Raised Garden Beds for Landscapers | Durable GreenBed Kits (2024)

FAQs

Is it cheaper to make or buy raised garden beds? ›

A homemade raised garden bed might be cheaper in the short term, but it will cost you far more time and money in the long run.

While untreated wood has a limited lifetime, using cedar, redwood, cypress, or hemlock can prolong the garden's life expectancy by five or ten years, meaning you can enjoy decades with your wooden raised beds. Steel is next in durability, and stone and brick can quite literally last a lifetime.

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.

Raised garden bed lining isn't mandatory to have healthy growing plants. But adding raised garden bed lining does provide benefits. Many experienced gardeners recommend lining raised beds for these reasons: It provides insulation for the soil and helps control temperature fluctuations.

The cons of raised beds

The soil mix also can be a significant, albeit one-time, expense. Raised beds need water more often since the soil is more exposed to air and dries quicker. Similar to growing in containers, the extra watering can leach nutrients out of the soil quicker than in-ground gardens.

The soil in your raised beds will break down over time; however, you don't need to replace all of the soil in your raised bed garden to have beautiful, vibrant, or bountiful plants. Before planting the following growing season, add Miracle-Gro® Refresh™ Soil Revitalizer to your old soil, following package directions.

Vegetable Beds: On the other hand, when it comes to vegetable beds, the bed must be approximately 12 to 18 inches deep to ensure adequate depth for the roots of your plants. This is especially important if your raised bed is placed on cement or the patio, which will inhibit roots from growing deeper into the ground.

A few other considerations to keep in mind: Most garden crops need at least 10 inches of soil to thrive. If the raised bed height is lower than this, till the existing soil below the raised bed.

Gardening with raised beds can be a rewarding and enjoyable experience, but it's important to avoid common mistakes that can lead to disappointing results. By avoiding overcrowding plants, using high-quality soil, and paying attention to watering and drainage, you can ensure a healthy and productive garden.

Why put cardboard in raised beds? ›

The answer is yes. You can line the bottom of your raised garden bed with cardboard and newspaper to block out weeds or act as a barrier against rhizomatous, weedy or invasive plants. While some may opt for landscape fabric, cardboard is a more cost-effective option.

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.

For lining, use landscape fabric found at garden supply stores or cloth fabric from clothing. Avoid non-porous plastic, as it can retain too much water and discourage beneficial insects and worms.

Some plants grow too large for raised beds

You'd need a ladder, and that defeats one of the reasons we grow in raised beds in the first place, which is to put the plants on your level. Other plants take up too much horizontal space. Your raised beds are precious real estate, and every square foot counts.

Cons of Landscape Fabric

Some of the cons of using landscaping fabric include: ✗ Over time, decomposing particles of mulch and soil clog the perforations in the cloth. As the fabric becomes clogged, adequate amounts of water and air are unable to to reach the plant roots, leading to the plant's decline.

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.

Save Money by Adding Leaves to the Bottom of a Raised Garden Bed. Leaves can be super beneficial to a garden. They fill your beds with organic matter that will slowly build great soil, and they're free!

Some of the benefits of raised bed gardening are: Less weeds. Better water retention in areas that have super-sandy soil. Better drainage in areas with clay soils.