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My first two raised beds were your standard rectangles anchored with 2×4’s. My husband and I found the plan online. He surprised me by building it over a weekend while I was away. They may have been simple, but they taught me all the benefits of gardening in raised beds. When it came time to work on my book, Raised Bed Revolution, developing the various projects was one of the most entertaining aspects of putting the book together. And since then I’ve stumbled upon even more raised bed designs for the garden – if only I had more space!
Raised Bed Designs for Gardening: This raised bed with benches is the right height to keep bunnies and groundhogs out – plus you can rest on the benches between tidying up the garden.
Raised bed designs for the garden: tips, advice and ideas
My first two raised beds were your standard rectangles anchored with 2×4’s. My husband and I found the plan online. He surprised me by building it over a weekend while I was away. They may have been simple, but they taught me all the benefits of gardening in raised beds. When it came time to work on my book, Raised Bed Revolution, developing the various projects was one of the most entertaining aspects of putting the book together. And since then I’ve stumbled upon even more raised bed designs for the garden – if only I had more space!
I’ve talked about what to think about before building your raised bed on this page, but next comes the creative part of choosing the design. First, think about what materials you want to use. Pinterest is a great source of information (this is where I discovered the corrugated iron look) and will likely introduce you to creative garden writers who have come up with some interesting raised bed garden designs they’ve written about, or even companies that sell DIY kits.
Best placement and size for raised beds
Raised beds can be any shape or size as long as the location you place them in gets six to eight hours of sunlight a day, unless the plants you’re growing love shade. These standard rectangular beds are generally three to four feet wide and six to eight feet long. At this size, you should be able to easily reach into the raised bed without having to step on it. This keeps the soil nice and loose instead of compacting it.
A quick tip for placing raised beds: When building or setting up multiple raised beds, make sure you leave enough space between them so you can walk, kneel, or even navigate between them with a wheelbarrow. Over the years you will want to add compost or mulch to the beds or between them, so you want to make sure each raised bed has easy access.
Now for the fun part. Let yourself be inspired!
