31 Easy and Inexpensive DIY Raised Garden Bed Ideas
Using raised garden beds is a popular strategy for planting a vegetable, herb, or flower garden that’s simple to install and easier to maintain than a traditional garden. Raised garden beds can be used to optimize small outdoor spaces or to structure a large backyard.
Building a raised garden bed yourself from simple materials such as cinder blocks or cedar wood is a simple project that allows you to customize the look.
These DIY raised garden bed ideas come in a range of sizes, shapes, heights, and styles that will encourage you to cultivate your own private garden (without breaking your back or your budget).
Benefits of Raised Garden Beds
Before building a raised garden bed, here are the benefits you need to know:
No digging required
Looks stylish
Requires less weeding
Better drainage and soil quality control
Easier on the back and knees with less bending and kneeling
Optimizes outdoor spaces both big and small
Helps keep animals and pests at bay
How to Build a Raised Garden Bed
There are various types of raised garden beds. Some can be built in mounds straight on the ground. Others can be built using some sort of frame such as wood pallets, stock tanks, and more, as shown below. Some prefer to have the garden bed completely off the ground altogether with a raised planter box. In any event, there are some general steps you'll want to follow.
Here's how to build a raised garden bed yourself:
Pick your method: Decide whether you want to build mounds of soil on the ground, use a frame, or a raised planter box.
Choose your plants: Next, figure out what plants, vegetables, or fruits you want to grow. This will determine the depth of the soil.
Determine the depth: On average, a raised garden bed should be able to accommodate 20 inches of soil for the roots to have space to grow. However, different plants, vegetables, and fruits will have different needs, so keep this in mind.
DIY Raised Garden Bed Ideas
Level Up
This DIY tiered raised garden bed from Anika's DIY Life is made from cedar fencing. 2×4's, and braces. A built-in trellis for tomato and cucumber plants adds a decorative touch that creates a focal point in the backyard.
Use Stock Tanks
Most Lovely Things used stock tanks to create a raised garden in this Connecticut backyard. Filled with herbs and tomato plants on a backyard patio, the galvanized metal containers add an industrial farmhouse touch. The tanks were installed on a bed of gravel lined with plastic to minimize weeding.
Add DIY Tomato Cages
This DIY tomato cage trellis from My 100 Year Old Home is made from pine boards that weather over time for a natural look that works in this farmhouse-style garden, built along the side of an unused driveway. The tomato cage structures are topped with a decorative finial to add a finishing touch.
Repurpose Livestock Panels
These raised garden beds from blogger Liz Marie have DIY trellises made from leftover livestock panels and T-posts to create a solid structure to support the weight of climbing plants. The simple materials can be sourced inexpensively at any home store.
Add an Arched Trellis
Delia Creates added a DIY arched trellis that stretches between two raised garden beds in this large outdoor space that adds charm and a romantic feel.
Divide and Conquer
A Beautiful Mess built this easy four-step backyard DIY raised garden bed from affordable cedar wood, then added a grid made from PVC flat trim to keep it organized. The simple rectangular design is accessorized with pots of flowers and a pair of pink garden flamingos on opposite diagonal corners to keep things light.
Keep It Simple
The Merrythought made this simple DIY raised garden bed from untreated wood and corner braces and placed it in a sunny backyard spot, planting it with compost-rich soil and everything from carrot seeds to rhubarb, asparagus, garlic, and sprouted sweet potatoes.
Terrace a Sloping Lawn
Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made By Carmona added terraced raised garden beds in varying heights to the sloping lawn outside her DIY shed-turned greenhouse to counteract the uneven ground.
Made from non-toxic pressure-treated wood, the beds are lined with cardboard and filled with a mix of soil from the surrounding woods and garden soil from the local home goods center, a layer of moisture-absorbing wood chips, and finished with a layer of insect-repelling cedar chips.
Keep the Bunnies Out
Most Lovely Things chose galvanized stock tanks that are two feet high, making them easy to maintain without bending over, and keeping local bunnies from feasting on the garden.
Use Repurposed Materials
Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made By Carmona made these raised garden beds using salvaged pallet wood and salvaged castors from a piece of furniture picked up along the side of the road.
Vary Heights and Sizes
Finding Lovely incorporated raised garden planters of varying heights in this enclosed garden space that is planted with everything from vegetables to flowers.
Add a Cover
Blogger Ursula Carmona of Home Made By Carmona created a low-maintenance garden by placing self-watering raised garden beds on an outdoor deck. Leftover PVC pipe was used to create a shade cover for transplanted seedlings that is particularly helpful on especially hot days.
Add a Cage Cover
A Beautiful Mess built a DIY cage for this DIY-raised garden bed to keep animals from chewing up plants.
Give It Space
Blogger Liz Marie used stock tanks with plenty of space between them to create a neat and organized feel to the farmhouse garden.
Add a Picket Fence
Blogger Liz Marie Blog added a picket fence around her raised bed garden that helps define the space while adding cottage charm.
Plant a Mini Herb Garden
Maison de Cinq planted a mini herb garden that's perfect for someone who loves to cook with fresh ingredients and can be located anywhere from the backyard to a patio or porch.
Mix Fruit, Flowers, Veg, and Herbs
This cottage-style fruit, flower, vegetable, and herb garden from Lobster and Swan is filled with everything from blueberry plants to sweet peas, strawberries, salvias, and roses.
Use Douglas Fir
My 100 Year Old Home used Douglas Fir to build these inexpensive DIY raised garden planters along the side of an unused driveway.
Accessorize It
Inspired By Charm customized a premade planter by planting it with salad ingredients on top, storing garden accessories on the bottom, and accessorizing it with gold knobs for hanging tools and gloves, and chalk plant markers.
Use Leftover Fencing
Matching the garden bed to the backyard fencing creates a cohesive look, like this outdoor space from Fantastic Frank.
Make It Cottage Style
Rustic fencing and reclaimed materials add authentic charm to this DIY raised bed cottage garden from Lobster and Swan.
Plant a Cutting Garden
My 100 Year Old Home planted a cutting garden to grow a year-round supply of flowers for the house. The raised cutting garden beds were planted with a lively mix of snapdragons, ranunculus, salvia, tulips, bearded iris, dahlias, and gerbera daisies.
Add Fencing
Finding Lovely built a series of DIY raised garden beds in this spacious garden that sit on a bed of gravel and are surrounded by a tall fence protected with metal mesh to add a second line of defense in keeping critters at bay while maintaining an open feel.
Anchor It With a Greenhouse
Blogger Liz Marie added structure, height, and charm to her farmhouse backyard with a DIY greenhouse that anchors a large raised vegetable garden bed.
Keep It Natural
Lobster and Swan added an effortless feel to these generously planted raised DIY garden beds with plant cages made from sticks and twine.
Involve the Whole Family
Finding Silver Pennies made building a backyard-raised garden bed a project for the family to tackle together. It took an afternoon to build these DIY beds filled with tomato plants, marigolds, and chili peppers. Reclaimed fence posts with an aged patina were used to train the tomato plants.
Plant Some Flowers
You can also use raised garden beds to plant decorative flowers that complement the style of your home and outdoor space. For a bold but minimalist look, consider choosing one type and color of flower in large numbers.
Finding Lovely planted DIY raised garden beds with generous amounts of pale-colored tulips that create a dramatic but calming feel in the farmhouse garden space.
Make an Herb Garden Coffee Table
If you don't have a backyard or your outdoor space is limited, you can build a micro-raised garden bed like this DIY herb garden coffee table from A Beautiful Mess. The project is made from plywood and costs $75 from start to finish.
Located on the porch, the mini raised herb garden bed coffee table is both decorative and practical, with room to rest your lemonade or cocktail and fresh mint at the ready when you want to pop a sprig in your drink.
Upcycle a Vintage Wine Barrel
In this Swedish country house outdoor dining space from Fantastic Frank, large raised garden beds were made from weathered wood and an upcycled vintage wine barrel.
Mark Your Territory
Finding Silver Pennies made beach stone garden markers with local rocks and an oil-based paint pen for these coastal Massachusetts DIY raised garden beds that help keep track of what's been planted while blending in with the natural feel.
Take a Shortcut
If you don't have the time for a DIY project, you can create a casual homemade feel with premade raised garden bed planters and potted plants.
Madison Cleventine of Musings by Madison used premade raised garden bed planters as decor on the side yard of her home and added colorful potted flowers and plants inside and on the ground below to create an English garden feel.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest way to build a raised garden bed?
The most affordable way to make a raised garden bed is to do it yourself using recycled/upcycled materials.
What type of wood should you use for a raised garden bed?
The best types of wood to use for a raised garden bed include wood pallets or cedar wood.
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.
Read the original article on The Spruce.
