Starting a garden from scratch can be overwhelming. The internet and social media have endless inspiration, but picture-perfect gardens can create unrealistic expectations or unnecessary pressure to prioritize fashion over function.
Such was the dilemma when planning the garden space on our new property. The devil on my shoulder said it was the chance to create the garden of my dreams: Go big – it’s an investment! The sensible angel reeled me back in: Easy girl, you just need a place to grow food.
In this article, I’ll give a quick rundown on how we arrived at the decision to make simple, fast, and free log garden beds – and the step-by-step process of building them – in case this route makes sense for you, too.
Garden bed criteria: How to decide what to build
Just like when deciding what kind of boat to buy, it helped to first define our priorities to rule out some of those seemingly endless options. We came up with two main parameters:
1. Permanent / raised beds
In recent years, there’s been a shift away from the traditional tilled gardens that were the default garden design for many gardeners – including me when I started in 2016. But I became convinced of the magic of creating permanent garden beds and paths after attending a presentation by Megan from the Creative Vegetable Gardener the following year.
There are two benefits of raised beds (or permanent in-ground beds) that I find most meaningful:
- It builds better soil. No-till gardening has gained popularity for good reason. Not turning the soil over every spring builds soil health, reduces erosion, conserves moisture, and minimizes weed growth. Healthy soil leads to happy plants!
- It requires less ongoing maintenance. A permanent bed maintains its structure year after year, so there’s no need to start from a blank slate each spring. It’s faster and easier to plant seeds or seedlings, and more moisture and fewer weeds means there’s less maintenance throughout the season.
Ok – we committed to investing time or money to create a permanent garden space. What will they actually look like?
2. Use materials on hand
Part of me (or was it that devil again?) loved the idea of steel garden beds that would match the modern style of the house we’re building. But that would require sourcing all new materials or buying premade structures.
A more sustainable and budget-friendly option was to turn to things readily available on our property. Deciding those were important values, our options were:
- Cement blocks leftover from the mobile home demolition
- Logs from cut down pine trees
- Rocks of all shapes and sizes
Pine logs ultimately won out as the simplest and safest to use. (Some sources cite concerns with old cement/cinder blocks leaching chemicals into the soil. Thanks to my friend, Kim, for the heads up.)
How to build log garden beds
With a decision made, it was time to get to work. It will take some elbow grease, but you can complete the project in just a few hours.
Supplies:
- Logs (4 per bed)
- Chainsaw
- Chainsaw chaps
- Safety glasses
- Ear protection
- Tape measure
- Work gloves
Step-by-step process:
- Source logs. For the best results, find four logs of a similar diameter. They can all be a similar length, like ours, or you could use sets of two matching lengths to end up with a more rectangular shape instead of square.
- Saw the ends. Each end needs to be sawed to about the diameter of the log it will fit into. Our logs had diameters of 8 to 12 inches, so the cuts were somewhere in that length. Brett sawed all of them on the same sides except for one log. Having one log with cuts on opposite sides helps them lock together.
- Fit into place. Roll the logs into the garden space and lift in place to see how they fit together. It probably won’t be perfect, but you’ll be able to see what adjustments should be made.
- Finetune as needed. Ideally, the logs will sit flat on the ground and look even on all sides. Make additional cuts and adjust their placement until you’re happy with the result. Ours aren’t perfect, but they get the job done.
That’s it! If your soil is good as-is, you can plant directly in the ground. Since this is a new garden space, I worked up the weeds with a garden weasel and added some compost and a bag of raised garden bed soil to add nutrients. If you’re working with thick grass or stubborn weeds, you can place a layer of cardboard on the ground first and then cover with soil. I plan to add mulch around the plants and use cardboard around the perimeter to block weeds in the walkway. One step at a time!
These log garden beds were a complete experiment and so far they’re serving us well. I love that they create a permanent garden area that can use no-till practices and we made use of a readily available resource on our property.
DIY log garden bed video highlights
Your turn
Have questions about the process or an idea to recycle materials for another project? Let us know what’s on your mind in the comments below.
