Obsessed with the look of raised garden beds? This post dives into where to find quality and good looking garden beds for raised bed gardening!
Having a garden of fresh vegetables right out your back door has never been easier. Raised beds offer you the opportunity to work within your space, whether you have a large yard or yearn to be an urban farmer. Just be sure to place your garden in a sunny spot, ideally with a southern exposure, to get at least 6-8 hours of direct sunlight. It seems like every year I discover a new kind of vegetable or two and need to expand my garden. This year it’s Chijimisai spinach from Baker Creek!, and here I go putting in another raised bed!
Raised bed gardening has become so popular these days that there are many to choose from.
What is Raised Bed Gardening?
Raised bed gardening is an easy gardening hack, that’s what! Raised bed gardening is a type of gardening where the soil is above ground and usually is in the form of some kind of raised enclosure. Raised garden beds can be made of many things; from wood to steel and even rock.
If you are feeling handy, build your own with redwood or cedar, woods that will last almost forever. If you’d like a garden, say, this weekend, kits abound where you can create your own size for the space you have in a few hours. The good news is they are affordable and think about how much fresher your food will be when you are in control! The best advice I can give you is for your raised beds to be at least 12” deep or higher. Your plant roots really need room to spread out and thrive. So, if space is limited, go taller rather than longer.
Read my post on DIY raised garden beds and all the benefits HERE.
Here are my top three picks for raised beds.
Top Picks for Raised Garden Beds
Galvanized Steel Raised Beds
Check out Epic Gardening’s raised beds, called Birdies. These Aluzinc steel beds (more durable than galvanized steel) are amazing! You can put one together in about half an hour, place it in a sunny spot and voila—fill it and grow! The frames are bottomless so it’s a good idea to line the bottom with chicken wire or another mesh to prevent gophers and other critters from digging into your new garden. The kits let you design the shape and size of your bed which is super cool. Do you want a long, narrow bed or a tall, fat bed? You can have it all with Birdies.
Other great galvanized steel kits are:
Wooden Raised Beds
I love wooden raised beds because you can customize them to any size and even add a “bench” on top as a place to sit while you plant, or just gaze at all the good things growing. Redwood and cedar make good choices for the wood frames as they tend to be rot resistant. Wooden frames are attractive but more of a permanent fixture for your yard. Be sure you are buying wood that has not been treated as the chemicals can leech into the soil and then into your food and the reason you are growing your own food is to go organic, right?
You can build your own wooden raised garden beds, or many different style kits are available online or at your favorite garden shop.
Check these sites out!
Earth Easy has it all. Raised beds for yards, elevated beds for patios, trellises that attach to the beds for your viners like beans and peas, and videos demonstrating how to assemble your new garden bed.
Another fantastic site is at Custom Raised Gardens. Their gardens for raised bed gardening are all customized for your specific needs. Check out their beautiful potting benches and handsome elevated gardens.
Inexpensive, DIY Raised Garden Bed
For my own garden we went the route of inexpensive, DIY raised garden beds because we didn’t have the time or money to invest in the beautiful, long lasting wooden ones. Though that is my dream for our garden one day!
Our method was really straight forward, quick and easy, and I share the tutorial here in this post if you want to check it out!
Above are a few photos of how they turned out!
Get Creative with Your Raised Bed Gardening!
Finally—if you’re feeling handy and would like to repurpose materials you may have on hand or can get easily, why not consider building your raised beds out of old pallets, straw bales, logs, wine barrels, or cinder blocks. These gardens will reflect your personality!
I love Joe’s website on using the straw bales! So country! Joe Gardner
For a touch of wine country, and more barrel ideas, visit Balcony Garden Web.
I hope I’ve inspired you to get your hands dirty and plant your favorite foods, whether it be on your patio or in your backyard! I guarantee you will get way more back in rewards than you give. And who doesn’t love farm fresh veggies? Just watching the evolution of life taking place before my very eyes makes the process even more worthwhile.
Send me photos of your raised bed gardens! I’d love to see your creative styles!
If you loved this post, I think you should read my post about container flower gardening next!
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