DIY enclosed raised bed garden. Step by step. Very nice!
The rearmost bed is 14 feet long and three feet wide. The soil will weigh over three tons.(14 long x 2 deep x 3 wide = 84 cubic feet or 3.1 cubic yards)
All the weight pressure is likely to cause the bottom boards to bow out, so I’ve decided to add 3-foot sections of 1″ galvanized pipe. My local Ace hardware store was nice enough to cut the pieces to 3 feet and thread both ends.
I then added a “Pipe floor flange” to each end and installed them with 1/4″ x 2″ lag screws.
I tried to install the bottom pipe section nearly center (12″ board, so 6″ from the bottom). The upper panel is in the growing zone, and most of the pressure will be more excellent near the bottom, so I installed that pipe section 9″ from the top. Both pipe sections are installed very close to the 7-foot mark (center) of the 14-footbed.
This should provide enough rigidity to keep the boards from bowing. The other beds are short enough (6 feet or less) that I am not concerned about (famous last words??)
The last two photos show the bed with all the posts installed, true and level.
I had a rental Bobcat skid steer delivered to move the 10 cubic yards of soil (instead of 60 wheelbarrow trips), so I had to wrap any remaining work inside the beds.