28 Best DIY Raised Bed Garden Ideas & Designs
28 Best DIY raised bed garden ideas: easy tutorials & designs to build raised beds or vegetable & flower garden box planters with inexpensive materials!
In case you missed part 1, here it is. It covers the important basics of building a durable and productive raised bed, such as planning, material selections, designs and tips on how to fill your raised beds!
Today we will look at some inspiring DIY raised bed projects, such as simple wood raised beds, no-build fabric planters, easy cinder block garden beds, and many creative garden box ideas.
Before we explore all the best DIY raised garden beds, the first thing to keep in mind is: soil building is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of a great raised bed garden!
One of our favorite methods is to dig in kitchen scraps each week, and they turn into compost after 1-2 weeks!
* Some resources in article are affiliate links. Full disclosure here .
This book Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens: No Digging, No Tilling talks about a great method to build good soil using readily available materials, such as kitchen scraps, cardboard, mulch, yard trimmings etc, without too much hard work!
Lasagna Gardening: A New Layering System for Bountiful Gardens ( Images: Ecofilms |Millhollow Works | Polivka )
Now let’s look at how to build DIY raised beds to grow abundant veggies herbs and flowers in our backyard gardens!
Simple raised bed with 4×4 posts
A simple construction of wood raised bed using 4×4 posts and 2×6 boards. Cedar and redwood are naturally rot-resistant, and great lumber choices for years of gardening. ( Image: Vegetable Gardener )
As you can see the hardware cloth keeps pests such as gophers from eating the plants.
Super easy fabric raised planters
I am always excited to discover new & inexpensive raised garden bed ideas and designs! Theses fabric planters are so easy to install and you can have a raised bed garden without any building skills! You can also find many size fabric pots from 1 gallon to 30 gallon! Below is a video by High Caliper Growing to see it in action!
These small and portable raised beds are great for lettuce, peas, beans, herbs, salad greens, onions, etc. For veggies with deep root system such as potatoes and carrots, you will want to use a raised bed without a bottom or make it deeper.
How to build simple wood garden boxes
This raised bed is made of 2×6 planks and 2×2 braces. The braces are optional supports that prevent the boards from warping or twisting.( Image: BHG )
Raised bed garden with hoop house attachments.
A raised bed with a greenhouse tunnel on top! Love the addition of PVC pipes held upright to the inside of the bed with steel tube straps like these. A hoop house can be created using smaller diameter PVC or wires. ( Image: Sunset)
Easy DIY raised garden box designs
Add 2×4 or 2×6 caps to give these raised beds an attractive look. These open bottom raised beds are good for growing anything, including veggies with deep root system such as potatoes and carrots. (Source: Chris loves Julia | Popular Mechanics )
Stacked wood raised garden planter box
Remember these gorgeous raised beds from Part one: All About Raised Garden Beds? They are made from 4x6s. Below is a tutorial on how to make the from 6x6s, which is the same process.
Waist height raised planter ideas
Building the raised bed to a counter height of 36″ will make it so much easier to garden for seniors, and people who have physical discomfort in their back or knees.
Two really simple and nice DIY raised beds. I would increase the depth on the first one, and add weed barrier landscape fabric at the bottom to both. ( Source: Instructables )
DIY elevated wood garden boxes
3 variations of the elevated planter box: add shelves for storage or casters for mobility. Images: Addicted2Decorating and Instructables.
Portable raised planter boxes
There are lots of attractive garden box variations. You can add wheels or shleves to make them more user friendly. (Source: Ebay | Gardeners)
Elevated pallet wood planters
Wouldn’t this beautiful planter at Williams Sonoma make a great gift for a garden lover? If you are thinking about DIY, someone at Instructables figured out how to build these beautiful raised beds using wood pallets!
Here’s our favorite tool for taking apart pallets – an awesome deck wrecker!
And a detailed guide all about finding and working with pallets!
Raised bed garden with fencing and benches.
Video tutorial on how to build a raised bed with benches!
Add fencing to your raised beds to keep out deer and rabbits! You can also add benches to a raised bed for the perfect place to sit and enjoy the garden, or set tools and snacks for the gardener! ( Images: Bonnie Plants )
Tiered raised bed planters for patio and porch
This stepped wood planter herb garden looks beautiful in a corner space and This ladder shaped tiered planter is great for small space growing.
Use inexpensive or free materials to build durable raised bed gardens
Tree logs can provide just the right height for a raised bed. Terracotta pipes become little pots and walls for a raised bed. Or build this chic raised bed with cobble stones and landscape block construction adhesive
DIY galvanized metal raised bed
Corrugated metal raised bed looks so gorgeous! Just be very careful- they can be sharp on the cut edges. Use wood trim to cover the cut sharp edges when building! (Via MK Library)
Wood and metal raised garden bed
Another great looking variation of DIY metal planter box. ( Source: Aristata )
Galvanized metal garden boxes with trellis
Add a trellis structure to a raised planter for added function and curb appeal! (Via Plantlust | Blueberry Hill )
Trough raised bed
Isn’t this farmhouse galvanized tank planter bed stylish? Don’t forget to drill some drain holes!
Used tires upcycled into raised garden planters
An used tire can become an instant raised bed garden. These painted tires are so cheerful and pretty! Many gardeners do not think it’s good to grow vegetables and food crops in old tires as there could be harmful chemicals leached ino the soil. But you can always grow ornamental gardens in rubber tires!
Concrete block raised beds
Concrete block (aka cinderblock, CMU ) are great building materials for DIY raised beds. You can make lots of creative designs with them. The first one is by VermiBag on YouTube, see video tutorial below. ( The second image is from Pinterest, original source lost. Please let me know if you find it! )
You can add caps to make your cinder block raised beds more attractive, and double function as a seating bench. ( Via Fab Everyday )
Concrete blocks filled with soil make a sturdy border and additional planting pockets. The key is to take the time and prepare the ground to be level. ( Source: Houzz )
Love these U-shape cinder block garden bed designs! ( Via Instructables | Shelly Michel )
Straw bale above ground garden beds
IMPORTANT: ( Thanks to our reader Jonh for this tip!) If you are interested in using strawbale in your vegetable garden, please make sure the straw comes from a field that wasn’t sprayed with persistent herbicides, which can inhibit plant growth! The best places to get straw bales for gardening is from local farms that practice sustainable, organic, or regenerative farming!
There are two ways to create raised beds with straw bales. The one above uses straw bales as a border. The method below uses straw bales as vessel and growing medium to grow a productive raised bed vegetable garden.
The pioneer of this method, Joel Karsten, wrote an excellent book – Straw Bale Gardens Complete , which gives all the details on straw bale gardening.
Straw Bale Gardens Complete Book ( Images from book by Joel Karsten )
Below is a video on how it works.
If you have been thinking about starting a garden, I think a raised bed garden is a great way to go!
You may also like these 32 creative planters made from up-cycled objects:
And 21 DIY greenhouses with great tutorials.
Or this article on how to find, select and build with pallets!
Happy building and growing! xo
Wow! They look amazing! Thank you for sharing this, i’ll definitely share this with most of my clients with my work on Rochester MN tree company, just in case they wanted to create a DIY bed gardens.
I’ve always wondered why people need a raised bed when there’s soil on the ground, I finally understood why, thanks!
Love these tips! We recently installed a composite fence and I’d love to put planter boxes along it. I will definitely be returning to this post in the spring!
Wonderful blog, I must appreciate your efforts. If one loving gardening and don’t have enough space. They must think of DIY raised bed gardens.
Thanks for sharing! I love all the raised beds ideas
Unless you know the strawbales are totally organic you will fail. The majority of fields are now sprayed with grazon to kill broadleaf weeds. The chemical is persistent for up to 5 years even if passed thru the gut of a animal. Grazon would be death to most garden vegetables.
thank you so much John! i will add your tips to the post. 🙂 it’s such a bummer that modern conventional farming uses so much chemical that even things like straw-bales have to be checked on how they were grown!
You should not use cinderblocks or tires to raise vegetables. They are okay to use for nonedible plants.
hi! thank you for sharing this! according to some sources most modern concrete block are safe as they do not contain fly ash, which is where the toxins are. i will contact some CMU manufacturers and update here! 🙂
Why shouldn’t you use cinder blocks?
Thank you for sharing all of your wonderful gardening tips! I pinned this helpful post. Your garden beds idea is very beautiful and now I will apply your tips at my greenhouse like yours! Highly Recommend
Love all the great info about diy raised bed gardens! We are getting started this year with some new ideas from your list!
Wow, this post is very informative. Thank you! We really appreciate all the information on soil and gopher etc, that will help a lot in our backyard!
Your posts are always so helpful and these raised bed ideas are great! We are busy building some for this spring!
A great innovation of wooden block and metal sheet. Good way to represent the garden. It’s a wonderful experience to see these kind of things. Hoping more ideas like these.
I’m saving this for the great ideas. I need to restart my gardening!
Really glad to find this. We are building several raised bed now before spring planting!
Raised bed with hoop house attachments, I like that. Such great ideas. Thanks for sharing with us.
I need to build these raised beds for tomatoes, peppers, and maybe a few strawberries. I’m pinning this, so many great tutorials.
We just had our best garden year ever, thanks to your DIY raised beds ideas! 🙂
I need to try those raised beds for tomatoes, peppers, and perhaps a few strawberries. I’m pinning this, it’s an awesome educational. Thanks for sharing!
Nice choice of raised planters and thoughts! I am building pretty some wooden extended planters for relatives and friends. Thanks for sharing those with us.
Nice raised bed garden ideas on your site. It really helped us building our own. Thanks!
Nice selection of raised planters and ideas! I am building quite a few wood elevated planters for family and friends. Thanks for sharing these with us.
We love all the easy components shown here, perfect for the type of garden designs we do for the DIYer!
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Wow, What an excellent post on raised bed gardens! We really appreciate all the information on soil and gopher etc, that will help a lot in our backyard!
Great raised bed garden ideas! Thank you! We really like the standing raised planters!
This post is very informative, I am inspired to build some raised beds for our vegetable garden this spring!
We are excited to start building raised beds this spring! Thank you for the great gardening tips!
Affordable, easy & efficient way to create a beautiful and productive garden! Love these raised bed ideas!
We are starting to build several raised beds in our garden. This gives us lots of good ideas. Thanks for the inspirations!
This is so helpful because we just started vegetable gardening! Raised beds are our next projects because they look great and have so many benefits!
Stunning! These contemplations are so cool! Thankful to you for sharing! I wish I could DIY these raised bed garden as they did. There are some wonderful musings in this post.
Hello Ananda, It’s a great list. My favorite number 5. thanks!
Raised bed with hoop house attachments, I like that. Such great ideas. Thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks for such inspiring post we will definitely be using some of these ideas for next planting season….we recently converted our planting area to raised beds and vertical gardening and what a year we’ve had! Much higher yield….here in Londo there are lots of places where you can get free pallets, we pulled them apart (mostly the husband lol) save the nails and build raise beds and much more. Thanks again!!
hi marilyn, thank you so much for sharing your pallet adventures! 🙂 your raised bed garden sounds wonderful! best wishes!
Wow! These ideas are so cool! Thank you for sharing! I wish I could DIY these raised bed garden as they did.
I like to comment on the instruction on how to build a raised bed. you should never use top soil it meant to be used to fill in hole in your lawn not raised beds you should use either garden soil or potting soil this give you vegetables ability spread their roots. I use a mixture of cow manure and garden soil, 3 parts soil to 1 part cow manure my plants love it.
It’s always easier when doing something with tutorial! Thanks for sharing it here! I’m trying to make some raised beds for my garden and I hope things work well for me with your guide!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE all these ideas. They are great ways yo save a little bit of toil on your back also! Thanks for taking the time to share.
YES. I would like one of each please! 😉 Gorgeous list of raised bed gardens. I definitely need to invest a little bit of time in a few of them. My plants are getting too big for my pots already. Yikes!
There are some fantastic ideas in this post. The Mister and I have been talking about revamping our beds (though that will probably be in the fall); I’ll have to share a few of these ideas with him.
Ooooh, very high tech, love it!
These are gorgeous and I have a dream of having raised beds in my backyard one day. However, I need to go to gardening school first, because I’m realizing I do not have a green thumb! Ha!
These are so amazing! Thanks for sharing. This is one of my favorite blog posts this week. Yay! #7 is my favorite. =)
These are such great ideas. I LOVE the raised beds with the benches, what a great idea!! I have 4×4 raised beds in my garden and next year they’ll need to be replaced. I have some great inspiration for some new ones. Thanks so much for sharing!
Love this! I have pallets and old tires laying around in the garage. I should do this! Pinning this to save.
Wonderful bed garden ideas. I only have a small balcony but I love gardening.
These are so beautiful! They are a great way to add character to your garden/
Those are some super cute ideas! I would love some cages on mine… dang rabbits love to snack in my garden! 🙂
I love the idea of this! My mom just put one in her yard, so I can’t wait to see how it turns out!
I LOVE these! I want to plant some raised beds so badly. I’ve been thinking a lot about doing the tire ones. They seem easiest if I can find enough old tires.
I love all these raise bed ideas. I’m getting older and raised beds are perfect and easier for me
I am sending this to my husband. I want an herb garden so bad!! Love these ideas. Thank you.
I can’t wait for the day we have a yard and can have a garden! Great post! These are all so amazing!
I want to try these raised beds for tomoatoes, peppers, and maybe some strawberries. I’m pinning this, it’s a great tutorial. Thanks for sharing!
I combined #6 above with a pallet (non-treated) & planted lettuce and kale between the slats. Very happy with the results! Thanks for the great inspiration.
must be so pretty too! 🙂