YouTube Transcript - DIY Raised Garden Bed How-to Video | Ve

Transcript


this is a pretty typical Aussie backyard
you can't call it a garden because
there's no plants well I can fix that
make it look a lot nicer hide the fence
and even the next-door neighbor's
now what I've got in mind is a raised
garden vent
Herick and raised garden beds are a
great idea for a couple of reasons you
can guarantee that your plants have got
good drainage you can guarantee that
they've got plenty of nutrients because
you're bringing your new soil it's light
and fluffy and full of all the good
stuff now I'm going to use a wall that's
called versa wall it's got a beautiful
texture and a charcoal color so it adds
a couple of dynamics to the garden
straightaway it gives you height and
then extra car the plants will thrive
hide the fence pretty much straightaway
and give it a bit of water and a bit of
patience hide the shed in a year or two
how can we completely transform this
area from this to this
now the first thing we've got to do is
work out where the garden bed is going
to go put a string line out and Mark it
out now moving from a garden bed to be a
meter wide I'm putting a lillypilly
hedge in that I want to allow 600 mil
for it then in front of it I'm putting
some liriope I'm around 200 and then I'm
allowed 200 for the block giving me my
meter so coming off the fence
finding a minha the outside of my stake
is the meter double-check it tie it off
and I'm going to take all the grass out
and the reason I'm taking the grass out
is because it can grow through the soil
into your garden bed and across the
front I need to dig a footing now sits
on a hundred Miller Road base compacted
but I'm going to have to go about 300
mil wide too so it's nice and firm and
strong and if you've got some mates that
aren't doing anything on a Saturday
afternoon this is a great time to invite
them around for a be now Villa boards a
great cheap and easy way to keep the
garden bed off the fence you don't want
the soil in contact with the palings and
lend up rotting and I'll wash through
all these gaps India neighbors and
you'll lose a friend but by putting this
up you can retain the garden bed now you
can't do this if you had a sloping block
and you're retaining everything but
we're just retaining a garden bed like
this the pressure and the weight is
going down not to the sides so this
isn't going to knock over your fence
I'll just take it off with a couple of
nails work my way along and when we
backfill you won't even see it
now the versa wall is dead easy to put
up you start with a good foundation I'm
using rebase the recycled Roe base I
only need a hundred mil deep for what
I'm putting up three courses and I've
gone the 400 wide so I can fit my wacker
e I get this as level as I can but I
don't go over the top screening it I
just want to make sure the sand and
cement that I'm putting down is nice and
even if it's even it's strong you can
hire a whacker for about 60 bucks for
half a day and it's important that you
go over it a couple of times if it's
really dry dampen it down and if it's
too wet that's sticking to your plate
compact up well you can throw it out a
little bit of sand over the top and
that's just like greasing a team
now the sand cement mixer you'll want to
screed over the top of your road base is
pretty simple but just do six and one
six and one cement and when you mix it
up you do it dry now this sand here is
washed River scent you can use that you
can use paving sin you can use any sin
you've got lying around
the best thing about these walls is you
don't have to man up between each joint
they lock into each other because of all
these lugs here and the corners are
super strong now when you're ordering
your wall one thing to take into
consideration of the corners there are
right and left corners if you see the
back of this one it's completely
different to just a normal block what
that is is a little groove for the next
block to lock into so this is a right
meeting we're turning right and going
down there at the other end we'll use a
left and on the next course we'll use
the left so we get that bond hackney
they just butt into each other we slide
one into there and then we'll set up the
string line the next course will be the
exact opposite
once you set your corner up you set your
string line back up and a good tip to
stop it moving around because when you
lay in the box you'll bang it constantly
is grab a piece of paper I'll just use
something I've torn off or cement bag
and that keeps it in place it's
important when you lay your blocks that
there is an air gap or bit even and as
small as you can make it between your
block and your string line if your block
starts touching the string line you
won't get a true reading and your wall
will start to creep out up or down now
for extra strength your back fill each
course with a free draining aggregate
this is just a blue metal but it works
just as well if it's billed as rubble as
long as it's fine now for the second
corner there is one tip and one trick if
you put the left hand block on top of
that right hand block it looks good but
look at this it wobbles and the reason
why is because the standard block that
runs through here has these eight lugs
the first to hit the base of your
corners so what you need to do is grab a
sketch here or a hammer try the plate
knock those two off and your left sits
on top of your right no problem
grab the frylock Jack all right now you
got to fill the second course fill that
up for us again mate and put a little
bit behind it it kind of brings the
footing up and around the side of the
wall and encases it now being a
free-standing garden bed we're not
worried about drainage here but if it
was a wall that was retaining a great
big property and you had seepage coming
in behind it you would backfill with
blue metal like that and an egg line
you have to stop the soil going through
the wall I'm going to add some geo
fabric the Geo fabric let water go
through but not the soil and silk
keeping a garden bed where you want to
be now we've managed to build the whole
wall and only had one cut which is
cutting a block in half so we can start
off and finish with stretcher bond but
when it comes to the capping we need to
get miters in the corner so it looks
like a professionals done it but if you
have a look at the blocks they're longer
than they are wide so if you went from
corner to corner you get a cut that was
touching of it at the outside and big
wide gaps at the back well the easiest
way to do it is without a tape measure
and without a ruler you just find the
corner of the two blocks and line it up
what you see here is the excess in the
excess where they dissect each other and
cross here if we make a mark there and a
mark in the corner and cut that off and
then do the opposite on the bottom paper
what we're left with is a perfectly
merry 45-degree joint that makes it look
like you got the praising brick saws and
chain saws are probably the two scariest
tools I use if you've never played with
one before see if you've got a mate or a
mate who's a tradesman you can come
around and keep an eye on you while
you're learning this skill the problems
that go with it if you don't put your
block in or your brick or your paver and
dead square when you're cutting and you
get a bit skew if it can fly anywhere so
it's definitely not a spectator sport
and you definitely need to have your
personal protective gear eyes hands and
your ears are a dead minimum all right
what I do is I light it up dry yep that
looks good I'm just taking you away that
black mark turn it on
as the water
see I've got the larger piece and the
smaller piece these are the keepers for
the capping I set the corner first just
on some liquid nails it's good if you've
given the cat's time to dry because it
will bond quicker for you but start with
the corner look at that I should go into
the block building business
remember I started by saying if you
start level you're finished level well
look at that there she's nice and level
what a difference a weekend makes this
backyard is now a garden and it's got
all the structure it needs to hide the
fence in the shed in no time at all
and the best thing about it if you're
entertaining you've got seating along
here for about 20 people and it's
rock-solid it's not going to go anywhere
the plants are high enough that the kids
can play all the sport they like and the
balls and the bats aren't going to go
flying into the garden bed
these Lily please with a bit of water
they could be five meters tall in a
couple of years for more information on
all my DIY projects simply go to ed bro
masonry comte you and get all the fact
sheets and download them from there plus
all the hints and tips you'll need to do
the job while you're there check out our
inspirations Gary there's a ton of
photos sure to inspire you to get in the
garden and do a job this weekend good
luck well I reckon I've change the
backyard it's time for me to relax
you