Greenes FenceOriginal Cedar Raised Garden Bed, 4' x 8' x 7-10.5" - Made in USA with North American Cedar

We love this raised garden bed. It was easy to put together and the wood was good quality. I love the two-tier, we did one for flowers and the other for veggies.

Pros:-No tools needed if you leave the caps off (wear gloves, though)-Relatively quick to assemble-Less time planning-you don't to plan, cut, haul, visit stores, price wood, etc-Arrives right at your door-Smells wonderful-If you care, no metals or plastics near your veggies-Nice looking-Versatile, if you buy multiple kits; can expand or replace or add height ...CONs:-The side boards are thin and probably won't last long-The wood was very roughly cut, and many of the cuts were rough and had shavings in them. Wear gloves, and try to clean out the grooves before sliding in the wood-If the board gets stuck while you are sliding it in, you need to be careful. I was worried I'd break a piece or two.-A bit tricky to put together on an uneven surface, but also a bit tricky to move, especially at 8 by 4. I was worried I might break it at built the joints. I built mine on the patio and moved them into the yard. If you have a flat board to put on the grass closer to the destination it might work better.I built my own large bed a couple of years ago, but it unexpectedly broke (wood split when teenager decided to walk on it). I have a two-year-old, and I don't have a lot of free time without a "helper" to visit hardware stores, price wood, move the carseat in and out to haul long boards, and put it all together. The last one I built broke, and thick, long, solid cedar is pricey. This solution worked for me this time around. As I was putting it together, though, I was wondering if I should have built it myself and put the money into thicker wood.This was probably the best choice for this time around.

Comment: Now that I have it completed and filled with dirt I learned that if you want a fence around it the fence should extend below ground level, what a pain. I think that an easier and better option is, once the bed is in place, is to put rabbit wire in to cover the bottom and a few inches up the sides, then fill it with dirt. Then you can put a fence up without having to trench to get it a fence partially underground. It's too late for mine, but perhaps this idea will help others. I previously wrote: Nice, but a couple of boards have little cracks. There is some slight bowing of some boards, so put it together so the sides are even as much as possible. I screwed 1x2 inch strips of wood vertically onto the inside of the walls at the center point with a screw going into each board to minimize bowing and non uniformity of the boards that might occur over time. The posts don't have holes to mount the caps, so drill them yourself. I chose this item over others because if a board needs to be replaced it can be done, but that would require a painful disassembly. I created a lip of about 2 inches around the bottom of it by screwing cedar boards to the underside. I can now run my mower wheels on the lip and eliminate weed whacking or hand trimming around it. I could not have made this myself at the price I paid for this. One star off for cracks.

The good is that this all comes in a kit so you don't have to cut lumber, and when assembled as directed makes a lovely raised bed. I've been so happy I've been able to move my garden to a sunny spot. I've had the best harvest in years.The not-so-good... the pieces were cut very roughly with many splinters. This made assembly hard at times because we'd try to put a plank into the corner notches, and there was just too much junk, sawdust, and slivers in the notches for the plank to fully insert. Then we'd have to pry it out and risked splitting the plank. We split one corner post in this manner. This really needs to be cut better.Tips: Although you don't have to, I found it helpful to clear the sod where I was going to put this before assembling it. This will allow plant roots to dig deeper. This works great with garden staples and garden fabric to make a nice "hoop house" in the spring and get a jump start on the season. I planted in March for the first time ever this year (I'm from a northern state)

I thought about buying individual lumber pieces and brackets to hold it all together, but the greenes product was just a much easier solution for about the same cost.. I particularly like the dovetailed corner posts to hold it all together.. saved buying brackets and screwing the corners together and it looks nicer with the corner posts and caps. I made two new flowerbeds at my house with these kits and I am very pleased with them.

Buying this raised garden kit was the best decision I've made as a gardener. I don't have a lot of space for planting so I wanted to maximize what I did have. I put the bed together in around 30 minutes with only a mallet. I then read up on Square Foot gardening and I was off! I laid out the bed in a grid of 1-sq. ft. sections using lath strips, which are dirt cheap. In spring I put in 8 tomato plants, 4 pepper plants, 2 small-variety watermelon plants, 4 broccoli plants, 3 cabbage plants, spinach, lettuce and a variety of herbs. Once the broccoli, cabbage & lettuce were done, I put 4 green bean plants per square and harvested so many beans that I'll be eating them all winter. I've just planted more greens and more beans, which I will protect with a row cover cloth to extend my growing season. Moral of the story? This garden is compact but it's not small. If you put it in a good, sunny spot and plant strategically, you will get more produce than you'll know what to do with. Great product, excellent quality & craftsmanship, a purchase I do not regret.