Raised Garden Bed Plans PDF, 4x8 4x4 3x6 Cut List, DIY Vegetable Planting Layout

Build a raised bed from eight standard boards and plant it the same season.

These plans cover three footprints (4 x 8 ft, 4 x 4 ft, 3 x 6 ft) at two heights (11 in and 16 1/2 in), all from standard 2x6 boards with 4x4 corner posts, plus a planting layout on a 1-foot grid for the 4 x 8 bed. Every dimension comes from one 3-D model of the bed, and the drawings were checked back against it by code: the cut list, the screw count, the diagonals, the soil volume and the part codes all agree with each other.

The 4 x 8 ft bed: 8 boards (six 2x6, one 4x4, one 2x4), 10 cuts, 32 screws of 3 in and 8 of 2 1/2 in. You need a drill and a saw.

WHAT IS INSIDE (24 pages)
• Start Here: which two pages to print, and which one goes to the lumber yard
• Overview: plan, two elevations, an isometric view and a corner detail, with part codes (L1-L4, S1-S4, P1-P4, C1-C2)
• What to buy: boards by standard length, screws counted by length, a blank column for your yard's prices
• Cut list, board by board: every board drawn as a strip with the cuts marked and the offcut shown
• The No-Offcut bed: whole boards for the long sides and two short sides from one board each, so the 2x6 leaves no offcut (the post and cleat boards still do)
• Step by step with highlighted parts, and a diagonal check before the second screws go in
• Exploded view and parts table in inches and millimeters
• Cut lists for all seven beds, each with its own diagonals, its own screw count by length and a before-you-cut checklist, plus an optional mitered cap rail
• Before You Build: wood choices for food beds (what university extension services say about treated lumber), level ground, local rules
• Fill: soil volume for every bed in cubic feet, cubic yards, 2-cu-ft bags and liters
• What to plant in it: a 32-square layout where every plant gets the room its spacing asks for, a plant list with counts, and planting weeks from your last frost date
• First-season care, sources with links, and a page where you can message me if anything is unclear

FILES
US Letter, A4, an ink-saver edition, a separate one-page cut list, and a 3-D model (STL) of the 4 x 8 bed. Print at 100%; drawings are not to scale, so use the printed dimensions.

HONEST NOTES
Lumber sizes are US dimension lumber (a 2x6 is 1 1/2 x 5 1/2 in); rough-sawn boards change the lengths. These are plans for a backyard vegetable bed; they are not stamped drawings and are not sized for local snow, wind or seismic conditions. Check your local rules before you build. The cover and the listing images are drawings of the 3-D model, not photographs. Instant download, no physical item is shipped.

Designed by Sagestead with digital illustration and AI-assisted tools. Every dimension checked by code against a 3-D model.

Personal use: print as many copies as you need for your own garden, or for one community garden or class you lead. Please do not share or resell the files.