Our New Garden Build In Progress

Since Spring we have been working on a new backyard garden build. The main structure in the photo is a rose arbor that will eventually have raised beds to either side. It is built as an entrance to the back part of our yard, which is fenced off from the rest to prevent our dogs from getting in the garden area. The raised beds are based on a design shown here.

Because of the ground in Houston, TX it is essential to use raised beds. We have gone through a number of designs over the years, but these are the most elaborate and deepest we have built.

The arbor is based off other designs I've seen, but I modified it to suit our needs. I designed the main arbor structure in Fusion 360:

If you'd like, you can view and even download the design from here. You will need a WebGL enabled browser to view and interact with it.

I used Fusion 360 to create cut files for the decorative edges, then cut them on my ShopBot Desktop max CNC machine:

Finally I routed the edges using a hand router and a 3/4" radius pattern bit:

Here is a close up view showing the details of the main cross beams:

And a view showing the entrance to the garden and in the distance you can see a large raised bed planted with young blackberry plants:

We still have a lot of work to do on this and summer temps have struck in Houston already, even though we are just starting June. Its hard to work outside this time of year with high heat and humidity. We are hoping to finish in time to make the fall planting season. And to give credit where its due: none of this would have happened without my wife's pushing and insistence on getting it done.

Todd