Luckest Girl...

Sometimes I feel like the luckiest girl in the world! I returned home this morning from Jazzercise and found that my husband had done the dishes {that I really meant to do last night before bedtime} AND he had written directions {with sketches, I might add}, for the raised beds that I wanted to share with you today...I feel so loved!

If you're like me, you want a garden that looks pretty and is easy to care for, without spending a fortune. So, with that in mind, last fall, we built some raised beds in anticipation of expanding our butterfly garden this spring.

Since we live in Georgia, much of our yard is hard clay, so by building raised beds we find planting much easier. Also, I run drip hoses in the beds, under the soil to conserve water and help the plants develop a deep root system. And a good root system makes your little plants more drought tolerant during the summer's scorching heat.

Here are directions for the easy, small raised bed that we built. {I'll share the directions for the larger one later}

We built six of these 2' x 2' beds in an afternoon.

What you will need:

Two 5/4" Deck Boards
One 2 x 2" board - 8 feet long
32 Wood Screws 1 1/2"

First, cut the deck boards into 2 foot lengths (8 pieces). Then cut four pieces of the 2 x 2"board, 11 inches long each.

1. Position two of the boards, as shown and secure with 2 screws in each board to the upright 2x2.

2. Position two more boards and repeat step 1

3. Repeat for the second level, alternating the way the boards overlap.

4. Fill with 2 bags of potting soil!

The cost for building each bed is about $10 and should last 8-10 years!

We happened to be replacing some of the boards on our deck, so we just recycled the old boards for our raised beds...Cost: Free! {I love free!}

I'll take pictures of my new raised beds this summer when they're in full bloom, to share with you. So, be sure to take pictures of yours too...I'll post them here, so that we can see everyone's beautiful summer gardens!