DIY Raised Garden and Flower Bed

So a couple of years ago my wife and I bought a new home and moved into it.  It is a nice house and perfect for our family but the backyard is nothing but dirt and weeds.  I want my kids to have a beautiful place to play that is fun but I also want them to learn something.  So I came up with the idea to start landscaping it on my own.  Here is the before picture of the corner.

I spent quite a bit of time online looking through different styles of bricks and researching how to build one of these myself.  I found these bricks at Home Depot.  They are called Flagstone Impressions and are really quite nice.  Each brick has a little lip on the back that hangs over the back of the row of bricks below.  This will stop them from being pushed forward by the dirt in the garden bed or by kids.  It also creates a slight backward slope on the retaining wall.

Now the next step is preparing the area.  The first layer of bricks is the most important first you are going to want to dig out a small ditch this is important because the first layer of bricks will be held more strongly in place if set into the ground a little bit.  I recommend 1-2 inches in the ground,  Each stone then needs to be set and leveled.  If done properly then all the rest of the rows will simply set right on top.

Once the first row is in you may find that there is a spot at the end not big enough for a full brick.  If you draw a line along where you need it cut then take a chisel and a small sledge hammer to it tapping it along the line you drew, each time hit the chisel a little harder it will cause the stone to crack along that line and you can complete the row.

Once the retaining wall reaches your desired height you're ready to fill it.  I found a Rock, Gravel, and Sand company in town that sells dirt for various needs.  I chose their blend of dirt and compost for gardens.  Luckily for me the deliver.

It took three cubic yards of dirt to fill my raised garden bed.  That is equal to 4,500 lbs of dirt.  We used a wheelbarrow and dump it in loads into the bed.  My wife and kids raked it flat while I brought loads back and forth.

Finally We bought the cap stones, also from home depot, and used landscape glue to seal them in place.  Finally the wife and kids planted various flowers and veggies.  We're very excited to enjoy the beauty that will grow there.  I hope you found this helpful and I wish you the best of luck in your own backyard designs.