These beds were very easy to assemble with two people taking their time. READ THE INSTRUCTIONS COMPLETELY BEFORE STARTING. We left the outer protective plastic on to protect the finish until the beds were assembled and filled. You do need to pull the plastic back away from the holes where the metal sections overlap before assembling. We added the black trim last. We used the Concept of Hugelkultur for filling the beds given their size. We will need to add to them next year as I would like them a little fuller and overtime it will compost. The Hugelkultur method is 40% logs, 20% branches and sticks, 25% plant waste (grass clippings, leaves, kitchen scraps), 10% compost and 5% top soil. We just moved here from out of state so we had to use an excess of straw for plant waste and purchased the compost. We will have our own next year.