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Build a Raised Bed for Your Garden
If you fancy having a go at making a fabulous raised bed in your own garden, here's how to do it cheaply and easily.Find ideas on how to use it in different ways to create a wonderful display of herbs, vegetables, or feature, border, rockery and climbing plants. It's a great project for beginners, and can make a real impact in all types, and styles, of gardens.
Raised Bed Ideas
Raised beds have become very popular lately because their versatility makes them so useful in a range of situations, and for many different purposes.They can be placed as a stand-alone feature, or several built using different heights and shapes. Here are some ideas for how they can be used: - For fresh,organic, freely available herbs and vegetables.
- As a pergola planter.
- Creating a border around a patio or seating area.
- To add height and interest to gardens.
- In city gardens, where the planting area is restricted.
- Providing a manageable height for the physically challenged.
- Where a pergola is situated on a hard surface or lawned area.
- Against a trellis.
- To frame a door, porch, arch, pergola, arbour or walkway.
- Built against a wall over which to grow beautiful climbing plants.
- Grouped in a straight line, for a formal arrangement.
- Randomly grouped, for a more informal feel.
This is a rectangular raised bed placed against a trellis panel and planted with perennial, rockery and
climbing plants.
Here we have smaller planters used under the pergola posts. These are great for providing colour and interest if the pergola has no available borders in which to plant.
And this is a similar arrangement, only using larger planters to give even more planting opportunities.
Planting ideas are given within the plans. Really lovely planting can be incorporated into the design: - Fragrant herbs, near to the kitchen, ready to use.
- Healthy, organic, fresh vegetables.
- Beautiful climbing plants for fragrance and height.
- Gorgeous border perennials.
- Groundcover plants, on their own, or with other feature plants.
- A mini-garden, with rockery plants.
- Colourful annual bedding.
- A wonderful mixture of types, replanting bedding each season to give a different look.
- Striking feature planting.
Here are a few ideas to begin with:
Heavenly clematis found in many beautiful varieties.
Colourful, cottage garden, border plants.
Bold, architectural forms.
Majestic, evergreen, feature plants for seasonal colour and year-round form.
Gorgeous climbing roses for wonderful colour and fragrance.
Fresh herbs and vegetables for you favourite recipes.
Exotic feature plants with exquisite form and colour.
Adapting the Plans
The plans can be very easily adapted to your style and situation.Need your raised bed to be smaller, longer or taller? Would you like to use thicker wood? No problem. It's all explained in the plans. The plans also show how to build the planter with no 'fins' at the corners. This is easy to do, and will just need a few screws. With fins:
Without fins:
Here is a smaller planter with thicker 2" timber. It has been planted with a the lime green conifer cupressus 'Goldcrest' to give height, the beautiful trailing, rockery, groundcover campanula 'Poscharskyana', and a pretty, pink annual pelargonium. Just change the seasonal, annual bedding to give a different look each time, leaving the other planting to form the structure of the display.
The Plans
Here are the plans, ready for you to view, or download to your computer.
I hope you have a great time building your raised bed and then filling it with wonderful plants. Why not send in a picture when you're finished. I always love to see your wonderful creations!
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