How to Create an Easy, Fast and Economical Raised Garden Bed (2024)

FAQs

How to build a raised garden bed cheap on a budget? ›

Raised beds made of cinder blocks or concrete blocks

Cinder blocks and concrete blocks are very inexpensive (typically $2 to $3 a piece at home improvement centers), and they make it really easy to build the outline of a raised garden bed.

Inexpensive Straw Bale Raised Bed Garden DIY

Straw bales create the frame for this raised bed, which is filled with soil and planted. This method is a good option for gardeners looking for a temporary raised bed garden.

On average, a DIY raised bed constructed from wood will cost $25 to $50 per square foot. To have a wooden raised bed constructed and installed for you, budget for at least $100 per square foot. (Find a kitchen garden company in your area.)

Save Money on Soil and Embrace Hugelkultur

Soil can be one of the biggest expenses when starting a raised bed garden. Instead of buying expensive bags of soil at the garden center, try making your own compost. Composting is easy and can be done with food scraps, yard waste, and other organic materials.

Cardboard or newspaper: Cardboard is a great option if you are on a budget. You can line the bottom of your raised garden bed with cardboard and newspaper to deter pests and weeds.

Concrete blocks, or cinder blocks as they used to be called, are another item that could be cheap if you're upcycling them from another project. Pricing them out, they can cost anywhere from $1.50 to $5 apiece, making them a budget-friendly option, even for a larger raised bed.

They should have at least 8 inches of soil depth to accommodate the root systems of plants, because the majority of plant roots require 6 – 8 inches of soil for healthy root growth. A depth of 8 – 12 inches will suffice for most gardening situations.

If you're looking for high-yield veggies, you can't go wrong with cucumbers, pole beans, radishes, squash, zucchini, peas, and tomatoes. These vegetables are easy to grow and have been known to produce a large amount of produce per plant, providing you with a bountiful harvest that lasts for weeks.

The cons of raised beds

The main downside of raised beds is the work and expense of creating them in the first place. You don't have to use borders (soil can be raked into raised beds each season), but if you do, you'll have to acquire the wood, blocks, or stone.

The Disadvantages of Raised Beds

If you choose to improve a poor quality soil, it's more difficult to use green manures/cover crops, as you can't use mowers or large tillers in raised beds. It's a lot more work to change the layout of a raised bed garden compared to ground-level gardens.

What is the difference between a planter box and a raised bed? ›

Planter Boxes vs. Raised Garden Beds. Planter boxes, which work best for plants with shallow roots, are self-contained with solid sides and a bottom. On the other hand, raised garden beds include sides but no bottom and sit on top of the soil—allowing plants with deeper roots to grow past the depth of the bed.

To start, lay down sheets of cardboard or newspaper for weed suppression and then fill the raised bed structure halfway up with alternating layers of nitrogen-rich materials (like kitchen scraps and grass clippings) and carbon-rich materials (like wood chips and dried autumn leaves).

For a 4x8-foot raised bed with a 6” height, using Mel's Mix: about 5 cubic feet each of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite is needed. It usually takes about two to three bags of purchased fertile mix (1.5 cubic feet each) to cover the bed surface to a depth of 2 inches.

Raised-Bed Garden Cost per Square Foot

If you're DIY'ing your garden installation, expect to spend anywhere from $25 to $50 per square foot of garden space for wood raised beds. Stone, brick, and steel will be more expensive.

If you're planning a 12-inch deep raised bed, you'll need approximately 24 cubic feet of soil to fill a 4x8 bed. A depth of 18 inches will require approximately 36 cubic feet of soil.

Newspaper or Cardboard

Even simple, cheap materials can block weed growth from below your garden beds. You can simply lay them on the ground before setting your garden beds on top of them.

Common pine boards would be the least expensive option compared to cedar or redwood. After analyzing the cost of the pine boards at different lengths, it was obvious I would save money if I cut larger boards in half. Fence posts for the corners would work well.