17 Inexpensive Raised Garden Bed Ideas (2025)

By: Author Vineta Jackson

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Grow an amazing vegetable garden without spending a fortune! Check out these 17 easy and inexpensive raised garden bed ideas for your yard.

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Raised garden beds make gardening easier on your back, improve your soil, and boost your harvest. Think of them like giant containers that keep your crops neat and tidy!

Store bought raised beds, even the kits you have to assemble yourself, can be pricey. It's much cheaper to build them yourself, and you can choose the materials and style that best suit your needs, budget and taste.

Whether you just want a simple planter box for your deck or a huge vegetable patch in the backyard, I've found the perfect raised garden bed for you in this list!

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Cheap and Easy DIY Raised Garden Beds

These cheap and easy DIY raised garden beds each can be built for about $50 apiece. The design is simple and made with cedar fence pickets to stand up to weather and bugs. You'll love the beginner-friendly design and how inexpensive it is to build your own. I even added DIY garden labels to each one to remember what was planted.

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How to Build your own DIY Raised Garden Bed

1X6 cedar boards and deck screws make these garden beds cheap and beginner-friendly to build. Build one, two, or even three to accommodate your entire vegetable garden.

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Photo Credit:www.uglyducklinghouse.com

DIY Raised Garden Beds

Add a garden to your small backyard with a practical raised garden bed from budget-friendly fence pickets. This DIY project is a cost-effective way to create a dedicated gardening space in your yard.

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Photo Credit:anoregoncottage.com

Low Maintenance Raised Garden Bed

Say goodbye to concerns about rotting or warping, as composite boards resist the elements and pests while providing a clean, modern look. With this raised garden bed, you can focus on tending to your plants and enjoying the fruits of your labor without needing constant upkeep.

Build a raised garden using treated lumber to combat pests. The unique design features a trellis in the middle for vining plants on either side. It's a beginner-friendly, cheap raised garden bed anyone can make.

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Extra Tall Raised Beds

Build your raised beds taller to minimize the amount of time you spend bending over! Sturdy construction ensures that it can withstand the elements year after year, making it an ideal choice for a low-maintenance garden.

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Raised Garden Bed With Deer Fence

Extend your growing season with these cedar-raised garden beds. Cedar's natural insulating properties help maintain stable soil temperatures, allowing you to cultivate plants well into colder seasons. Metal fencing and deer netting keep out small animals that will eat your plants.

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Tiered Raised Garden Bed

Maximize your gardening space and organization with tiered cedar garden beds. These practical structures provide efficient use of vertical space, making it easy to grow various plants in a small footprint.

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Raised Planter Bed with Shelf

No bending over to tend to this cheap and easy raised garden bed! The shelf underneath provides storage for pots and seed trays to grow even more plants.

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Narrow Raised Garden Bed

One of the benefits to building your own raised beds is that you can tailor the size and shape to fit your gardening space perfectly. These narrow beds make it easy to reach across the soil to pluck out those weeds as soon as you spot them!

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Square Foot Gardening Bed

If you're a fan of the square foot gardening method, this garden bed is for you! Flat PVC trim creates a grid to keep your plants organized. Landscape fabric and chicken wire were added to the bottom to keep moles and other animals from digging through the bottom.

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Photo Credit:themerrythought.com

Super Simple Raised Garden Bed

Untreated wood and corner braces are all you need to make this cheap and easy raised garden bed for your backyard. Add your soil and you're ready to plant your garden.

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Photo Credit:angelamariemade.com

Elevated Raised Garden Bed

This elevated design reduces strain on your back and knees and provides excellent drainage for your plants. It's small enough to fit on even a tiny balcony or deck!

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Photo Credit:www.farmhouseonboone.com

Budget DIY Raised Garden Bed

Enjoy the satisfaction of growing your own produce or blooms while keeping costs low with our $15 raised garden bed. It's a practical and cost-effective solution for green thumbs on a budget.

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Photo Credit:thediymommy.com

Easy to Build Raised Garden Beds

With just 3 tools, you can make your own raised garden bed. The simple design is made using treated lumber and can be put together in an afternoon. The lip around the perimeter is wide enough to sit on, making it easier on your back!

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Photo Credit:www.charlestoncrafted.com

Cheap & Easy Raised Garden Bed

Treated wood ensures your garden bed will withstand the test of time, making it a long-lasting investment for your outdoor space. Grow your herbs, vegetables, or flowers confidently, knowing that your garden bed will continue to thrive for years.

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Photo Credit:www.twelveonmain.com

Inexpensive Raised Planter Boxes

Assemble a rectangular frame using the 2x4 studs, securing the cedar fence pickets to create this simple raised garden bed.

Which of these raised beds are you planning to make for your garden? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

Check out these other outdoor project ideas!

20 Creative DIY Plant Labels for Your Garden

15 DIY Chicken Coop Ideas for Your Backyard Flock

DIY Modern Trellis with Free Plans

DIY Wooden Tomato Cage for Pots

DIY Outdoor Plant Stand with Arbor

17 Inexpensive Raised Garden Bed Ideas (2025)

FAQs

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

1. Pallets. If you're looking for an easy and cost-effective way to create a raised garden bed, consider repurposing wood pallets. These can often be found for free on the roadside, making them a great option for those on a budget.

What is the cheapest material to build a raised bed? ›

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.

What is the best and cheapest way to fill a raised garden bed? ›

Use the Lasagna Garden Method

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).

What is a good substitute for raised bed soil? ›

Soil taken from your yard or a garden bed is too dense to use in a pot or raised bed. Instead, for containers, you'll want to use potting mix (also called potting soil), a lightweight and fluffy alternative. For raised beds, you'll want to use a blend of potting mix and garden soil.

What to put on the bottom of a raised garden bed? ›

Best Soil for Raised Garden Beds

We recommend buying high-quality, nutrient-rich soil in bulk. Or, you can make a soil mix with equal parts topsoil, organic materials (leaves, composted manure, ground bark), and coarse sand.

What are the two cons of raised beds? ›

The cons of raised beds

Use rot-resistant wood if you go with boards and figure even those eventually will have to be replaced. 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.

How deep should a raised garden bed be? ›

Herbs like basil, cilantro, and other low leafy greens like lettuce will grow and grow with just 6 inches of soil. A 1-foot raised bed is more than enough to accommodate a salad garden box plan. Carrots, radishes and peppers thrive with 12 inches or more.

Is it cheaper to build or buy a raised bed? ›

If you want to save money, time, and headaches, buying a premade raised bed is more feasible. The larger-scale sourcing and manufacturing of these beds ensures you get a competitive price on materials that may cost more at your local hardware store.

How to start gardening with no money? ›

12 easy ways to garden on a budget
  1. Build your soil first. Starting out with healthy soil is key if you want to garden on a budget. ...
  2. Research individual plant needs. ...
  3. Grow plants from seed. ...
  4. Propagate plant cuttings. ...
  5. Make your own compost and mulch. ...
  6. Grow “big ticket” plants. ...
  7. Buy soil and mulch in bulk. ...
  8. Upcycle what you can.

How can I save money on a raised garden bed? ›

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!

What is the cheapest ground cover for gardens? ›

What is the cheapest ground cover landscaping? Gravel is one of the cheapest ground cover options for garden landscaping.

How to make raised beds cheaply? ›

Here are a few items you could use, round up or find in your yard to create a raised bed on a small budget.
  1. Bricks.
  2. Stones.
  3. Wood or barn wood (make sure it's chemical free)
  4. Fence pickets.
  5. Cinder blocks.
  6. Galvanized tubs.
May 3, 2024

What not to fill a raised garden bed with? ›

Large Branches or Logs: Refrain from incorporating large branches or logs into your raised garden bed, as they can take a long time to decompose and may compete with your plants for nutrients and water.

How many bags of soil do I need for a 4x8 raised bed? ›

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.

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

If you want to save money, time, and headaches, buying a premade raised bed is more feasible. The larger-scale sourcing and manufacturing of these beds ensures you get a competitive price on materials that may cost more at your local hardware store.

What can I use as a raised bed? ›

Ideas for your DIY raised garden bed:
  • Bookshelf.
  • Stones, rocks, and tree parts.
  • Pavers and concrete bricks.
  • Leftover fencing wood.
  • Old tires.
  • Plastic crates.
  • Cinder blocks and concrete blocks.
  • Corrugated metal.
Oct 13, 2023

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