Total Project cost: $150 (3 boxes)

This is a small project to keep you busy on a sunday morning and freshen up the look of your garden.

We had a patch of soil in our front yard that wasn't getting enough water to keep the soil rich, so we wanted to create cedar garden boxes that would allow us to plant herbs and spices at the front of this small strip where there was potential to collect rainwater. It would look strange to just avoid planting things at the back of the garden so we took to finding some design ideas on google.

We settled on a design that involved raised cedar boxes surrounded by stones. We soon discovered that a square foot of white stones cost about $8 and were quick to search for a budget alternative. Black mulch fit the look we were going for and it was $5 per bag (approx 10 sq ft). Similar to the rocks, mulch also helps the soil retain its moisture underneath.

MATERIALS:

• 3 - 1"x 1'x 12' planks of rot-resistant wood
• 5 - bags of black mulch
• 1 - roll of plastic lining
• 1 - roll of landscaping grade weed blocking sheet
• 12 - 2 1/2" deck screws

BASIC INSTRUCTIONS

• pull out any weeds and unwanted plants from working area
• lay down weed blocking sheet and cut to size of area
• cut planks of wood into 3' lengths (or desired length)
• butt-end the cut planks and screw them together into a square (we used two screws at each joint)
• Cut plastic to an appropriate length for lining the inside of the box (you can use a staple gun or just some nails and a hammer to hold the plastic in place)
• lay the completed cedar boxes in any desired layout
• fill the remaining area outside the cedar boxes with mulch

I think the hardest part of this project was trying to get the plastic to stay taut. we didn't have a staple gun so we just used nails and a hammer, and the plastic we bought had three layers that didn't adhere together, so it was quite a struggle. If I were to do this project again I would probably find some plastic that was just a single layer to make my life much easier (or maybe use some heavy duty garbage bags that are lying around). But once we filled thae boxes with soil the plastic wasn't an issue, its main purpose is to protect the cedar box from rotting.

To complete the project, you can fill your cedar boxes with soil, plant some seeds and your garden is ready to go! You can try to source the soil from your local landscapers instead of buying it from the store. There were some landscapers in our area that were kind enough to pass us some soil that they had dug up from a previous project. It was much more beneficial for them to pass it on to us than pay to dump it somewhere, and they only gave us the soil that was good to work with and not weed-ridden.

Goodluck on your gardens!!

xoxo

Aarthi