Got a green thumb but don’t want to turn your entire yard into a planted wonderland? Live in one of those areas where it’s actually difficult to plant flowers and shrubs due to heavy clay? Do you enjoy gardening but don’t have time in your day to tend to it?
If you answered ‘yes” to any or all of the above, you might be the perfect candidate for DIY garden beds.
Raised gardening beds are those planted at higher than ground level, and involve soil that’s surrounded by a frame to keep it in place. Most people create raised beds that measure 3 to 5 feet across with varying lengths based on how much space (or time and effort) they wish to put into their garden. You can grow any vegetable in a DIY planter box, as well as herbs, annual or perennial flowers, berry bushes, or even roses and other shrubs.
Many homeowners enjoy these types of DIY garden beds rather than traditional landscaping in their years because of the advantages raised beds offer: DIY garden beds can take up very little space, go on top of concrete, and offer better drainage over an in-ground garden bed. The soil in raised beds also warms up more quickly in spring so you can often plant your garden earlier. If you happen to design a narrow bed (typically less than 3 feet), you won’t need to step on your soil, which keeps it loose and roots favor this!
Here are a few raised garden bed ideas for any DIYer looking for a challenge.
Vegetable Raised Garden Bed Ideas
Growing vegetables in a raised garden bed has many advantages – the soil is free-draining, it warms up faster in the spring so you can enjoy earlier crops, and they are easy to manage. Vegetables that would work well in an elevated garden bed include carrots, onions, garlic, tomatoes, peas, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and spinach.
Flower Raised Garden Bed Ideas
The sky’s the limit when it comes to planting flowers for your DIY garden beds.. One thing to consider is how much sunlight these raised garden bed ideas will get as some plants require a lot of sun to grow to their full potential while others require moderate doses of sunlight. One tip for planting flowers in raised DIY garden beds is to put your taller plants toward the back and your smaller plants in front.
Flowers that would thrive in the full sun include marigolds, petunias, zinnias, daisies, and asters. Other types of flowers that you could plant in an area that is a little more shaded include hostas, fuchias, impatiens, and baby blue eyes.
Fruit Raised Garden Bed Ideas
If you want to plant fruit in your raised home garden, the key thing to remember is that fruits do require quite a bit of sun. You also need to be mindful of when you plant your fruit as any spring frost may prevent your fruits from growing to their full potential.
Fruits that typically thrive well that you can plant in a raised fruit garden include blueberries, strawberries, lemons, oranges, kumquats, limes, cantaloupes and blackberries.
Protecting Your Raised Garden Bed from Intruders
If you want to protect what you grow in your raised garden box, the best way to do so is to put up a garden fence around the raised beds themselves or fence your entire yard to keep intruders—both animals and humans—from destroying your precious vegetables, flowers and fruits. If you prefer a wide-open space and just want to protect your garden area, some cost effective options include chain link fences, picket fences or split rail fences.
Ready for Your Own Raised Garden?
If you’re interested in creating a raised garden, there are a lot of vendors who sell raised garden kits on the internet. However, we encourage you to visit your local nursery and support local businesses so that they can thrive and grow just as easily as your own gardens!
If you’re ready to put a fence up to protect your garden, then contact us today to schedule an appointment!
Got pictures of your own DIY garden bed ideas to share? Post them in our comments section below!