# Economical ways to build tall raised beds



## Mrs. Mucket (Apr 22, 2010)

Due to gardener back issues, we want to build waist-high planting beds for some of our garden crops. We're trying to figure out the cheapest way to build the frames. Who out there has a great idea?


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## nigeriandwarfs (Jan 23, 2011)

We live in AZ and happen to have 'soil' (laughable) which is full of large rocks... so we are building our raised beds out of the rock. this year we are going to just stack them 18-24 inches high and if we like the spot we will morter (cheep) during the off season.

If you dont have the rocks other options are used cinderblock, used brick ect (check freecycle or craigs list)


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## NostalgicGranny (Aug 22, 2007)

$10 Cedar Raised Garden Beds
http://ana-white.com/2010/05/hack-natural-rustic-cedar-raised-beds.html

I haven't checked the prices yet but it still would be cheap.
Someone told me not long ago that they fill theirs with 1/3 Spag. Peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 compost.


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## cindy-e (Feb 14, 2008)

We made our beds out of cull lumber that you can get at Home Depot. The cull lumber has too much of a warped shape to be used to build a house, but it doesn't matter for gardening. So anyway, they cut it into 4 foot lengths and sell it for $.51 per length. The width varies a bit from day to day. I built 4 beds that way. 3 of them are 4 ft. X 4 ft. I spent somewhere between $4.08 to $6.12 on those beds (depending on the width of the boards we could get out of the cull lumbar cart that day). The back bed, which is 2 X 12 was about $12.24. So altogether, I think I figured somehow we averaged about $8 per bed. Can't remember if that was just the wood, or also the screws etc...
Also, all of the big rubbermade totes in the hoophouse that we are using as planters are recycled. I didn't buy those. Had them, repurposed them... 

The dirt... that was kind of expensive. I bought it from a place around here that brings dirt by the dumptruck load. It costed me $70 -If I remember correctly) to fill the beds with dirt (in total for all of them.) 
I have pictures of the beds in my hoophouse picture thread, but I don't know how well you can see them. I have one cinderblock bed, but the cull lumber was the cheaper way to go. 

FWIW,
Cindyc.


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## DaleK (Sep 23, 2004)

Look for small sawmills. I don't know what you have in your area but I wouldn't be surprised if you have some across Washington. Get some of their lower-valued wood or see if you can get some slabs cheap or free.


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## sunflower-n-ks (Aug 7, 2006)

http://www.keepingitraw.co.uk/cable-spool-waist-high-raised-bed-garden-at-a-slc-community-garden/

A video to make one with a cable spool. Looks interesting,

How to build a table type waist high bed. http://www.ehow.com/how_7859349_construct-raised-garden-bed-table.html


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

If is isn't neccessary that it be pretty and you don't need to sit on the side to garden, the cheapest way I've found to make a really tall raised bed is with chicken wire hung on short posts and lined with either flakes of straw or landscaping cloth then filled with dirt. Ihave made 2 ft high ones this way.
I also use rice hulls to lighten the soil in these beds, along with a bit of ashes and ground egg shells- most of the soil is composted horse manure. In the permanent raised bed I'll use vermiculite rather than rice hulls. Here though vermiculite is pretty expensive.
Noramlly I'll spend money for wood for the beds because it is so much less "white trash" but I needed some more beds in a hurry this year and returened to this way. 
If you can find it, broken concrete from sidewalks and driveways can be stacked to make rather attractive permanent raised beds.


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## meanwhile (Dec 13, 2007)

I have back problems and our beds are only about 2 to 3 feet high. I can sit on the edges and that helps a lot. You might not need to make them waist high? That is awfully deep. We used old beams to build our raised beds but we had them already. Also, we save all the tree logs pieces that we do not need for firewood. We just roll the log where we need it and stake it in place. Those are not as high but I can still sit on the edges of them to garden the bed. Good luck.


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## silverbackMP (Dec 4, 2005)

Not exactly cheap, but i saw someone (Garden Web maybe?) stack quick crete sacks like bricks and pinned them with rebar, hosed them down, let em cure, and removed the sacks. I thought it hat a neat effect; you could acid stain them if you wanted as well. 

Since I'm usually over on the the SHTF side of things, I thought...awsome dual purpose as a fighting position.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I, too, have been wanting waist-high beds for our root crops (Irish/Sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, etc.). About all I've figured out so far is what "not" to do, i.e. do not use treated lumber.

I am considering tree branches stacked against "metal" T-posts; also considered some "rough cut" 6x6s, though they would be rather costly for as many as I would need. I like the idea of cinder block with rebar stabilizers; but that, too, would get costly. Thus, I am still stumped as to how to get them set up; so I will be watching this thread.


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## Fat Charlie (Sep 9, 2010)

where I want to said:


> If is isn't neccessary that it be pretty and you don't need to sit on the side to garden, the cheapest way I've found to make a really tall raised bed is with chicken wire hung on short posts and lined with either flakes of straw or landscaping cloth then filled with dirt. Ihave made 2 ft high ones this way.


Homemade Hesco Barrier. Great idea. Chicken wire would be strong enough, no sweat.


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## Mrs. Mucket (Apr 22, 2010)

Thanks all. I knew I'd get some great ideas here--these are very clever too! I'm sure something will work. Shorter beds are so much less complicated to build, but in order to limit myself to "karate bows" a tall bed is the answer. Hubby will tend the ground level veggies but I love to nurture some plants too.

These beds don't have to look pretty and I don't have to sit on the edges. 
Fortunately we have no shortage of fill material (soil plus brush that will decompose) for the lower part, and then we'll add a lighter mix for the top growing layer. 

Meanwhile I actually planted onions in my window boxes. I was just getting desperate to plant something! I figured by the time it's warm enough for flowers, the onion stalks will make a nice accent  Spring is a little late this year anyway.


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## fffarmergirl (Oct 9, 2008)

How about putting a raised bed on top of a stack of tires? They're free . . . .


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## TooManyHobbies! (Mar 27, 2011)

NostalgicGranny said:


> $10 Cedar Raised Garden Beds
> http://ana-white.com/2010/05/hack-natural-rustic-cedar-raised-beds.html
> 
> I haven't checked the prices yet but it still would be cheap.
> Someone told me not long ago that they fill theirs with 1/3 Spag. Peat moss, 1/3 vermiculite, and 1/3 compost.


Just took a glance at those plans. One of the things they have you doing is ripping a cedar board into strips for corner stakes. I suggest looking around your local Lowes and Home Depot and seeing what else they have that might work. I think that what they sell as garden stakes would work and be pretty inexpensive and a lot easier (and for some people, safer). It might not last as long as cedar, but it's only going to be a couple of dollars when they do need to be replaced...


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## TooManyHobbies! (Mar 27, 2011)

Tires are a really bad idea if you live where there are copperheads. Dunno about rattlers. I've seen snakes curl up in tires before. I don't want to work around that...

The tires are fine if they are FULL -- really FULL, but not empty. That said, I do plan on using four that I have in my basement for potatoes. There is one along the side of the road between work and home that I'm eyeing...my son will not be happy if I pull off and have him hop out and get it, though, ROFL


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## Betho (Dec 27, 2006)

fffarmergirl said:


> How about putting a raised bed on top of a stack of tires? They're free . . . .


I was actually thinking about that. What's big, sturdy and FREE. Tires!

So how would that work. Hmm...

You could do tamped soil in tires like an earthship, but that would take up a lot of space in between. You could even just stack the tires three or so high and make rows of them and plant inside them? Cut out the sidewalls first, of course. I'm planting in a lot of tires this year because we HAVE them and I think they will work just fine. Doing that might not be as desirable because they will dry out a lot quicker - I find that in the Eastern WA climate it's much easier to keep large beds moist than individual planters.

Another idea, though I don't know how it could be executed, would be to slice the tires somehow in half across the diameter to form two crescent moon shapes. If you could "nest" them within themselves into a long chain, you might be able to form raised beds from them. Not sure how they would be supported, though. Maybe with rebar?

Or you could also convince your kids to build you a few nice big beds log-cabin style from scrap logs?


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## Mrs. Mucket (Apr 22, 2010)

Betho said:


> Or you could also convince your kids to build you a few nice big beds log-cabin style from scrap logs?


Oh I like that idea. I wonder if they would do it in exchange for brownies?


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Concrete blocks are around a buck apiece, but very permanent. You might stack two high(16 inches) then a layer on their sides, wtih the cores ready to accept horizontal 4 X 4 posts cut in half for the joists, then a cedar or scrapwood floor and sides. It could give you a bed of about two and a half feet wide by XXX? long and as deep as you would like to make it. Basically a greenhouse style bed on blocks or pillars.....

You could also use plastic buckets or clay flower pots on the joists or flooring

geo


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## Rita (May 13, 2002)

I saw an ad for a raised bed with support legs and wheels to be able to move it around. It was very expensive but could be built far cheaper. I wasn't sure if the actual planting bed might dry out too fast since it wasn't in contact with soil. Sure would make gardening easy.


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## Betho (Dec 27, 2006)

Mrs. Mucket said:


> Oh I like that idea. I wonder if they would do it in exchange for brownies?


Throw in some burritos and I think you've got yourself a deal 

Actually I guess it depends on if you want a high raised bed that is also DEEP or if you want a raised bed that's only a foot or two deep that you can reach easier. Raised beds on legs might be simple enough to build? Not sure.


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## dancingfatcat (Jan 1, 2008)

Just last week, my son and I made a large 4x4 box out of old "free" pallets. Actually it came out a little too big, so I may be using it for potato's. 
If you don't mind a little work it is worth it. Nice and sturdy too


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## dancingfatcat (Jan 1, 2008)

Just last week, my son and I made a large 4x4 box out of old "free" pallets. Actually it came out a little too big, so I may be using it for potato's. 
If you don't mind a little work it is worth it. Nice and sturdy too


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## wildcat6 (Apr 5, 2011)

Logs work nicely and if you can find some trees that are already down just cut them up.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

I haven't found anything that is cheap that is as tall as you want and also strong enough to hold that weight of dirt. For all the work of building a raised bed, I want mine to last for years.

The plastic kiddie pools, bought on sale at end of season can be used for a low raised bed, but not tall enough for you.

How much gardening do you want to do? If you have a source of inexpensive 55 gallon food grade barrels, you could make a few of those into very tall planters. 4-5 of those would give you enough space to grow quite a bit of food, as long as your husband could do the big stuff like tomatoes and corn.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

oregon woodsmok said:


> I haven't found anything that is cheap that is as tall as you want and also strong enough to hold that weight of dirt. For all the work of building a raised bed, I want mine to last for years.
> 
> The plastic kiddie pools, bought on sale at end of season can be used for a low raised bed, but not tall enough for you.
> 
> How much gardening do you want to do? If you have a source of inexpensive 55 gallon food grade barrels, you could make a few of those into very tall planters. 4-5 of those would give you enough space to grow quite a bit of food, as long as your husband could do the big stuff like tomatoes and corn.


Ya, kiddie pools on top of those wire spool things would look good! I have seen Gutters on walls with lettuce planted in them. Also gutters on stair stringers.


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## oldasrocks (Oct 27, 2006)

I have scavanged plastic 55 gallon barrels. Cut the tops out and not off. 2/3's full of sand and 1/3 dirt with fabic in between. Be sure to drill holes in the bottom for drainage. We also have scavanged feed tubs that the local MFA sells used that are delivered to them with some type of cattle feed. For the longer beds we use 16 ft treated 6" timbers. Trellises made from cattle panels are the main way we grow beans and peas so easy to pick. I have some cattle panels I have used for 20 yrs.


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## TooManyHobbies! (Mar 27, 2011)

You may also want to explore hydroponics for some plants. This would be easier to build up for things like lettuce...


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## NostalgicGranny (Aug 22, 2007)

oldasrocks said:


> For the longer beds we use 16 ft treated 6" timbers.


Treated wood isn't suppose to be used for raising veggies or fruit. 



dancingfatcat said:


> Just last week, my son and I made a large 4x4 box out of old "free" pallets. Actually it came out a little too big, so I may be using it for potato's.
> If you don't mind a little work it is worth it. Nice and sturdy too


Some pallets are treated. I'm not really sure how to tell which ones are treated and which aren't.


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## dancingfatcat (Jan 1, 2008)

The guy at the lumber yard said you can tell treated wood by the way it looks, it is much darker. And in pallets, they may look aged. Of course I didn't use any with paint either.


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## kyle (Mar 26, 2011)

Have you thought of digging down? My greenhouse has 3' tall benches, and for my 6'4" body its a bend for sure. so i dug down 2 feet between each leg and now im comfy  soil here is hard so it works well! maybe not so much if your soil is very soft and fluffy.

outside i use trenches which are really raised bed but with the descriptive word focusing oin digging instead of building up...same thing really. You might be able to find a happy medium building a raised bed and digging a path between a foot or 2 deep.


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## mosepijo (Oct 21, 2008)

I have always wanted raised beds out those galvanized livestock watering tanks. Too expensive thou, but I think it would be neat.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

Try putting an ad on Craigslist that you want damaged stock tanks that have rusted through the bottom. They are no use to the livestock owner after they won't hold water any more.


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## laughaha (Mar 4, 2008)

The livestock watering tanks make great raised beds, I have one. LOVE IT. Pepper plants go nuts in it.


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## Mrs. Mucket (Apr 22, 2010)

Thought I'd update this thread with a picture of what we ended up building for my nearly-waist-high raised bed. It really worked out well for my back and knee limitations so we'll build another one next year. We still have to plant tall crops in a ground-level patch, but this way I can tend a lot of plants myself.










We used 2x4s and metal roofing panels plus plywood for the ends. It wouldn't necessarily be the least costly bed, but we were able to use some lumber and roofing we already had. We used pretreated lumber on the ground and treated the other lumber with a waterproof coating. The standard width of the roofing panels makes the bed a little over three feet tall. We used four pairs of panels (10' each) so it's 40' long. The bed is 4' across so I can reach everything from one side or the other, and three drip irrigation hoses took care of watering. 

We had an off year (late to warm up this spring) but still had good results with several veggies and herbs. We plan to use rebar, 1/2" conduit, and plastic for hoops to extend the fall growth a bit.


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## rhome (Aug 10, 2006)

The best waist high beds I've seen was a simple frame of PT lumber that held 6 5gal buckets per side.
The buckets had drain holes and about 6" of recycled styrafoam shipping peanuts in the bottom.
4 of these frames =48 buckets grew an amazing amount of produce that year.
For winter the buckets of soil were removed from the frame and stored under cover then revitalized in the spring with compost.


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## gobug (Dec 10, 2003)

Mrs Mucket
I like what you have done given your circumstances. 

Did you ever notice how plants, no matter where you put them, or how you treat them, make the best of their lot in life without whining?

I noticed in your pic a black plastic tube going up at the end of the box. Is that the water supply for all 3 drip lines? What is your observation regarding that setup? Would you modify it?

Thanks
Gary


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## taylorlambert (Jul 4, 2010)

Your bed look like on a lady near where I work made. I run a rubbish landfill and one of the trucs brought in a load 20 foot long 4 inch wide pallets. She came by asking me about buying some fill sand from the pit. She was telling me about needing a tall raised bed after seeing one we have at work. I decided I d help her out. I took er down to the working face and showed her the long pallets. We set 2 rows of 3 posts 5 feet cross from each other. Then she took apart the slats off another palled to fill the cracks. 

THis bed is 40 inches tall. To fill the bottom up theres a gravel pit earby that has clinkers. Its conglomerated gravel thats in layers. We got a few buckts of them in the loader and fileld the bottom up. Then she we added a layer of clay and then manure, hay, and then few inches of topsoil and sand and then rabbit manure. SHe mixed all this with a tiller. She lft the top a few for adding mulch. 

She made some pvc hoops that go into the sides to make it a small hoop house. She also has a cage that can go over the top pf it se lets her rabbits and chickens pick it and refresh it over the winter.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I love the way you solved your problem with what you had.


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

Well, you don't really need the dirt to be 3 feet deep! 

Here's what I'd do: Pick a level spot. Make four piers out of cinderblocks and put a pallet on top. Then plant in some large containers on top of this 'table.' Voila!


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