How to make raised garden beds out of 4x4 pressure treated lumber

In this video we describe the construction of one of the twelve four foot by twelve foot garden beds we are making in our new garden. We decided on 4x4, pressure treated lumber to make our beds. I know there is some controversy regarding pressure treated wood in garden beds, but since they moved to a copper only fungicide rather than the copper arsenic fungicide studies have shown them to be safe. We opted to use full wood beds as opposed to metal beds both for esthetic reasons but also because the wood offers much more thermal insulation, keeping the beds more even in temperature during Ohio's large temperature swings in Spring and Fall. We will be adding hardware cloth to the bottom of the beds prior to filling them with soil/compost to prevent burrowing animals from getting in the beds. We are also adding drip irrigation to each bed. Look for these details in future videos!
If you have any questions, please let us know in the comments below and we will get back to you!

[@vibe4me]

Thanks for the tutorial -- very informative. Cheers!

[@TheGardenFamily]

You’re welcome! Glad it was helpful :)

[@dreamingosailing5496]

Thank you for showing this step by step. Really helpful.

[@TheGardenFamily]

You’re so welcome! Glad it was helpful

[@TheGardenTinkers]

The beds are looking really nice and you guys have surely been very busy, putting in all of those beds.

[@TheGardenFamily]

Well thank you! Really hoping to get all the infrastructure up and running so we can have a normal season next year. We kind of had a half season last year too in transition. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving!

[@familygardenorganic6760]

Thanks for education to make risebed. Greetings one hobby. Good job

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thank you! Glad it was helpful

[@raisedbedrebels]

Really nice beds Peter. Yeah, you'll have a big investment up front, but they will last decades. Nice job!

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thanks Bob, that was my rationale here. I’ve gardened long enough to know what I want. And our garden is right off the house, I want it to be inviting and look nice as well! Did your second set of lettuces survive?

[@raisedbedrebels]

@@TheGardenFamily it's clinging to life but I'm not optimistic.

[@TheGardenFamily]

@@raisedbedrebels I hear you. I was just thinking we might have a small heater in a greenhouse for late fall (Thanksgiving) lettuce and Brussel sprouts. Wouldn’t keep it heated year round but just seems so common for us in our growing region to get some random days in the teens in November only to have it perk back up to the 50s/60s. Something just to keep them alive through the dips I think could extend the season until now. Hope you get one last hurrah of a harvest!

[@andrewthompson2172]

Nice work. I was considering a similar build. Do you happen to know if there is any danger of the pressure treatment chemicals leaching into the soil and contaminating the plants?

[@TheGardenFamily]

I did a decent amount of research on this prior to deciding on our beds. The consensus is that since 2004 when arsenic containing pressure treated woods were removed from the market for home use the new copper based treatments are safe for use in vegetable gardens. While trace amounts of copper will leach out, generally if the plant is healthy it should not have any significant contaminants in it that could transfer in fruit or vegetables. I'm thinking I might do a video explaining the current research and our decision as it's a common question!

[@WECBradio]

Love the project. For a 4x8 garden, would boards need to be cut at 8 feet long and 4 feet long to create the beds?

[@TheGardenFamily]

Thanks! For a 4x8 I would just buy 8 foot boards. If you want them to be 4 tall like mine you would need 12 total 8 foot 4x4s and you would cut 4 of them in half. Have fun!

[@bauuaaaa]

Hi , if im making 8 ft by 4ft bed . What will be the size of the 4 by 4s.

[@TheGardenFamily]

For an 8x4 if you want it four high you would want to buy 12 8ft (96”) 4x4s. Take four of those and cut them in half giving you eight 48” lengths. Then stack as seen in the video!

[@bauuaaaa]

@@TheGardenFamily thanks . but would they be 8 ft 3.5" x 4 ft 3.5" because of thickness of wood? Thnx !

[@TheGardenFamily]

@@bauuaaaa yes! The way you stack them adds one thickness of a 4x4 (which counter intuitively is 3.5”) so you have it correct!

[@williambeard7370]

Even modern Pressure Treated lumber is unsafe for gardens. The heavy metal leaching is very dangerous. You should take down bothe this video and those beds before you cause irreversible liver damage to those you love

[@TheGardenFamily]

Your opinion is contrary to the research available, do you have a source for your statement?