DIY a Mole-Proof, Raised Garden Bed

by TwoPlusCute

$100

90 Minutes

Easy

Our yard is a paradise. For...moles, that is.
So, when we decided to make our first raised garden bed, we had to find the right way to keep our produce safe from the little moles. This is how we DIYed our mole-proof raised garden bed.
Read how to make your own quickly!

diy a mole proof raised garden bed, gardening, pest control, raised garden beds, woodworking projects

We used Cedar planks & beams as it is a pretty resistant wood - against humidity and wood-boring bugs.

We opted for 3-plank tall walls. The downside is the extra cost (2 more Cedar planks and an extra post beam), the plus sides are it means less bending and provides ample room for root growth.

1. We assembled the sides, using exterior grade woodscrews and while attaching the fourth side, we made sure the bed was tight and square.

Dimensions:

It is a 4 x 4 bed, using 8 ft cedar planks (6 of them - cut in half) and 2 cedar post beams.

It can be done with only 4 planks and 1 post beam, which will bring down the cost significantly (to about ~ $60).

Then we placed hardware cloth (NOT chicken wire and NOT landscaping cloth - if you are curious, you can read why, at the blog) and I stapled it firmly into place, making sure the distance between the staples was small enough to stop any mole.

This part is so easy, you won't believe it. The whole project was way faster and easier than making this - super frugal - flower bed.

Now you can see why the extra height of our bed is helpful as the hardware cloth acts like a bottom of how far the roots will grow with ease (and safety).

We finished by adding organic soil, amended with compost and planted our first plants (also organic).

A few tomatoes, beans, peas, lettuce and kale are the first produce we will attempt to grown in our mini-homestead. We are quite the brownthumbers here. :)

Ready to make your own mole-proof raised garden bed?

Jump over TwoPlusCute.com and check out the detailed tutorial on how to assemble the raised bed, how it took us only an hour and a half (albeit the Cute distractions) to make it and how to finish it up and secure it.

ps. see how the post beams protrude at the top? That is because there is a part 2 of this project: we will add doors to bunny-proof it!

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1 question

Bar33599050 on Jun 12, 2018

Any way to get rid of moles?

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2 comments

Michelle Leslie on Mar 28, 2017

Oh we need one of these at home, the moles are taking over

2 Reply
- TwoPlusCute on Mar 28, 2017
  It should stop them completely! (Lawn tunnels though...*sigh*...are a whole other level of trouble, lol)
  
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