How to Create Durable Raised Garden Beds and Planter Boxes with Wood Plastic Composite

Wood plastic composite is an ideal material for creating raised garden beds and planter boxes. It is a sustainable and durable material that can withstand the elements and provide a beautiful and functional look to your garden. With its low maintenance and long-lasting nature, wood plastic composite is the perfect material to create raised garden beds and planter boxes that will look great and last for years to come.

• What is wood plastic composite?

Wood plastic composite (WPC) is a mixture of wood fibers and plastics. It is a sustainable and durable material that is often used to create outdoor structures for its physical strength and durability. This material is suitable for outdoor use because it resists high levels of moisture and is UV-resistant. WPC is made from recycled and renewable resources, making it an environment-friendly and sustainable material. It is a green alternative to other synthetic materials that are used for outdoor projects because it requires less energy to produce. The recycled materials are obtained from plastic polymer pellets made from waste materials such as packaging, old tires, and other discarded plastics. The other major ingredient in WPC, wood fiber, is used to increase the physical strength and stability under extreme temperature, and also adding a rich texture of real wood.

• Why choose WPC for raised beds and planter boxes?

Before WPC is chosen for raised beds and planter boxes, it has already been widely used on outdoor structures for many years, such as decks, outdoor benches, boardwalks, especially for commercial or public areas that require high quality and aesthetic appearance.  WPC can withstand the elements and last for many years, with almost no maintenance.  Its excellent physical strength, rich wood texture surface, stable temperature endurance, and low maintenance requirement provide a comprehensive advantage against many outdoor construction materials, such as genuine wood and regular polymer plastic, and in some area, metals like steel and aluminum.

In recent years, especially after the Covid-19 lockdown, when raised beds and planter boxes are developing in full speed on the market, WPC is also considered by many serious gardeners.  Although WPC board is not competitive on prices comparing to genuine wood board, just like WPC decks vs wood decks, its comprehensive advantage still makes it a perfect choice for high end gardeners, who care more about time consuming on maintenance, structural sturdiness, weather durability, non-toxic emission, and aesthetics of appearance.

• Tips for building WPC raised garden beds and planter boxes
  

If you choose to make your raised bed or planter box with WPC, you may also need to pay attention to your investment.  Although WPC is an ideal material for making outdoor structure, it is not easy to be machined like genuine wood or connected to each other by regular screws.  With many of its advantages, it also has a disadvantage of fragility and lack of elasticity to work with.  If you want to connect the WPC boards, you must choose a special type of composite screws, which will not cause crack, “mushroom” or “turnaround” on WPC boards. 

Besides trying to DIY your own WPC raised beds or planter boxes, you may look for pre-designed raised garden bed kits or planter box kits on the market.  Everbloom might be the best designed WPC garden bed system on the market.  It has a unique designed connecting structure called Groove-and-Lock, which does not use screws but pre-machined grooves on the boards to connect with heavy duty steel brackets.  With this patent pending structure, Everbloom WPC raised garden beds and planter boxes can be assembled in just 10 minutes without any tools.

No matter you want to DIY or purchase your WPC raised garden beds or planter boxes, you can go with many different designs to create a unique look. But the most important factors to consider are the size, depth and height of the raised bed or planter box, to suit the plants you want to grow and your own gardening needs.  Different plants need different planting size and depth to develop their roots, and you may have your unique habits when you care for your plants, or you may have some special needs for your commercial decoration or partition.