Raised garden beds are an excellent way to grow fresh produce while also adding aesthetic appeal to your outdoor living space! Whether you’re looking to create a small herb garden or want enough room for multiple vegetable varieties, there are plenty of designs and material options available to suit any gardener’s needs.
When it comes time to start planting, be sure to choose plants that’ll thrive in the unique conditions provided by a raised bed setup — such as those with shallow roots or those that require ample sun exposure.
And don’t forget about decorating! Adding decorative touches like trellises, lighting fixtures, or even comfortable seating can help turn your new gardening area into an inviting oasis where you’ll love spending time all season long!
The benefits of raised garden beds are plentiful, and the possibilities are endless! Just let your imagination flow. With a bit of creativity and some careful planning, you can create a stunning outdoor area that you’ll love for years to come.
Raised garden beds will keep your valuable fruits and veggies away from rabbits and other animals that may want to help themselves to your hard work. You can use different materials to suit your needs and tastes such as cinder blocks, logs, treated lumber, plastic, and even straw bales. Here are out top suggestions:
You can make a simple raised bed out of just some cedar boards and screws. Of course, you’ll need some power tools and a tape measure. All you need to do is cut some wood to the length you want for the legs and fasten them to some leg boards. Do the same with the other side and voila! You have yourself some bed legs. While it’s upside down, attach the remaining pieces you have and put the walls up. The gaps will allow water to escape so your plants don’t drown. Once that’s done, flip it over, and you have yourself a raised garden bed.
Bricks are an extremely versatile tool. You can easily make raised garden beds out of them, and the designs are unlimited. This particular design involves swirls. All they did was take some bricks and make a swirl pattern with them. They then added some soil and planted their plants.
You can make these beds as tall or as small as you want. We recommend a weed barrier with them to minimise maintenance. They won’t get mixed in with your other plants. You can also add some stakes inside it so your cucumbers or other vine plants can grow on them.
All of these designs are easy to handle and can be done in a weekend. Make it a fun family project, or just take some time for yourself and do something nice to your garden or patio.
Building a garden bed out of cinder blocks is super simple. All you need are some cinder blocks, about two rows worth, and ¼-inch mesh. Stack your blocks two rows high. Between each row, put in some mesh so weeds won’t grow inside the holes. Once you have your two rows in place, put mesh inside the centre area, and fill with soil. You can fill each hole with soil as well for optimum planting space.
Do you have a water trough laying around and you don’t know what to do with it? How about turning it into a raised garden bed? Even if you don’t have one lying around, they’re not overly expensive. They add a rustic touch to gardens and patios.
These metal water troughs are simple to plant in. Just make sure you drill some holes in the bottom of it so the water can drain out. There’s also room to add an irrigation system if you wish. Once you have it set up, you can spray paint it any colour you want to make it match your home or if you want to add a little flair to your garden or patio.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of styles of garden beds. We bet your head is already spinning from the amount of choices. We made it simple, here are the top three designs you might stumble upon:
Multi-level garden beds are great for creating a space for plants with different needs regarding soil, moisture, and light. You can have a raised bed for sun-loving plants, another for shade-loving plants, and a third for low-maintenance plants. You can also create different levels in a single raised bed, so that you can easily move around the plants as they grow. You can even use different types of soil in each level, so that you can have different plant varieties in each level. With multi-level beds, you can create a unique and interesting garden space.
If you’re more of a herb garden person, you’ll enjoy this design. It might sound like the multi-level garden beds, and we have to admit they’re often interchangeably used, but we do differentiate them as the “tiered garden beds” usually refers to a tiered planter. It’s perfect for herbs or small anual flowers, at the corner of your pergola or outdoor patio. This design allows you to see all of your plants with ease. Each tiered section gives your herbs or flowers the security they need from pesky critters and bugs. The boxes can be made from cedar, which gives off a beautiful aroma. You’ll need some stain or sealer as well to keep the wood protected from the weather. This is the perfect weekend project for you and your family if you’re looking to add a little aesthetics to your outdoor patio area or garden.
If you have a wall that you can utilise, you can install vertical garden beds next to it, or even integrate them into it. You can make this project as big or as small as you want. The most popular version would be a wooden vertical planter used for growing herbs and green-leafed vegetables. For a budget-friendly version, you can put pellets on the wall or fence, which can hold pots for your flowers. If you have a bigger budget and you’re not afraid to experiment, you can build the wall or fence in such a way, that you leave space for the planters.
Do you have a log cabin or like the log cabin style? This raised garden bed is perfect if you are a fan of log cabins. This garden bed takes as many or as few pieces of timber as you want. You can make it high up or low to the ground.
All you have to do to build this is get yourself some wood timbers. For an 8-foot by 4-foot bed, simply get some 8-foot timbers, stain, soil, rebar, and some stakes. Cut the timbers to make the 8×4 lengths. Notch them, so they fit together like log cabin designs. Drill a hole in each one so you can stick the rebar in it. Cut the rebar off, so it’s flush with the wood. Add stakes to the corner to secure the lumber. Add some weed-barrier, soil, and you’re ready to go!
First on our list is a garden bed with practicality in mind. This raised garden bed has a piece of fencing around it that can be removed so you can tend to your fruit or veggies comfortably. When you’re done, simply put the fence piece back up to protect your food from critters.
This particular project will give you a 4 foot by 1-foot gate. You can make it taller if you wish. You’re going to need conduit brackets, PVC pipe, wood furring strips, screws, metal wire, and some handy electric tools to get the job done. Here are the exact instructions for this design. We recommend:
If you’re looking for something elegant to add to your property or garden, consider adding a beautiful trellis. You can use some cedarwood to make the boxes and then some chicken wire and thin wood to make the trellis design.
This was a weekend project that took roughly between 10-20 hours. It raised the beds around two feet in the air, safely away from pesky animals. The chicken wire gives the plants an area to climb in, especially if they are peas, cucumber, or tomato plants. These vine veggies will love the space.
Entrust this task to a professional gardener!
Which one do you love the most? Do you already have a raised garden beds? Tell us in the comments below!
The only home improvement newsletter you will ever need!
We will never spam you. Pinky promise!
For more information, check out our privacy policy.
