Carbon Fiber Stapler (Home Depot)

Circular saw (Home Depot)

Speed square

Impact driver (Home Depot)

Clamps

Tin snips

Pliers

Stephanie's father-in-law has his own saw mill. How lucky is she! He milled all the wood for the raised garden. It's white oak which is well suited for outdoor use.

Cutting the posts to size to start the raised garden bed build.

The first step was to cut the posts to length. The circular saw was not deep enough to fully cut through, but it was easy enough to flip the post over and finish the cut on the opposite side.

Cute goat checking out the new raised garden bed.

One of the reasons Stephanie wanted a raised and fenced garden bed is shown right here. Two of these cute goats and two greyhound will share space with the new garden.

How to build a raised vegetable garden planter.

Once the posts were in place, the 1x6 boards were screwed into place.

Moving the raised garden bed into place.

Once the two large boxes were finished, they shimmied the boxes in place so they could add the middle box.

Adding the middle smaller box to connect the two large planter boxes.

Here they are attaching the middle, smaller box to connect the two larger boxes. The posts were cut to 12 inches tall from 2x4s and the 1x6 boards are attached to these.

Attaching the middle small garden box to the larger boxes.

Here you can see the 1x6 boards being screwed into the corner posts.

Adding a metal fence post to help hold the fencing taut.

A metal fence post was hammered into the ground and was then secured to the bottom with a single screw. This will help keep the fencing from sagging.

Making the opening for the raised garden bed gate.

To prepare the opening for the gate, two boards were screwed to the post. This gave the opening the width that was needed for the gate.

Adding the fencing to the raised garden bed which will help keep out the goats, greyhounds, and other critters.

Here the fencing is being stapled into place. This will help keep out the greyhounds, goats, and other curious or hungry critters.

The Stephanies moved to a flat surface to construct the gate.

They moved to a flat surface to construct the gate.

For more detail on building the gate, please see the video. Here Stephanie is adding one of the hinges to attach the gate to the post.

For more detail on building the gate, please see the video. Here Stephanie is adding the latch.

The almost finished raised vegetable garden bed.

Almost finished. Just a few finishing touches are needed. The greyhounds have both staked out their spots. They are going to be greatly disappointed when they are shooed out!

How to build a raised garden bed for vegetables or flowers.

As a finishing touch, 1x4 boards were added to the top to give the structure more support and a more finished look.

Hardware cloth was added to the bottom to help with weed control.

Dogs and goats have been locked out and the beds are now ready for soil and plants.

Here is the raised garden with the addition of soil and plants. Stephanie added a soaker hose for irrigation. The beds are easily accessible through the gates.

Here it is with soil and plants. Stephanie added a soaker hose for irrigation. The beds are easily accessible through the gates.

Here it is with soil and plants. Stephanie added a soaker hose for irrigation. The raised garden beds are easily accessible through the gates.

Here is what was planted in the raised garden beds.

Here's a look at the vegetables and herbs that Stephanie planted.

Stephanie has been working in her new garden for the past few weeks and reports it is functioning very well. She likes that she can easily reach all areas of the beds from the two gates.

Steph enjoyed the build part and was happy to not have to do the gardening part!

Please note: This is not a sponsored post.

FYI: We are not professionals, and we don't claim to be. This is what we found worked for our project. Yours may need a little different approach. Safety first!

FYI: Affiliate links are being used on this page. Purchasing via these links help support MDP.