25 Raised Garden Bed Ideas for Growing Your Favorite Veggies and Flowers (2024)

From rustic to modern, there are nearly endless raised garden bed ideas for growing vegetables, flowers, or whatever you like. While there are plenty of kits you can buy and assemble, you also can opt for DIY raised garden beds using upcycled or repurposed materials. Building your own raised bed lets you customize the design and get creative with materials. Depending on the look you're going for, you can use logs, brick, or even metal for a more modern style. Here are some raised garden bed ideas that don’t require an engineering degree to build or advanced gardening skills to maintain.

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Raised Bed Cottage Garden

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A series of raised garden beds painted white and planted with chili peppers, bell peppers, kale, sunflowers, marigolds, and chard bring a cottage garden look to this backyard. The beds’ design complements the trim on the garden shed, which is surrounded by colorful flowers.

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DIY Brick Bed

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This inexpensive, DIY raised bed is made by dry-stacking brick. A series of upright wooden posts holding horizontal rods support the fruit-laden tomato plants so they don’t break—a prettier solution than tomato cages. The soil in the bed is mulched to keep moisture in and weeds out.

How to Fill a Raised Garden Bed: 3 Affordable Methods

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Log Raised Bed

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Make easy, rustic raised garden beds with logs turned on end. The secret to making those logs stand up? Nail a 2x6 board inside the logs before you fill the bed with soil. The log beds complement the tree branch fence lined with hog wire to keep out unwanted wildlife.

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Easy Paver Bed

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Want to DIY an inexpensive raised bed, but woodworking isn’t your thing? Make one out of pavers turned on end. Choose pavers that are at least 4 inches thick, lay them on their sides, and put mortar between the joints to reinforce the sides. This is a great way to use pavers left over from a pathway or patio project.

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Raised Vegetable Garden

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Low, angular raised beds hold a variety of veggies like tomatoes and peppers, along with flowers and herbs in this kitchen garden. The grouping of raised beds is set off by a picket fence painted green, its scalloped top contrasting with the hard angles of the beds.

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Modern Metal Raised Bed

This is one of the most stylish raised garden bed ideas that makes the perfect addition to any modern home. Sheet metal coiled into a spiral creates a contemporary raised bed. This one is planted with culinary herbs like dill, mint, cilantro, and chives. Their soft, overgrown shape contrasts with the hard lines of the raised bed, creating pleasing visual and textural contrast.

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Stacked Stone Bed

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A raised bed made of stacked fieldstone looks like part of the landscape. A mixed planting of succulents, iris, and roses creates a western spin on a cottage garden, while the sedum spilling over the side of the bed softens the hardscape.

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Mailbox Garden Bed

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A raised garden bed made of 2x6 cedar boards provides healthy soil for a curbside mailbox garden. Planted with colocasia, sedge, and mandevilla, the raised bed gets visual pop from the similar colors of the scarlet picket fence and red and hot pink flowers.

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Raised Bed on Legs

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Elevated garden beds are an excellent option for gardeners who want to avoid bending over to weed, feed, and prune their garden. They’re also good if you want a portable bed you can move to different areas of your property in pursuit of optimal growing conditions. This one made of treated wood has been placed on a deck and planted with lettuce and marigolds.

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Raised Bed Outdoor Room

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Create an outdoor room with a grouping of raised garden beds. Here, the curved sides define the space around the dining set and act as patio walls. The beds are planted with a mix of edibles and ornamentals that can be enjoyed from the sitting area.

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Concrete Block Bed

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Make an easy, inexpensive DIY raised bed with concrete retaining wall blocks. These are dry-stacked and capped with concrete paver stones fixed in place with exterior construction adhesive made for hardscaping projects. Concrete blocks are more affordable than natural stone and longer-lasting than wood, so they’re an excellent material for a DIY raised bed garden.

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Backyard Oasis

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This raised bed is made of engineered stone panels cast from real stone and attached to cinder block beds. They’re capped with flagstone pavers and planted with drought- and sun-loving aeonium, aloe, and angelonia. The bed adds privacy and defines the space around the flagstone paver patio. Cast stone panels are an inexpensive way to get the look of a stacked stone bed.

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Wooden Raised Beds

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Classic raised garden beds made of wood and stained to protect them from the elements are a good way to pack a lot of plants into a small space. This bed is planted with a mix of herbs and ornamentals, including succulents, lavender, basil, dill, and rosemary. Plastic yard flamingos add a touch of whimsy to this garden.

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Round Raised Bed

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This is one of the most stylish raised garden bed ideas that will bring a modern, industrial feel to a kitchen herb garden. This one is made of weathered metal and filled with several varieties of basil and nasturtium. A metal obelisk in a matching weather finish provides support for the vining plants and architectural interest in the space.

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Easy Wood Raised Beds

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Metal raised bed corner brackets make it easy to build raised container gardens. They come in a range of heights and can be stacked to build higher beds. Attach them to planks of wood with screws, and you have a near-instant raised bed. Place them in your yard, fill them with soil, and you’re ready to plant.

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Stucco Raised Bed

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This raised garden bed is made of cinder blocks covered with stucco and finished to look like concrete. It makes for a bed with visual heft and clean, minimalist lines that would be at home alongside a midcentury mod house. The lush mixed planting includes canna, coleus, ornamental grass, and rose campion.

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Stone Paver Bed

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Stand thick stone pavers on end to create a low-sided raised bed garden. Sink a third of them in the ground to create sturdy sides without mortar. Use real stone if you’re a purist with money to spend or concrete pavers cast to look like natural stone if you’re on a budget. This bed is planted with herbs and watered with a drip irrigation system.

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Stock Tank Raised Beds

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Stock tanks, also called cattle troughs, are essentially giant metal water bowls for livestock. They’re usually made of galvanized metal, plastic, or fiberglass. They make sturdy raised beds that are high-sided enough to keep you from having to bend down to the ground to weed, feed, and tend your plants. You can buy them at feed stores and tack shops. To turn them into raised beds, drill holes in the bottom for drainage and line them with landscape fabric before filling them with soil and plants.

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Fence Post Corners

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Wooden fence posts cut in half and sunk into the ground make inexpensive, decorative corners for raised beds. These fence post corners tie visually to the uprights on the adjacent picket fence while adding a decorative touch to the raised beds.

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Slope-Conquering Beds

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These raised garden beds are made of single, foot-wide planks of wood nailed together. They’re 20 feet long and partially sunk into the ground on one end to level out the slight slope of the yard and create a level growing area. The beds are arranged in tidy rows and planted with vegetables.

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Brick Beds

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If you love the look of brick, stack and mortar them to create sturdy raised garden beds. These are capped with 2x4s. The bricks and wood in the beds echo the materials in the outdoor fireplace and pergola, creating a unified look in the landscape.

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Raised Bed Potager Garden

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Inspired by the ornamental kitchen gardens of Europe, these simple, raised wooden beds are artfully arranged and filled with vegetables and herbs. A hedge cut into a natural fence surrounds the garden, and a walkway provides access to the beds. The raised beds aren’t fancy, but their surroundings give the space an elevated look.

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Diamond-Shaped Raised Bed

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Who says raised garden beds must be square? No one, and that’s why this one is shaped like an elongated diamond. The bed fits into a narrow backyard and leaves room to walk around it. It acts like a frame for the shrubs and flowers in it.

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Driveway Garden

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Turn a driveway or a courtyard into a garden with a series of raised beds placed atop pavers. This is a great solution if you have no yard or if the sunniest spot on your property is paved. These wooden beds are painted a shade of teal that echoes the doors on the outbuilding and matches the surrounding fence and gates to tie the entire space together.

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Good Old Wood

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A little carpentry makes charmingly rustic raised garden beds. These inexpensive beds are two wood planks tall and full of tomatoes and other tall plants supported by DIY supports and a trellis made of unfinished wood and wire. The effect is country salvage, and they’re designed for maximum gardening efficiency.

25 Raised Garden Bed Ideas for Growing Your Favorite Veggies and Flowers (2024)

FAQs

What is best to plant in a raised garden bed? ›

Moisture-loving plants that do well in raised garden beds include cardinal flowers, sedges, and monkshood. In a dry spot, try Russian sage, prairie plants (coreopsis, false indigo, big bluestem), Mediterranean herbs (rosemary, lavender), or succulents (including sedums and echeverias).

What vegetables do best in raised beds? ›

Raised beds also work well for those vegetables that require a certain minimum soil temperature for the seeds to germinate, or for young seedlings to grow. Beans, eggplant, melons, watermelons, okra, peppers, pumpkin, and squash all need a minimum soil temperature of 60°F (15°C) for seed germination.

What flowers grow best in a raised bed? ›

Popular annual flowers for raised beds include marigolds, petunias, snapdragons, pansies, and impatiens. These types of flower beds are also perfect for starting a cut flower garden with annual flowers such as zinnias, cosmos, larkspur, bachelor buttons, and dahlias.

What do you put in the bottom of a raised garden bed? ›

Soil is the foundation of your garden, and you want it to be healthy so you can set your plants up for success! We recommend buying high-quality, nutrient-rich soil in bulk. Or, you can make a soil mix with equal parts topsoil, organic materials (leaves, composted manure, ground bark), and coarse sand.

What not to fill a raised garden bed with? ›

Raised beds that are small and shallow (under 12 inches deep) are typically only filled with soil. Adding other organic materials to shallow beds usually isn't a good idea. Sticks, twigs, and other materials further reduce the limited soil space and can interfere with plant root growth and water drainage.

What is the easiest vegetable to grow? ›

  • Easiest vegetables to grow. ...
  • Leafy greens. ...
  • Root vegetables: Radishes, turnips and carrots. ...
  • Did you know? ...
  • Cucumbers. ...
  • Broccoli. ...
  • Peas/Snow Peas. ...
  • Strawberries. Everyone wants to grow their own strawberries, and nothing is more deliscious than one straight from your patio or backyard.

What vegetables should not be planted together? ›

What Plants Should Not Be Grown Together?
  • Asparagus and onions: Onions can inhibit the growth of asparagus.
  • Beans and onions: Onions can inhibit the growth of beans.
  • Brassicas and nightshades: Brassicas, such as broccoli and cabbage, can stunt the growth of nightshades, such as tomatoes and peppers.

What should you fill a raised garden bed with? ›

When filling a raised garden bed, consider adding organic matter like compost, well-rotted manure, and aged compost to enrich the soil. These amendments improve soil structure, fertility, and moisture retention, promoting healthy plant growth.

What flower keeps bugs away from vegetables? ›

Along with marigolds, geraniums are the perfect companion plant. They both have strong fragrances that confuse pests and prevent them from reaching their target crop. When planted close, geraniums can protect many types of fruits and vegetables, including cabbage and tomatoes.

How do you arrange flowers in a raised bed? ›

Layer Plants According to Height

Approach layering plants in a garden bed like taking a large family photo. Place the shorter plants in the front, medium-sized plants in the middle, and the taller ones in the back. Layering plants this way means that every plant will be visible.

How many plants can you put in a 4x8 raised bed? ›

Raised bed sizes can vary greatly, but let's use the example of a 4x8' raised bed. In this bed you could plant two rows of tomatoes, which are each 8' long. If using cages or another wide support system, you can probably fit 6-8 tomato plants in that bed.

Why put cardboard in the bottom of a raised bed? ›

You Can Use a Layer of Cardboard at the Bottom of Raised Beds to Prevent Weeds. If your budget doesn't allow for weed barrier cloth, you can add several layers of cardboard to the bottom of your raised bed before filling it with soil. The cardboard will decompose in about 4 to 6 months.

How to make raised beds cheaply? ›

So, next time you come across a pile of pallets, don't hesitate to grab them and start building your own raised garden bed. Pallets are a cheap and easy way to create a raised garden bed. You can usually find them for free or for a low price. Just stack them on top of each other, and fill them with soil.

Should I put rocks at the bottom of my raised garden bed? ›

A: You should avoid putting rocks in the bottom of your garden bed. A common myth is that this will improve drainage. Instead, this can actually increase water saturation levels as well as allow gravel to mix in with your soil, which can prove very difficult to remove later on.

What do you layer a raised garden bed with? ›

How to fill a raised garden bed in six simple steps
  1. Step #1: Prepare your garden bed. ...
  2. Step #2: Add a drainage layer. ...
  3. Step #3: Add a layer of ordinary garden soil. ...
  4. Step #4: Add some premium potting mix. ...
  5. Step #5: Water the soil to help it settle & add some mulch. ...
  6. Step #6: Start planting!
Jan 30, 2023

What should I line my raised garden bed with? ›

You can line your raised bed to make it more durable and to prevent toxics from leaching into the soil. For lining, use landscape fabric found at garden supply stores or cloth fabric from clothing. Avoid non-porous plastic, as it can retain too much water and discourage beneficial insects and worms.

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