Fence Picket Raised Beds and How They Have Held Up

I had a hard time deciding what materials to use for my garden beds. Due to the soil and drainage in my back yard, raised beds were the only option. There are so many ideas all over the internet like metal, stone, cinder blocks, plastic and garage door panels just to name a few but I wanted to go with wood. Wood is beautiful, easily available, easy to work with and relatively inexpensive.

My two garden helpers liked to pace the paths when the beds were new - early summer 2015

This is where I really struggled with a decision. Treated or untreated? What species? Rot was a big concern, especially considering how much rain we get in the Puget Sound region. I know all wood will rot eventually but I wanted to get several years before needing to rebuild. I was sure I didn't want to use pressure treated lumber even though there is all sorts of conflicting information out there on whether or not it leaches harmful chemicals into your soil. It just felt gross to have that next to my food so I wanted untreated wood. When looking at what others have done, I found a lot of people building beds out of pine because it is super cheap but none of them talk about how they hold up over time. I finally found a forum post somewhere where someone dug out the inside of their just over 1 year old pine 2x8 bed and there was significant rot. Cedar it is.

Original four garden beds right after they were built in early summer, 2015

Cedar boards were way too expensive when faced with the 87' of 4' wide beds I had planned. Fence pickets were not though. Fence pickets are only a few dollars each and the 5.5" wide ones are the perfect height when stacked 2 high. I used untreated cedar 2x4s that extend into the ground below the beds by about 6" to connect the pickets and stabilize the beds.

Now the million dollar question: how do they look after a few years of gardening and heavy Puget Sound rain? The beds are holding up great! They are starting to get a lovely silver-grey patina that cedar has outdoors but other than that, I have not noticed any change. I haven't seen any sign of rot yet and everything is holding shape very well. I'm so happy with this design and would do exactly the same if I had to do it all over again.

2+ years in and still looking good - mid summer 2017

Update: Click here if you want instructions on how to build these beds.