My first step towards homesteading was gardening. In 2020 I started with two raised beds I made from scrap wood. Since then I’ve used a variety of different raised beds. This year, Fall 2023, the newest raised beds are made from new lumber and are by far my prettiest to date. So let’s chat raised bed ideas.
What is a Raised Bed?
A raised bed is a kind of garden structure that raises the level of the soil from ground level. There are many reasons to do this. I do my gardening in raised beds because the soil where I’ve lived is not great. If I were to plant straight into this dirt, the plants would struggle and probably die. When I first tried gardening, I didn’t realize this. Dirt is dirt, right? This is probably why I believed for many years I simply had a black thumb and couldn’t grow anything.
Another reason to raise the level of the soil is to aid in mobility issues. My dad’s metal raised bed is very high off the ground. He’s 75 and has trouble bending over, so something at or above waist height was preferable.
Raised Bed Materials
Raised beds can be made from a variety of materials. I’m going to tell you a bit about the three or four I know about personally. At the end of the post I’ll link to some others who used other raised bed ideas.
Like I mentioned, my first raised bed was made from some scrap wood. We had replaced a portion of our fence earlier that year and still had the old pickets and fence posts. I used the pickets as the walls and cut the fence pickets to be the frame. I only made them two pickets high which was probably around 8 or 10 inches tall. That year was my very first year I felt like a real gardener!
The next year, I scored some free concrete bricks and paver stones. So in addition to my two scrap wood raised beds, the next of my raised bed ideas was to use the bricks and stones. I lined the bricks up as big as I wanted the bed, then stack them up about a foot tall.
My third and fourth year of gardening was done mostly in containers. We moved at the beginning of summer in both 2022 and 2023. I did some spring vegetables in my brick raised beds, but everything for summer harvesting went in a container. I could probably do a whole other post on what I learned about container gardening. It is definitely NOT my favorite way to garden.
I mentioned my dad started his raised bed garden this year. He bought a prefab metal raised bed. He raised it up even higher than 17 inches tall using cinder blocks. Here are some other premade raised bed ideas from Amazon.
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How is a Raised Bed Different From a Container?
My dad’s raised bed, after he set it on cinder blocks, really wasn’t a raised bed anymore. Like I said, a raised bed raised the level of the soil. But it is still touching the native soil allowing for drainage, water retention, and space for deeper roots to spread out and look for nutrients. A container has a bottom of some kind keeping it from touching the ground. This is why keeping plants watered but not overwatered in containers is such a difficult balancing act!
I just finished putting together my newest raised beds for my microhomestead. There will be a YouTube video on my channel documenting how I put them together soon. Again I used cedar fence pickets and 2×4 pine lumber. Since it’s new they look so much prettier and will last longer than my scrap wood raised beds. I also could make them the size I wanted rather than working around rotting or warped pieces.
Raised Bed Layout Ideas
Now that you know a few raised bed materials, you may be wondering a few more things. Like what are some raised bed layout ideas. This had me in analysis paralysis! My backyard is super small (around 1300 sqft) and I need to lay my raised beds in a way that doesn’t take up all the space. I have two kids and two dogs (and two Angora Rabbits) that use the space too. In addition, the yard is not level, it slopes steeply from the house to the back fence. AND I needed to account for sunlight.
So here are some guidelines I found helpful for my raised bed layout ideas.
1. Raised bed size
2. Hours of sunlight
3. Accessibility
4. Aesthetics
For raised bed size, I made mine 6ft long and 2ft deep. 6 because that was the length fence pickets come in. The 2ft width is the standard width recommended because any deeper than 24 inches and the plants at the back get hard to reach and tend to. If you make it deeper than 24 inches, make sure you have access from both sides. Even then more than 36 inches would be difficult to reach the center plants.
Most summer harvesting plants (think tomatoes, peppers, squash…) need at least 6-8 hours of sunlight per day. So when planning your raised bed layout, you don’t want any trees or buildings to block the spot for more than that. However, what if you live somewhere like me where our summers quickly get into temperatures most plants (warm season or not) don’t like? I’m talking 102, 104 Fahrenheit in July! Then we NEED some shade on those plants during the hottest part of the day, while still providing them with 6 hours of sunlight during the morning and late evening hours.
After way too many weeks of deliberation I chose the south facing side of my yard to put my garden. I’ll install shade cloth directly over the raised beds to provide shade when the sun is overhead, but the early eastern sun and the late western sun will still be unfiltered.
Accessibility to your raised bed is something to consider if you have mobility issues, but also in general. If you have a large lot, you’ll want the raised bed closer to the house so it’s not a hike to check on the plants or head out for watering and harvesting. If you have a smaller lot, like me, then think of the other ways the space will be used. Make sure no play structures or lawn furniture will block your path to the raised bed. Also make sure whatever you’re using as a water source is nearby.
In our first home, I put my garden on the south side of the house. Unfortunately the nearest water spigot was on the northeast side. I had to buy several hoses to get them the length I needed. And unrolling and rolling the hose every day for watering was a chore. I couldn’t have a drip system without coming up with a very creative plumbing system…
Finally you can think about the aesthetics of your raised bed layout. This is especially important if you plan to have it in a front or side yard. Even if you don’t live in an HOA restricted community like we do, most cities want you to keep a certain amount of cleanliness and to keep the visible part of your yard visually pleasing. This means keeping the garden tidy, putting away tools, and taking out sad looking plants sooner rather than later.
A good rule of thumb for multiple raised beds is to space them about 3ft apart. This is a comfortable walking and working space for most people and allows room for most push mowers in between. Of course you could also put mulch or pebbles or some other walkway down to avoid needing to mow. Trellising vining plants like squashes not only is space saving, but can make a garden space look like a fairytale.
Do you want more raised bed ideas? Whether that’s raised bed layout, raised bed materials, or just general inspiration, here are some other posts you might find helpful.
Sustain My Cooking Habit has a Raised Bed tutorial using lumber ties.
The Handyman’s Daughter also used cedar pickets in her raised bed design.
Momcrieff used these metal raised beds in her garden.
Two Hands DIY made a lovely U shaped raised bed garden out of 2x10s.
The Peasants Daughter talks about what to put at the bottom of your raised bed.
Tikkido mad a stunning raised bed using cinder blocks and stone veneer!
Learning and Yearning has a lot of ideas and inspiration for raised garden beds.
Saving Talents put together 5 of these raised beds, I love that they included their kids!
Earth Friendly Tips has suggestions on the 15 BEST vegetables to grow in containers.