Have you ever looked at an ugly area of your yard or garden, one so ugly that you cringe every time you catch a glimpse? Whether it’s a forgotten patch of weeds, an awkwardly placed utility box, an area that’s just plain lacking character, or an old staircase that was partially demolished like me, I have a solution for you—Cover it up!!!
In my last post about the courtyard I talked about how we freshened it up at the beginning of spring, but I needed to fix the ugly corner situation.
I decided to build a corner flower box over it to cover it up. Nothing crazy, actually more like a faux raised garden bed, and a super clever solution to fix this problem.
What I used:
- 1 -2x6x8
- 1-2x4x8
- 1-1x4x8
- 1-2x2x4
- screws
- nail gun, nails
- screwgun
- Cabot Stain, Pewter Gray
What I did:
I measured the space and cut each board to size, mitered on each end.
I then stacked them–The 8″ boards on the bottom and the 4″ boards on the top.
and joined them at the corners with exterior wood screws.
I decided to have a space in between for drainage and to help avoid rot. I used the 1×3 as a temporary spacer. 
I then cut the 2x2s into three pieces, slightly shorter than the height of the two boards, to use in the corners and ends as braces.
Next I placed the 1×3 on top as sort of cap design. I nailed and screwed these in place and then I decided to test fit it to see how it looked:
Finishing the Garden Box
First I had to sand down the annoying grade stamps. And then I was able to get staining. I should mention that I used non-pressure-treated wood. This is not typically recommended, however, I wanted this done and didn’t want to have to wait for pressure-treated wood to dry out (which could take anywhere from weeks to months), so I used some Cabot Semi-Transparent Stain and Sealer in Pewter Gray and I’m just hoping for the best. I made sure to seal every side of the wood as well as the cut ends. I also used this stain on my address sign project.
Once I was done staining, I put the “box” in place. I didn’t attach it to the house, it’s basically just resting on the slab of concrete. 
We then began filling the raised garden bed. We filled it with mulch from the trees we had cut down last year. Once I had it in place, I realized it would look amazing with a second layer. So I quickly whipped u a smaller version of “the box”.
Rather than planting directly in the box, I kept the plants in their containers and just buried them in the mulch.
I “planted” some stonecrop and a ground cover in the raised garden bed (that I just can’t remember the name of at the moment, I’ll have to come back to that.) I also temporarily placed a boxwood in the corner, but my goal is to eventually add a water feature in its place.
BEFORE
AFTER
But I love how this turned out, it’s so much better than looking at that ugly concrete hill.
