When last I posted on the new garden enclosure, it was still just a base, sitting in our garage. Well, I’m happy to report that the garden enclosure construction is now complete, and so far I’ve planted some onions, peas and mesculin lettuce blend in their new home. 

I was kind of in a quandary over how to best describe the building process, since it was sweet Hubberman that did all the planning and work on this project. Soooo…I asked him to do more work and write up a guest post on the topic! What a guy I’ve got! Take it away…Hubberman!

To create the most square perimeter, the outer portion of the garden planter was built in the garage. It is utilizing four (4) 8’x2”x10” boards. The corners are screwed utilizing deck 3” deck screws. The base was then moved to its planned location. This is one of the most flat portions of our yard, but far from perfect. Fortunately, I was able to just add a concrete brick at one of the corners, which allowed the base to be level in one direction and have the same slope in the other direction (not level). I would have preferred the whole base to be perfectly level, but this would have required much more site work, which for this structure was really not necessary.

Now that the outer base is set, the inner beds need to be created. This was accomplished by utilizing the same 8’x10” boards to create 2’ beds. One (1) of the 8’x10” boards runs parallel to the rear 8’ outer board creating a 2’x8’ bed. The other two (2) 8’x10” boards are cut to length to create the other two (2) 2’ beds and are approximately 6’ in length. All connections are secured utilizing the 3” deck screws.

The next step is to mount the four (4) corner posts. Prior to mounting the 4”x4” post, we had to determine how high we wanted the beds to be protected from deer. After much contemplation, we decided that the protective netting would be at a height of 64”. The posts were cut to approximately 67”. The reason that the corner posts are cut slightly longer is to purely for aesthetics. We plan on putting some form of cap on the corners. The posts were then screwed into the outer corners utilizing the 3” deck screws. I only used a single screw so that later while squaring the posts, they were not totally locked into position.

At the front of the garden beds, there will be a door. Utilizing two (2) 2”x4”s, additional pillars were mounted. One (1) at an approximate distance of 24” from the left front corner and one (1) approximately distance of 42” from the right front corner. This creates an opening of approximately 30.5”. It was very important that these two (2) pillars be level and plumb or the door will not open and close correctly and will not look right.

It was now time to connect all the post and pillars. Utilizing 2”x3”s, I created the top most portion of the garden planter with 2.5” deck screws. This step is important because it will help pull all the corner posts into square. For the length of the upper beam, measure the inner portion of the 4”x4” post at the top of the 2’x10” base. This may require someone (our children helped me) to help push and pull the post as you screw the upper beam in. This same process should be used at the front where the door will be installed.

This next step will vary based on the material used to create a barrier to wildlife like deer. We decided to use a plastic mesh as the covering. The width and length of the plastic mesh dictated the support structure necessary to mount the covering. For our purposes, I added two (2) 2”x3” vertical support beams toward the middle portion of the two (2) sides and rear with 2.5” deck screws. This will allow the plastic mesh to be rolled from the top to bottom to be stapled and then decoratively capped with 2”x4”s at the corner and 2”x3”s at the top, bottom and two (2) middle supports.

With the plastic mesh attached, it was time to add the decorative caps at the outer edges. To save cost on materials, I purchased 10’ 2”x4”s (which could be cut in half) to cover the corner posts over the mesh utilizing the 2.5” deck screws. I would have done the same with some of the 2”x3”s, but I was only able to find 8’ lengths of the material. As you can now see in the photo below, adding the 2”x4”s and 2”x3”s creates a nice finished look to the structure.

The door is sized to fit the created opening. The outer part of the frame are 2”x4”s with three (3) 2”x3”s between the 2”x4”s, one at the top, one at the middle and one at the bottom. Each is connected utilizing the 3” deck screws. Once framed, I utilized a 2”x4” on the left side to add additional support for the hinges that will be mounted. On the right side of the door, I utilized 2”x3”s for less weight but still adding extra frame support. The mesh is stapled to the rear of the front façade.

Tools utilized:
Drill
Driver
Hand Staple Gun
Compound Miter Saw
Speed Square
Level
Utility knife