Gardens are an evolving work in progress. Gardeners are constantly taking stock of their successes and making adjustments to improve our garden beds. It’s fun to experiment with new gardening techniques and create new spaces in your garden. A great place to start is with raised garden bed ideas and designs. Although there are no rules for raised bed gardening, gardeners can reap more benefits when a raised bed is planned out. We’ve compiled some of the best-raised gardening bed ideas to help you. Continue reading to learn more:
Six Benefits of Raised Garden Beds
Raised garden beds are great, long-lasting investments. These beds provide the perfect environment for root growth and reduce the need for bending and weeding.
#1: Space Efficiency
Gardeners with limited garden space love raised beds. They can be quickly built on top of unwanted growing areas and require minimal effort, which is why they are so popular!
#2: Enhanced soil
The soil in raised garden beds is easier to manage than ground soil, which can be more challenging to amend and maintain. This makes them a better environment for growing vegetables.
#3: Maximized Harvest
Gardeners love that raised garden beds can grow more plants in a smaller space. They also allow you to grow plants under other plants, up-climbing structures, or over the sides of your beds to create a bountiful harvest.
#4: Weed Control
Weeds are a major enemy to successful yields. Raised beds aren’t immune from weeds, but there are ways to keep them out. You can use cardboard or newspaper from your home to cover the soil in the raised garden bed to prevent weeds from germinating. Afterward, you can add mulch to protect the newspaper/cardboard layer. Once you are ready to plant, rearrange your mulch to create holes for your seeds.
#5: Counteract Pests
Since raised garden beds are built above the ground, they naturally protect your crops from pests that often thrive in the ground. You can also cover raised garden beds for added security.
#6: Less Work
Raised beds are less labor-intensive than traditional gardening. Raised garden beds often require less effort to weed, water, and harvest simply because of their height.
Incorporate Different Materials Into Your Raised Garden Bed Designs
Raised beds can come in a range of materials that can be sourced in various ways. It is possible to use almost any material to make a raised bed; however, it is important not to use chemically treated materials.
You can be sure that your crops will be safe to eat with these raised garden bed material ideas.
- Rocks
- Metal
- Brick
- Untreated Pallets
- Wood
- Cinderblocks
Raised Garden Bed Ideas & Designs To Give Your Garden A New Lift
Now that you know why raised garden beds are so popular and the materials you prefer, let’s get started by adding one of these ideas to your garden! To inspire you, we have compiled a list of our top picks for raised garden beds.
Square Foot Garden Grids
One-square-foot grids are a great way to divide your growing space, especially if space is limited. The efficient design allows you to grow vegetables, herbs, companion plants, and other crops intensively for maximum yield.
Hoop House Raised Bed
You can extend your growing season by adding a protective hoop house to your raised garden beds. The hoop house is an excellent idea for a raised garden bed that will help protect your plants from frost and heat in addition to harmful garden pests and critters.
Metal Troughs
Metal animal troughs can be repurposed into raised garden beds. All you’ll need to do is fill them with soil and add drain holes. This is a simple, but trendy option that is liked for its industrial appearance.
Trellised Garden Beds
Add arches and trellises to your raised garden beds to start vertical gardening. You can even use cattle fencing to connect two raised garden beds. This allows you to grow climbing vegetables and gourds to create your secret garden arch.
Spiral Garden
Spiral herb gardens are the current trend in raised garden design. These gardens are eye-catching and can be used to plant nearly anything.
U-shaped Raised Beds
Raised beds arranged in a U-shape make it easier to access and maximize the use of your growing space. This raised bed design creates a central pathway and provides lots of room for growth.
Pallet Raised Beds
Are you short on materials? Untreated wood pallets are commonly used to avoid treated wood that could cause harmful chemicals to leach into your soil.
Tiered Raised beds
You can challenge yourself to create raised garden beds with multiple levels. The graduated planting system of tiers allows for deeper roots and features a graduated planting system. The lower levels are perfect for growing annuals and lettuces with shallower root systems. These raised garden beds can look like stairs, be corner or pagoda-shaped, or be set up as graduated boxes.
Keyhole Raised Bed
Traditional keyhole gardens are built at waist height, so there is no need to bend.
Keep these Raised Garden Tips in Mind
Now that you’ve been flooded with ideas and designs for raised garden beds, here are some key points to remember before you start. Our experts have compiled this list of top tips to ensure successful raised-bed gardening.
- Tip #1: Look for the sun. Choose an area in your yard that is fully sunlit.
- Tip #2: Make sure you have easy access. When planning, ensure that the layout of any raised garden bed idea allows easy access to your garden beds. This will allow for harvesting, weeding, and pruning. Raised beds should be at least two feet apart and no more than four feet wide. This arrangement allows you to reach the middle of your bed easily.
- Tip #3: Preparing Your Design. Use landscaper’s paint to sketch your layout before you begin building.
- Tip #4: Upcycle materials. Go green with your raised bed materials by using reclaimed or upcycled wood that can be used to build your planting bed. Remember to always verify the origin of your wood, as chemicals can leach into your soil or contaminate your crops.
- Tip #5: Maintain your garden’s depth. Make sure your raised gardens are deep and well-groomed. Raised garden beds should not be less than 6 to 12 inches in depth. This is one of the most important raised bed tips to remember because more soil depth means more roots can be grown.
- Tip #6: Use hardware for additional protection. As previously mentioned, raised garden beds come with built-in pest control. However, adding hardware cloth to your garden beds can provide extra protection from burrowing critters.
- Tip #7: Attract pollinators. Gardens thrive when there are many pollinators; plant to attract them to your garden. Your plants will continue to grow strong and produce more if you have predatory insects and pollinators to protect and support them.
