Raised Garden Bed Kit, 17" Tall 10 in 1 Jumbo Modular Metal Planter Box for Vegetables, Flowers, Herbs, Pearl White

I enjoy gardening simply for the fun of it. Five years back, I made two 4' x 4' beds using 2" x 6" untreated lumber; unsurprisingly, they rotted after a year and a half. Why not treated lumber? Safety concerns. Why not cedar? Expensive. So what about the Vego garden? Read on. I recently received the Vego garden as a complimentary product to review. I thought comparing the Vego garden to a wood option would be a good idea in terms of both cost, weight, and safety. For a DIY project, wood is the first option a homeowner will likely purchase. Rather than comparing the Vego's 4' x 8' configuration to a wood 4 x 8' build, I'm comparing the Vego 4' x 8' against two 4' x 4' wood gardens. Two 4' x 4' wood gardens are something more likely that a homeowner would make, especially given the weight of wood. Remember, the Vego garden is 17" tall. To get that same height will require 10" boards, deck screws, and boards on the inside to connect the panels and the corners. Remember, lumber comes in nominal sizes; a 10" board is only 9.25". Stacking two boards will give you 18.5", just 1.5" higher than the Vego garden. Since we have a Menards nearby and it's the cheapest lumber in the area, I used their pricing. Below are three builds: treated lumber, cedar, and Vego. You'll find thoughts at the end of each section. I hope you enjoy this review and the Vego garden even more. ***One Vego 8' x 4' garden vs. Two wood 4' x 4' gardens*** OPTION: TREATED LUMBER While the EPA banned CCA (chromated copper arsenate) in 2003, there are still questions about the safety of the chemicals used in today's treated lumber. The simple fact that you must use specific screws that will not interact with the chemicals in the wood raises that question. Supports Ground Contact: Yes Durability: 10+ years Weight: 169 lbs per 4 x 4 garden (338 lbs total) Total Cost: $153.24 Tools: Impact driver and power saw. Material: Treated Lumber 2" x 10" x 8' ($15.27 / 40 lbs / qty: 8) = $122.16 (320 lbs) 2" x 4" x 8' ($7.68 / 9 lbs / qty: 2) = $15.36 (18 lbs) Stainless Steel Deck Screws (2.5") = $15.72 Build Time: 1 day Safety: Suspect. The weight alone is crazy. It also requires some power tools. You either build this where you want it or get some strong friends to help move it. Sure, you can buy nails and use a hammer. You can also buy the boards in 4 x 4 sizes. It doesn't change the time or the cost; it increases the labor. I'll pass. CEDAR LUMBER Cedar seems like a good choice. It's natural, non-corrosive, fights off bugs, rot, etc. The problem is that it can't withstand ground contact. A raised garden made of cedar is like burying half of it under the ground. The boards will be much lighter, though, as they are 1/2 the thickness of treated lumber. The downside is that they are expensive! Ground Contact: No Durability: 10 years? Weight: 42 lbs per 4 x 4 garden (84 lbs total) Total Cost: $406.14 Tools: Impact driver and power saw. Material: Lumber 1" x 10" x 8' ($47.19 / 10 lbs / qty: 8) = $377.52 (80 lbs) 1" x 2" x 8' ($5.92 / 2 lbs / qty: 2) = $11.84 (4 lbs) Stainless Steel Deck Screws (1.5") = $16.78 Build Time: 1 day. Safety: Excellent. A much better option for safety, but it's not great for ground contact or as much water as you put on it. While the weight is much better, the price is insane. If money is no object and you love the look, go for it. I don't see many people going for this option unless it's gardening and aesthetics. VEGO GARDEN The folks at Vego have done their homework to find something in the perfect range of price + safety. Let's go over the basics. Ground Contact: Yes Durability: 20+ Weight: 40 lbs total @ 4' x 8' Total Cost: $259.95 Tools: Screwdriver and wrench (no power tools) Material: Aluzinc metal Build Time: 45m - 90m Safety: Excellent. It's half the weight of cedar, supports ground contact, and is safe for food. It also has the added benefit of needing only a screwdriver and a wrench to assemble. It comes in four different colors and has ten configurations. While the manual says assembly time is 45m, give yourself some extra time. If you aren't sure you like where it is, at 40 lbs, move it. Pricewise, it's right in the middle of cedar, treated lumber, and better than both options material-wise. Here are some added benefits: Space-Saving: Cedar is 13/16" thick, and treated lumber is 1.5". The Vego garden is so thin I didn't bother to measure it. It'll fit just about anywhere. No Sharp Edges: Vego has rolled the metal's top and bottom edges. Even the corners and edges that connect aren't sharp. For additional safety, they even include a heavy-duty rubber edged to guarantee you'll have zero concerns. Height: 17" should keep the rabbits out. Honestly, most homeowners aren't going to stack their boards to get to 17" anyway; it's too much extra work. That means a max height of 10" - 12" and putting up a fence; more work. The Product Itself: I've included several of the packaging and product. The packaging is top-notch, and Vego has covered each piece with plastic to prevent scratching during transport. You can see the rolled edging and the holes for assembly. The color of my product is olive-green. Downsides: The only downside I could think of to the Vego garden was the potential to scratch it. While I didn't want to try, it seemed that it would be rather unlikely to occur. A scratch would only be an aesthetic issue as galvanized beds are safe for gardens; another good reason to purchase the Vego garden. 20+ Years? Will the Vego garden last for 20+ years? I don't know. That's a long time. Even if you get half of that, it's better than the other options available. Final thoughts: I certainly wish I'd known about Vego sooner. It's an excellent product for the price. It requires no power tools and 45m - 90m of your time. The result is that you can get gardening right away.

I absolutely love this raised bed! I’m an avid vegetable gardener and wanted a place specifically to grow flowers where I could control critters. After I plant seeds or bulbs I cover it with netting until the plants get a sturdy stem. I bought the 17” 10 in 1 model in olive green and it’s so pretty. I’ve had it over a year now and it still looks new. It was easy to put together and looks great in my back yard. Last fall I planted around 70 ranunculus corms and in spring 5 packs of zinnia seeds. I’d buy more if I had more room in my yard!

Quick delivery, the products are on the higher end for pricing but well worth it. Very easy to put together, no sharp edges, solid and is much bigger/deeper than I expected. Quality and aesthetics are top! I love it and will buy more.

This is my second purchase of one of these. The first unit has been in use for over a year and looks like it did when I first set it up. When I used the cedar square gardening kits in the past, the wood would deteriorate so quickly. With food prices rising, I decided to expand our garden. First the kit is well-packaged. Since the panels are metal, I do recommend wearing a good pair of gloves during assembly to avoid getting cut. To ensure no scratches, the wall panels have a clear wrap on each side. To remove the wrap, I found that starting in the corner was easiest. Once all are removed, the next step is to start assembly. It's here where I noticed their attention to detail. For the 2 top bolts, they provide cap nuts instead of regular nuts. This is nice because you don't risk getting cut or scratched if it was a regular nut while gardening. Speaking of the bolts and nuts, they're all stainless steel so no rusting. I confirmed this with the kit that has been setup for over a year and no rust. Assembly is easy. I recommend not tightening all the bolts until you have everything connected. They also include a nice vinyl safety edging for the top. I highly recommend you use this as the edge is sharp. The safety edge goes on easy and they include a bit more than enough even for the largest size. Assembly for this size took me about 20 minutes. Here's the other thing if you end up not using all the panels on your first setup and then later purchase a 2nd kit, you can use the unused panels for the 2nd kit which is what I did. Based on the quality, ease of setup and the fact that my first kit still looks new after 1 year, I give this 5 stars. This is one of those times where you get what you paid for. I highly recommend.

Easy to assemble but lots of bolts and nuts to join sturdy sections to make 2’ by 8’ bed. Nice powdered paint coating.

I love it for the great quality, size that is hard to find (I used the 9.5 config), and easy assembly. I don't like that the inside is painted bright white, and only the outside has color. It is a huge eye sore. I wouldn't recommend this product for that reason alone, unless you don't mind. I decided to keep it and try to cover up the bright blaring white.

Exactly as described. Easy to put together and you can choose what size fits your requirements. Only thing I’m adding is hardware cloth for the bottom to keep rodents out.

Better than ordering on manufacturer's website - very quick shipping and great price on Amazon - have ordered many and none arrived even slightly damaged