Grow Plants Anywhere With the Best Raised Garden
People tend to equate gardening with hard work. Digging soil and planting flowers and vegetables in the ground can be an arduous process, especially if you don’t have a large backyard for growing plants. But a raised garden bed allows you to have your own personalized garden practically anywhere, from your kitchen to your patio.
Regardless of if you’re a novice or an expert gardener, using a raised garden bed is an excellent option for growing a variety of plants. From vegetables to flowers to decorative plants, you can plant anything in a raised bed. Plus, these unique growing spaces help keep your garden free of weeds and protect your plants from pests.
To help you choose the perfect raised bed for your space, we’ve rounded up the top raised gardens of 2024. Let’s take a look!
Buyer's Guide for Finding a Raised Garden
Raised-bed gardening has become a trendy gardening alternative. It allows you to plant your favorite herbs, vegetables and flowers anywhere. With so many options, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed when trying to choose the right raised garden for your outdoor space. We’ll walk you through the entire process and explain everything you need to know about raised garden beds.
What Are the Types of Raised Gardens?
Some people tend to use these terms interchangeably, but there are four varieties of raised gardens:
Raised ground garden bed
A raised ground garden requires nothing but soil. It’s a standard raised bed constructed from a metal sheet or wooden planks and is usually about 6 to 8 inches high. These beds are used by people with large backyards who don’t want to spend a lot of money putting up expensive support frameworks for gardening.
Supported raised garden bed
An edge or framework that encircles the bed is required to build a supported raised garden. This can be constructed from wood, metal, stone or plastic. These supported beds are perfect for sloped or uneven ground, giving your backyard a more tailored appearance.
Container raised garden bed
The sidewalls of a container-based raised garden bed are higher — around 10 inches or more. Container gardens can be used almost anywhere, including lawns, sidewalks and terraces. While they require a bit of soil to fill the containers, they are suitable for high-traffic areas because of how adaptable and easy they are to set up and use.
Elevated raised garden bed
An elevated raised garden is identical to a container-based bed, but it is taller. Usually, these gardens have table-like legs that lift your bed above the ground to a convenient standing position — roughly 30 inches or higher. People who enjoy gardening but have mobility challenges might benefit from these garden beds.
What To Know When Buying a Raised Garden
Material
Raised garden beds are typically constructed from rot and warp-resistant wood, such as fir or cedar. These days, elevated beds are also being built from different materials, including plastic, metal, woven willow and even concrete. The material you choose depends on your personal preference and your outdoor space.
Try to avoid buying pressure-treated timber beds since these tend to pollute the soil with metals. The most simple-to-install raised gardens are usually made of rot-resistant, contamination-free, food-safe materials.
Size
When deciding the length and breadth of a garden bed, always consider your available outdoor space. The size of your yard defines the length of a suitable garden bed, while the gardener’s reach determines the width. If you can’t reach the middle of the bed, you certainly won’t be able to tend the areas that are out of reach and you’ll have to step on the bed, compressing the soil, which can destroy your garden.
Easy installation
Raised garden beds are pretty easy to construct, especially compared to DIY beds. Making a garden bed from scratch requires time and effort. You must purchase all the required materials, cut them and then assemble them. A raised garden kit includes everything you need for easy installation, which usually takes around five to 10 minutes. Plus, there is a kit to fit almost every skill level.
Liners and drainage holes
Liners aren’t the most essential component, but they’re especially handy if you have a raised garden bed made of wood, stone or concrete. The liner will preserve the surface from staining.
Keep in mind that outdoor garden beds must have drainage holes so excess water can drain out of the soil. Drainage holes keep water from collecting at the bottom of your garden bed. Excessive water accumulation provides the ideal habitat for fungus and bacteria to thrive. Plus, prolonged immersion in water might cause root-rot, which can damage and even kill your plants.
The Best Raised Garden Models of 2024 in Detail
Land Guard Raised Garden – Best Overall
If you’re looking for something different from a standard square or hexagonal wooden bed, the Land Guard’s oval-shaped raised garden bed is the perfect choice for you. Made of double layer Q195 galvanized metal, it’s corrosion-resistant and can withstand tremendous pressure without deforming. This galvanized planter sheet has a maximum thickness of 1.56 millimeters, making it sturdy and long-lasting. Easy to install, this elevated garden bed has an open base that avoids water accumulation and mold growth. Plus, you don’t have to worry about getting hurt on the sharp metal edges since they’re entirely blunted. Thanks to the metal’s anti-corrosive properties and its strong and sturdy design, we’ve chosen this raised garden as our best overall choice.
Pros
- Made of anti-corrosion metal
- Features an open base
- Superior water drainage
- Strong and durable build
Cons
- Metal is very thin
Best Choice Products Raised Garden – Best Design
Perfect for your balcony, patio or deck, the Best Choice Products Raised Garden is a high-quality product. While this garden bed requires assembly, it’s built out of pest-resistant fir that’s mold-resistant and has been skillfully cut and milled. All of the bed’s parts — including slats, side sections and bottom rails — are simple to assemble and fit together like jigsaw pieces. What’s more, this raised bed has been carefully designed to facilitate proper drainage while keeping the soil fresh. This elevated bed is 34-inches long, 18-inches wide and 30-inches tall, which provides ample growing space for flowers and vegetables. Plus, its height helps you avoid excessive bending over, saving your back from unnecessary aches and pains.
Pros
- Attractive wooden design
- Perfect height for pain-free gardening
- Simple to assemble
Cons
- Wood may mold over time
Jumbl Raised Garden – Best for Small Spaces
If you’re looking for an elevated garden to fit in a small space, the Jumbl Raised Garden is the one for you. Made of elegant Canadian cedar that is 100% warp and rot-resistant, this attractive red cedar wood will also protect your elevated garden from weather-related damage, preventing it from shrinking or swelling following temperature fluctuation. With a simple assembly process, this garden bed sits 30 inches above the ground and comes with all the essential components to set it up. As an added bonus, this raised garden bed comes with a liner and is available in four different sizes.
Pros
- Made of high-grade cedar
- Rot and warp-resistant
- Features an included garden liner
Cons
- Wood may develop cracks
Boldly Growing Raised Garden – Most Durable
The Boldly Growing Raised Garden is made of high-quality yellow cedarwood. This stunning raised planter outlasts its competition and is sure to complement your yard or patio. With ample growing space and a high height of 33 inches, this raised bed can hold up to 5 cubic meters of soil. What’s more, to prevent warping, the planter is outfitted with groove panels. The legs are milled from a single cedar post, eliminating interconnections between the bed’s bottom and the legs, making this garden bed durable and stable. With a weight capacity up to 1000 pounds, this raised garden bed is sure to last a long time. As an added bonus, the manufacturer offers a one year warranty on all its products so you can rest assured that your garden bed will be replaced if needed.
Pros
- Made of solid, rot-resistant yellow cedar
- Features a groove panel to prevent warping
- Can hold up to 1000 pounds
Cons
- Mold growth is common
FOYUEE Raised Garden – Best Galvanized Steel
The FOYUEE Raised Garden is perfect if you want to grow a large amount of flowers and vegetables in your backyard. Constructed of thick galvanized steel with an anti-rust coating, this raised garden bed rests on the ground, ensuring adequate drainage while also keeping weeds and insects at bay, safeguarding your garden. Simple to set up, this garden bed takes about five minutes to put together. Before you know it you’ll be filling it with dirt and planting away! Plus, it will keep your vegetables free of contaminants and toxins thanks to its bottomless design and eco-friendly coating.
Pros
- Large capacity for ample growing
- Bottomless design prevents water accumulation
- Quick and simple to install
Cons
- May rust with time
People Also Asked
A: The first step in preparing your raised garden bed for gardening is to fill it with soil. The kind of soil you use is determined by what you’re planting. Topsoil should be free of pebbles, sticks and clumps and mixed with compost. We recommend choosing pre-mixed soil with options that contain 50-50 soil and compost. After this, you’re ready to plant.
A: Plants need additional water in dry, windy and hot weather. We recommend watering once or twice daily. During the rest of the year, your raised bed may only require watering once or twice a week.
