Raised garden beds allow you to grow more without going through the effort of digging up your yard. Raised garden beds aren’t only aesthetically pleasing, but they come with many benefits, as long as you avoid some common mistakes. These tips will help you save space, improve soil texture, and prevent a wild outburst of weeds, pests, and critters.
With raised garden beds, your plants get good soil drainage, and you can bid goodbye to all the bending and kneeling that comes with maintaining a traditional garden. All you need is a little time, patience, and some creativity to conjure up one or more of the finest raised garden beds you could ever imagine!
If you’re ready to take the plunge, here are eight super easy DIY raised garden bed ideas to try out.
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8 DIY Raised Garden Bed Ideas
1. Galvanized Steel Bins to the Rescue
The easiest way to create a raised garden bed is to purchase galvanized steel bins that are at least 12 inches across. Using a drill machine, drill four to six drainage holes per square foot of your tub. Then, elevate your bin on pavers to allow easy drainage when you water your plants. Turning your galvanized tub into a raised garden bed brings a great aesthetic to your yard and its a great conversation piece.
2. Use Wood to Create a Wooden Raised Garden Bed
If you want to DIY a simple, yet efficient, raised bed, you can’t go wrong with using lumber to create a farmhouse backyard look. You’ll need two pieces of eight-foot-long lumber, screws, a drill, and a screwdriver to make this garden bed. Measure out the size you want and get to work!
3. Fabric Can Help
While fabric planters may look fragile, they’re actually quite the opposite! Not only do they keep your plants’ roots well-aerated, but they also help prevent water-logging. Just fill your fabric-raised garden bed with 50 percent compost, 25 percent potting soil, and 25 percent garden soil will help you grow a variety of vegetables and fruits. Compared to many other DIY projects, fabric planters are cheap and easy to assemble. If you don’t want to purchase it ready-made, you can learn how to build your own fabric-raised garden bed planter.
4. Create a Raised Garden Bed With Crates
If you have some spare plastic crates lying around the house, give them a new purpose by transforming them into a raised garden bed! Depending on how wide or high you want your garden bed, you can use plastic crates to achieve your goal. You can stack them one on top of the other to attain your desired height or place them side-by-side to get your wanted width of your raised garden bed. Before you add your soil, line the crates with coconut liners to prevent the soil from leaking when you water your plants.
5. Get a Bath Tub for Your Beauties
Sometimes the best ideas are readily available in a junkyard, and often for free! If you can find an old bathtub that needs a second chance at life, why not use it as a raised garden bed for your plants? Bathtubs are nearly indestructible, making them the perfect choice for a garden bed. All you have to do is add a couple of layers of gravel for easy drainage, followed by some sticks, newspapers, or cardboard. Add your preferred potting soil and voila!
6. Make a Kiddie Pool Raised Bed
A kiddie pool can be a fantastic garden bed planter if you want to grow plants with shallow roots. Make sure you can place your kiddie pool planter on a bed of gravel to facilitate drainage. Don’t put it on the lawn, as it could kill the grass below. You should also avoid putting it on a wooden surface such as a deck, since the moisture under the pool could damage the wood.
7. Use Old Tires for Your Raised Garden Bed
If you have some old tires lying around at home, here’s a cheap and creative way to repurpose them. An old-tire raised garden bed might not be the first idea you think of, but they’re becoming increasingly popular among DIY enthusiasts with a green thumb. While bigger tires from tractors and trucks will give you more space to grow, smaller tires make excellent pots for flowers and herbs.
8. Shopping Carts
If you want to try out raised garden beds but don’t want anything too fancy, how about grabbing a shopping cart? If you can find an old shopping cart that’s waiting to be given a second chance, transform it into a raised garden bed. You can grow herbs, fruits, flowers, and vegetables that don’t require too much ground space to spread their roots.
Be Creative!
Raised garden beds come with a lot of benefits for your garden. With them, you won’t have to deal with excessive weeds and you can easily control your soil’s pH levels. Apart from that, you won’t need to worry about soil erosion. Most importantly, you can say goodbye to the laborious task of maintaining a traditional garden. Since custom-made garden beds can be a bit pricey, we put together this list to help inspire you to DIY your own raised garden beds. Hopefully, this article has helped you with the ideas you need for your garden makeover.
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