15 Easy DIY Raised Bed Garden Ideas (2024)

FAQs

What is the easiest thing to grow in a raised bed? ›

While many vegetables thrive in raised beds, some particularly beginner-friendly choices include radishes, lettuce, bush beans, and kale. These plants are generally low-maintenance, have shorter growing seasons, or are less prone to common garden pests.

On average, a DIY raised bed constructed from wood will cost $25 to $50 per square foot. To have a wooden raised bed constructed and installed for you, budget for at least $100 per square foot. (Find a kitchen garden company in your area.)

What should you put at the bottom of a raised garden bed? Cinder or concrete blocks are an inexpensive and popular material used to build a foundation for a raised garden bed.

The best vegetables to grow in a raised garden bed are those that will provide the best flavor and bang for your buck. Some good options include bush beans, leaf lettuce, cucumbers, and a variety of colors of squash.

Here's a common layering method: First Layer (optional): If you're concerned about weeds, you can lay down a weed barrier fabric or cardboard on the bottom of the raised bed. This will help prevent weeds from growing up into the bed. Second Layer: Add a layer of coarse materials like gravel or small stones.

Vegetable Beds: On the other hand, when it comes to vegetable beds, the bed must be approximately 12 to 18 inches deep to ensure adequate depth for the roots of your plants. This is especially important if your raised bed is placed on cement or the patio, which will inhibit roots from growing deeper into the ground.

Some annuals you might want to grow in your raised bed garden are petunias, pansies, basil, lemongrass, and vegetables like tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, squash, and onions. Bonus tip: To help reduce the chance of disease and pests, you don't want to grow annual vegetables in the same spot year after year.

Keep beds at least 6 feet from pavement and south-facing walls, which intensify summer heat. HOW LONG DO BEDS LAST? That depends on what they're made of. Beds built with western red cedar can last 10 to 15 years; galvanized steel, 20 years; masonry or plastic composites, indefinitely.

Cedar and redwood are naturally water-resistant but can be expensive and hard to find. Hemlock, fir and pine are suitable materials for raised beds but aren't very long lasting.

Plant Waste or Compost

We have a huge pile in the back of our property where we burn leaves, large pieces of wood that we don't want to split, twigs, etc. It's really good to layer all of that stuff in your raised beds as it will break down even more. There were, of course, ashes from burning which will also be good.

Do raised beds need potting soil? ›

Whether deep or shallow, raised beds give a gardener a way to create ideal soil conditions on an even larger scale. While potting mix alone is too light for use in raised beds, creating a 50:50 blend of potting mix and Miracle-Gro® All Purpose Garden Soil will give just the right balance.

The Hugelkultur method turns garden and kitchen waste into useful material for filling raised garden beds, allowing you to save a substantial amount of money. You can also repurpose fallen tree branches or dead branches cut from trees instead of carting them away or burning them.

Pine is a cheaper alternative to more expensive types of wood and easy to find in most hardware stores. Keep in mind, however, that pine will have a much shorter life expectancy in your garden than cedar and redwood. Even within wood types, know that there can be some variation.

While generally minor, raised beds do have some disadvantages. Raised beds dry out faster than level garden sites. Accordingly, they have to be watered more frequently in dry weather. Initial construction of the raised bed may take more effort than maintenance of the conventional garden.

A raised bed does not always require a significant depth for it to be effective. They should have at least 8 inches of soil depth to accommodate the root systems of plants, because the majority of plant roots require 6 – 8 inches of soil for healthy root growth.