Building a raised bed is easy peasy as long as you can souce the right materials. This guide will explain how to build one from scratch but you can modify the guide to meet your needs.

To start with you will need to decide where you want your new bed to be. Mark out the area with the sharp edge of a spade. You'll need to clear the marked out area of any rubbish and get it down to base level - if it is turfed at all then you will need to remove the turf and get down to the soil underneath. This is quite labourious but unfortunately necessary as turf will cook and rot if you spread soil on top of it.

Nest you will need to build the sorrounding walls of your border. To do this you can use any number of materials - you can build a wall out of sandstaone and cement, bricks, granite sets or sleepers. As long as the bed has a wall on each side you are good to go with any shape or size.

Once your walls are up you will need to start filling the border. You will need a good 8 inches of quality soil and compost mix on the top to plant into so work out how much topsoil yo will need and how much backfill or gravel you will need to make up the bottom layer of the border. As a rule of thumb - 1 tonne of topsoil will cover approximately 3.5 sq mtrs at a depth of 8 inches and 1 tonne of gravel or backfill will do approximately 3.5 sq mtrs at a depth of 6 inches.

You will need to fill the bed with a cheap gravel (not limestone), backfill or unscreened soil. These products have a relatively high stone content and will thus improve drainage through your border. The top 6 - 8 inches should be a nice topsoil and compost or manure mix ready for your plants.

You can get various different types of topsoil online - ensure that you buy from a reputable company that source their soils from green field sites only.

You do not want all of your hard work to go out of the window by inadvertently filling your border with poorly nourished skip waste "topsoil".

We recommend that you use Dandy's Bordermix® Topsoil or Organic Topsoil for all of your planting projects. Both are naturally sourced and are packed full of the nutrients you need to get your plants off to a flying start.

Fill up your border to the necessary level with an unscreened topsoil then top up the remainder with your border soil.

Next you will want to get your plants or seeds sown in. If you are putting actual plants or flowers in then you should really consider putting down a membrane fabric whilst you are at it. This will prevent any weeds from coming up and will result in your raised bed looking lovely all year with less effort on your part!

Get your plants and arrange them however you like. Once decided pop them into the soil and pack it around the base of each plant. Gently lay your membrane oer the top and cut a cross into the fabric above each plant. Carefully push the fabric down ensuring to open up the crosses and pull the plants through to the surface.

Once you've done this you can trim the edges to fit your bed if you haven't done so already.

Lastly you will need to make the decision of whether you want to top your border off with a decorative gravel or some more traditional bark. All you have to do now is lay down your choice of decoration on top of the membrane around the plants.

That's it - you're done! Give your plants a water, tend to them as normal and enjoy your new raised bed!