![\"\"](\"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/flats1.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nSize<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Flats are pretty simple to make and there\nisn\u2019t a great deal of design involved in making them. They can be any size you\nwant, so size them to make the most efficient use of the wood you have without\ntoo much cutting (cutting wastes both wood and time). I found that 24 x 14\nworked well with the wood I had (the four bottom boards are just under 3 \u00bd\u201d\nwide). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The depth of a flat is more critical, as\nyou need enough depth for the roots, but don\u2019t want them to be too deep, as\nthis makes them heavy and requires more soil mix to fill them. I find that 3 \u00bd\u201d\nis a good average depth, as well as a standard lumber dimension. Some gardeners\nlike to have two different depths, a shallow one (3\u201d) for starting seeds and a\ndeeper (4\u201d) one for pricking out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The only other important design criteria\nis that there should be a narrow gap between the bottom boards, for good\ndrainage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I never buy material for making flats,\nbecause have some salvaged cedar and redwood boards, from when a neighbor tore\ndown an old fence (if ever you see a redwood or cedar fence being replaced,\ngrab the old materials before they go to the dump). I also had some 4\u201d X \u00bc\u201d\ntongue and groove redwood paneling that another neighbor gave me when he was\nselling his house, and this was perfect for the bottoms. You can use any old\nwood for making flats, even if it isn\u2019t rot resistant (just empty them and keep\nthem dry when not in use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Assembly<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I ripped the fence boards down to a width\nof 3 \u00bc\u201d on my table saw and cut them into 22 \u00bd\u201d pieces for the sides and 14\u201d\npieces for the ends. When nailed together this gave me a finished flat\nmeasuring 24\u201d X 14\u201d). The bottom boards were a full 24\u201d in length. You can see\nfrom the photographs how they all go together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I used 1 \u00bc\u201d staples (and an air stapler)\nto nail the flats together (because I already had them and didn\u2019t have any\nnails). The gun makes the process go very quickly and with all the pieces cut I\ncould assemble a flat in under 3 minutes (I\u2019m guessing now, I never actually\ntimed it). If I didn\u2019t have the staples I would have nailed the sides together\nwith 1\u00bd\u201d galvanized common nails and attached the bottoms with \u00be\u201d galvanized\ncommon nails. I can\u2019t think of anything else to say here, as I said before this\nis a pretty simple process and a picture is worth a thousand words anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/flats2.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/flats3.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/greenmanpublishing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/flats5.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n