Raised Beds for Every Garden Style
There’s a raised bed design for every landscape, from traditional to contemporary
Lauren Dunec Hoang
March 16, 2017
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and in-house designer for Sunset's Editorial Test Garden. Her garden designs have been featured in the Sunset Western Garden Book of Landscaping, Sunset Western Garden Book of Easy-Care Plantings (cover), Inhabitat, and POPSUGAR.
Houzz Editor; landscape designer and former garden editor for Sunset Magazine and... More
There are plenty of practical reasons for putting a raised bed in your garden: improving drainage, expanding growing options, saving your back and setting up homegrown fruits, vegetables and herbs to flourish. Aside from their function, well-designed raised beds can visually take your garden design up a notch, serving as attractive focal points. Here are nine inspired raised bed designs to complement a range of garden styles, from traditional to contemporary.
1. Formal and Traditional
A coat of crisp white paint and decorative post caps elevate simple raised beds to posh garden features. Keeping the raised bed materials and design details consistent with other elements of a property — fences, walls or the home’s exterior — establishes a strong design theme and integrates the parts of the landscape.
A coat of crisp white paint and decorative post caps elevate simple raised beds to posh garden features. Keeping the raised bed materials and design details consistent with other elements of a property — fences, walls or the home’s exterior — establishes a strong design theme and integrates the parts of the landscape.
A formal boxwood border outlining each bed here cuts in on growing space a bit but provides year-round interest in the bed, whether or not the homeowners grow berries or veggies every season.
12 Ways to Use Evergreen Boxwoods in Your Landscape
12 Ways to Use Evergreen Boxwoods in Your Landscape
2. Classic Farmhouse
Traditional 4-by-8-foot wooden raised beds surrounded by irregular flagstone form a neat and tidy kitchen garden for this country home. The thick wooden pieces used to build the beds are wide enough that you could balance a cup of tea, a harvest basket or pruning shears while working in the garden.
Traditional 4-by-8-foot wooden raised beds surrounded by irregular flagstone form a neat and tidy kitchen garden for this country home. The thick wooden pieces used to build the beds are wide enough that you could balance a cup of tea, a harvest basket or pruning shears while working in the garden.
The farmhouse’s raised beds, as seen from the doors of the potting shed, are planted with cool-season mixed greens, arugula, beets, leeks, carrots and sugar snap peas.
3. Modern Barn
Give raised beds a more modern treatment with sides made of corrugated steel or aluminum, anchored by wooden posts. The wide wooden cap circling the perimeter of each bed doubles as a spot to sit or lay your tools.
Humble Corrugated Metal Brings Modern Style to the Garden
Give raised beds a more modern treatment with sides made of corrugated steel or aluminum, anchored by wooden posts. The wide wooden cap circling the perimeter of each bed doubles as a spot to sit or lay your tools.
Humble Corrugated Metal Brings Modern Style to the Garden
4. Modern and Original
Make a design statement with raised beds in unexpected shapes and sizes or in a contemporary material. In this backyard in Perth, Australia, the designer curved Cor-Ten steel to form large, medium and small upright planting cylinders. With the planters filled with soil and planted with fava beans, fennel, collards, mustard greens and artichokes, the design is quite effective.
Make a design statement with raised beds in unexpected shapes and sizes or in a contemporary material. In this backyard in Perth, Australia, the designer curved Cor-Ten steel to form large, medium and small upright planting cylinders. With the planters filled with soil and planted with fava beans, fennel, collards, mustard greens and artichokes, the design is quite effective.
Terra-cotta saucers in the beds cover the tops of buried water jugs, or ollas. The jugs, made of porous unglazed terra cotta, have been buried beneath the soil to provide a slow seepage of water directly to plant roots. The water can be topped up when needed by lifting the lid and pouring it in.
5. Stately and Elegant
In this estate garden in Dry Creek Valley, in Sonoma, California, raised beds made of warm-toned stone form distinguished planters for basil, parsley, squashes and cutting flowers. Raised beds made of cut stone are the cream of the crop when it comes to refined style and durability — but they’ll set you back a considerable sum.
In this estate garden in Dry Creek Valley, in Sonoma, California, raised beds made of warm-toned stone form distinguished planters for basil, parsley, squashes and cutting flowers. Raised beds made of cut stone are the cream of the crop when it comes to refined style and durability — but they’ll set you back a considerable sum.
6. Urban Farm
Galvanized livestock water tanks (available from feed stores), drilled with drainage holes, make excellent raised beds for smaller lots and urban gardens. They’re deep enough to grow larger vegetables like tomatoes and artichokes but don’t take up too much square footage.
Galvanized livestock water tanks (available from feed stores), drilled with drainage holes, make excellent raised beds for smaller lots and urban gardens. They’re deep enough to grow larger vegetables like tomatoes and artichokes but don’t take up too much square footage.
The smooth, neutral metal is rust-resistant and gives a modern edge to any style of garden.
7. Mediterranean
Warm-toned masonry rocks form the walls of these handsome raised beds in the backyard of a home in Texas. The wide stone walls and sandy-colored crushed gravel surrounding them wonderfully complement the Spanish Colonial-style home.
Warm-toned masonry rocks form the walls of these handsome raised beds in the backyard of a home in Texas. The wide stone walls and sandy-colored crushed gravel surrounding them wonderfully complement the Spanish Colonial-style home.
8. Eclectic Garden
For a unique look, turn to mixed materials for your raised beds. In this backyard in Northern California, the designer used galvanized pan sheeting — typically used for constructing concrete floors — for the sides of the beds and anchored them in place with concrete corners, capped with bluestone pavers. Additional galvanized containers set in the center bed act as a focal point for herbs, late-summer flowers and artichokes.
For a unique look, turn to mixed materials for your raised beds. In this backyard in Northern California, the designer used galvanized pan sheeting — typically used for constructing concrete floors — for the sides of the beds and anchored them in place with concrete corners, capped with bluestone pavers. Additional galvanized containers set in the center bed act as a focal point for herbs, late-summer flowers and artichokes.
9. Angular and Geometric
Irregular shapes give classic wooden raised beds a custom look and can be useful in carving out planting space in tight lots. In this garden in Vancouver, British Columbia, triangular and trapezoidal planting beds fit together like puzzle pieces. The corner planting nooks would be a perfect spot for thyme to trail down the sides or strawberries to hang over for easy harvesting.
Irregular shapes give classic wooden raised beds a custom look and can be useful in carving out planting space in tight lots. In this garden in Vancouver, British Columbia, triangular and trapezoidal planting beds fit together like puzzle pieces. The corner planting nooks would be a perfect spot for thyme to trail down the sides or strawberries to hang over for easy harvesting.
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@urban oasis. Love the look CorTen steel! Great job.
Thanks. They seem to create a great environment for growing veggies too.
We made raised beds from ash tree logs (the trees had been killed by the emerald ash boring beetle)