One of our raised beds has been rotting and falling apart for some time now. We have been hoping for a couple of nice days before Herb Day to get it taken out and replaced. Unfortunately…nice days seem to be hard to come by this week! We have to get it done, so some of our Master Gardeners are braving the muddy mess of the garden to rebuild the bed. (This is not necessarily recommended practice, by the way!)

The raised bed with the old, rotting edging removed. Look at those puddles. This was a muddy job!

Fitting the new edging into the garden. We are using pressure treated lumber. (Because arsenic-containing compounds are no longer used in treating lumber, it is now considered safe to use for garden beds.)

Also, notice how much higher the new boards are that the garden. It is supposed to be sloped away from the sidewalk to drain away from the building. We didn’t realize how much that end had settled until the new lumber was in place!

The completed raised bed. We used railroad ties on the ends and 2 x 10 treated lumber for the sides. Notice the two braces in the center of the bed. These will help prevent bowing.