Best Choice Products 8x2x2ft Metal Raised Garden Bed, Oval Outdoor Deep Root Planter Box for Vegetables, Herbs w/ 4 Support Bars, 215 Gal Capacity - Charcoal

The last review that I wrote about best choice products was not a very good one and it was justified because they were putting some kind of plastic film to protect the raised beds finish but it took so much time to remove that plastic wrap that I said I would never buy another. I suggested that they put bubble wrap in between each piece of raised bed in the box that they send. I'm not taking credit for this but I actually bought another one and in the package they had bubble wrap between each piece and it was so much easier to take out of the box and assemble without taking hours to remove the film that they previously put on the raised bed that I bought. Like I said, it may not have been my review but multiple reviews that they finally listened and quit putting that film onto the pieces of raised bed.

Surviving Winters in Maine & Looking Like NewI have just ordered my 3rd one of these. The first was in 2023, another in 2024.They are set up outside all year round in Maine, and look brand new even after a very heavy snowfall this winter.I have separated each one into 2 lower height beds for now and am using a hugelkultur method to fill the bottom half from hardwood branches and maple leaves etc as part of my spring cleanup each year. It saves on dirt $$ if you are just starting raised beds.As I get older and less willing to bend over I plan to stack them to their stated height in the desription.

This is a sturdy product and somewhat easy to put together. However, the directions say "one hour, one person." It took my husband and me 4 hours to put this together. Tedious but not hard. The metal sections at times need four to go through one bolt and there is no way one person could hold it and put bolt and wingnut on at the same time. Just know your time will be extended! We also laid a tight screen underneath the planter so rodents can't tunnel up through bottom. Then we added 2 bags of small rocks for drainage, followed by logs, sticks, and leaves we had accumulated on our property. We filled it 3/4 of the way with these things. Then it only took 6 bags of organic potting mixed purposely mixed for raised beds. It looks good! I'm glad we only ordered one at this point. I'll see how it goes before adding more to our space.

I purchased two of these (different colors, same size) this last fall/winter, but only started assembling them this past month. Put the first one together, which took about 3 hours for 1 person to assemble, got to the end and I was missing 5 bolts and 5 wingnuts, but had about 9 extra washers. (Probably to account for the half washers and not fully punched washers also in the package.) I figured it was a fluke, went to the hardware store and purchased the missing pieces.Fast forward to this weekend when I put the second one together, and it was ALSO missing 5 bolts and 5 wingnuts, but had a surplus of washers.The band that goes around the top will not stay on unless you fasten it in some way. I'm about ready to grab silicon caulking and permanently attach it. It's designed to semi-prevent water from going between the panels and preventing rust, but it's worthless if it doesn't stay in place.Assembling them is tedious. You have to think about which way you want things to overlap for the final product. Instructions are bare bones, and order only somewhat matters. It will 100% be a challenge to get at least one of the bolts into the spot where all 4 panels meet on the ends of the curved spot, so be sure to leave wiggle room with the bolts around it to adjust. You can tighten at the end. I also found it easier to flip the product over throughout the process, so I had better access for tightening the bolts. I did assemble them both by myself - the second one only took about 90 minutes, and that included removing bolts from 3 panels when I realized I had flipped the outside to the inside when pre-building.Exposed metal *will* rust. The paint surfaces are fine. The bolt holes are larger than the bolt/washer/nut combo, so there will be exposed metal just in that gap.That being said, for the price these will work for 2-3 years. I'm not expecting them to last much longer than that.I'd rate them about 3.75/5. Would I buy again? Probably not. If I wanted similar, I'd probably shell out the money for the "name brand" one.

Gorgeous, deep color. Such a pain in the butt to put together though! Plenty of hardware and no sharp edges, but layering 3-4 pieces of metal and lining up the holes was such a pain, even with a second pair of hands. I have one more to put together and I keep putting it off because I dread the headache.

The item was great or is great. It was taller than I thought it would be so I broke it down into two beds. Worked out perfectly thanks for the great product.

So far, so good. We had no trouble putting it together and all the nuts & bolts were there.....nothing missing. We have not planted it yet, but plan on doing so this week. We are very pleased with it!

The product itself seems sturdy and able to hold dirt well enough. I gave it four stars because of the amount of nuts, bolts and washers required, of which I was shorted 6 sets. Seems like there would be a better interlocking system instead of all the hardware. Also the rubber slip on edge cover is a good idea but once again a little more thought put into practicality would have been nice. The planter itself is quite attractive and sets well in my garden and time will tell.