I am presently constructing a raised vegetable garden out of cedar. So far I have two 45"x12"x20' beds and working on two more the same size. My soil is mostly clay so I am going to amend it by purchasing soil from a local landscape company. Being in L.A. you should have no problem getting cedar boards.

The wood is expensive but, I am pretty sure they will last a minimum of 5 years. I used 2"X6"X5' boards and 6"X6"X10' cedar posts (cut to 12" long) My cost is running approximately $130 per bed

I too want to know the the type of soil I should use. Since my soil is clay, and the depth is over 10", I will not use any type of material on the bottom. I will continue to look around for ideas on what type of soil to use.

Good luck to you. Vino

Trex-like board looked pretty expensive for raised beds when I checked. I ended up using 6"x6" pressure treated timbers that I got a deal on since they had been outside at a lumberyard for several years and were a bit twisted.

Something I forgot to do when I filled by raised beds was to allow for 4-6 inches of mulch on top of the soil for weed prevention and water retention.

For soil I used a 50/50 or so of compost and regular soil bought from Agway. I've been amending the beds with shredded leaves and coffee grounds.

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I made some beds last year out of cedar log-rolls. £18 per roll, 18' high. It has a guarantee of 7 years and it's dead easy to put together. I'm going to put in several more this year. I hope the image works, I'm not too good at including images yet!

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Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:337946}}