In this video I am sharing my thoughts on years of growing in wood, metal and fabric raised beds. I’ll go over the pros and cons of each one and let you know about the best type of wood, metal and fabric to get and even the best and cheapest way to fill raised beds with soil.
Vego Raised Beds: https://bit.ly/4hyVB1Y
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DIGITAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
00:45 – Wooden Beds
02:21 – Metal Beds
03:52 – Fabric Beds
06:24 – Final Thoughts
06:40 – How to Fill Raised Beds On the Cheap
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Hey Guys, I’m Brian from Next Level Gardening
Welcome to our online community! A place to be educated, inspired and hopefully entertained at the same time! A place where you can learn to grow your own food and become a better organic gardener. At the same time, a place to grow the beauty around you and stretch that imagination (that sometimes lies dormant, deep inside) through gardening.
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39 Comments
Fabric beds are good if you are renting your house.
We have metal raised beds.. live in Phoenix. They have been great!
THANK YOU BRIAN!! So helpful!
Thank you Brian.
Great information.
I used to garden, but gave up about 25 years ago (60 hour work weeks, family, deer…). I retired in late 2021, and started small in 2023, with containers. I discovered quickly that containers are not for me. I switched back to in ground gardening in 2024, and I am so happy…. but I applaud you passing this knowledge on. not everybody has land to plant, but there are many things you can grow on balconies and porches to feed your family… thanks for all you do. many of your lessons and suggestions apply to my garden still, and I appreciate them…Zone 7B, East Tennessee, 20 ft x 140 ft in-ground…. Cheers! 🥃🍹🍺🍻🧑🌾🍅🌽🇺🇲🏴☠️
Thoughts on (food safe) plastic? Like a bunch of 5 gallon buckets.
I used cinder blocks two high for my raised beds which allow me to sit while gardening.
Thank you for your advice. I have three two-tiered cedar wood raised beds with legs. I had them custom-made so I wouldn’t have to bend down to plant or water.
My question is: while filling up the raised beds, can I add kitchen scraps in the middle layer of the soil?
Thanks again.
Thank you for this video!
I live in north central florida, and I use 30 gallon plastic sterilite totes for my garden…they last 5 years and never had any problems growing in them!
Nice vid. I love using pots,thoughts?
Living in the Netherlands luckily have no termites 😂. We used treated wood and lined it with pond-liner. I only grow Dahlias and other flowering plants in them. As they age the are starting to open at the corners, presumably pressure from the soil. I wish I had not used garden fabric at the bottom, but was trying to keep reeds from growing through, which they did anyway.
I originally started gardening in SoCal in "raised" beds made from 2×6 redwood. The wood was more to define the walkways and keep the soil in place; I amended down into the native soil. Now that I've retired to NC, I find a taller, low maintenance option works best so I've built my new garden with 2' tall metal raised beds. I filled them with the hügelkultur method but find they need quite a bit of topping off every year (I'm currently starting on year 3); I'm hoping that will decrease as time goes on and the large organic matter fully breaks down. I am considering some of the fabric beds (or large grow bags) for "perennial" crops like potatoes and horseradish. Very informative and balanced presentation. Thanks.
I used 4’ round fabric beds next to my driveway because of the cost. 15 yrs later only one needs replacing, they others look wore so will replace all, but I really got my money’s worth.
You missed 1. Concrete or pavers. Good video lot of good information.
How are the metal beds for slugs and snails or earwigs? I know wood can attract them so I avoid those materials but would like a raised set up for around my deck.
paint the metal beds white it does help with the heat
Very informative and helpful. Thanks!
I live in Southern Ontario. For many years we gardened in wood raised beds. As you mentioned, they eventually started to rot. Also, arthritis and the rabbits took their toll. We switched to galvanized steel beds. The most important thing for me was to be able to garden without too much bending or additional fencing to keep the rabbits out. They are 4 ft x 8 ft but 30" tall. No more bending and no more feeding the rabbits. LOL. We used the hugelkultur method and have just had to do our usual top up with our compost every year. I also have one shorter wooden bed that I use for my indeterminate tomatoes. The rabbits don't seem to bother with them. This will be our 4th year and I have just finished my garden planning. The snow just melted but it will be a couple of months before we can plant outside. I've started some of my indoor seeds so I am getting my "gardening fix"
Last year was my first year as a vegetable gardener. I'm in Kansas (6b). I bought two metal raised beds (Vego) and a boatload of grow bags. I also used a dozen 18" Italian red ceramic pots that I used to grow roses in many years ago. The metal beds worked so well I bought two more for this year. The 17" height keeps my border collies out of them. Border collies are oblivious to in-ground plants! The herbs in the pots did very well, and the pots kept them contained. I have enough dried basil to last me for years. The grow bags are worthless IMO. They require LOTS of water, and the sides along the bottom rot, even though they claim they are rot proof. I used Hügelkultur in one bed last year. I saw no benefit as I had to add raised bed garden mix twice during the growing season, and again last week to get ready for this year. The bed I filled 100% with raised bed garden mix only required a slight top-off for this year. The expense was the same in the end, but the labor was twice as much in the Hügelkultur bed. My new beds were filled 100% with raised bed garden mix last week. I'm certainly no expert. These are just my results and opinions. THANKS for this video!!
QUESTION: Can we start adding branches and leaves to our existing beds? I feel like if I start a compost from scratch it would take much longer to decompose. Thanks this is a great video.
And the answer is: they're all good. I grow all my potatoes in big grow bags, my perennials like asparagus and thornless blackberries in metal, and everything else in wooden beds or directly in the ground.
Wooden beds!!!!
I like everything you said. Next review include bricks. You have one more to consider for the very hot zones 9-11. Wall retainer bricks score the highest points due to their exceptional durability, flexibility in design, and ease of modification. Allows for a wide range of applications and design options. Bricks can be easily stacked and rearranged, making it simple to change the design or expand the garden bed as needed. While wood and metal also have their advantages, they don't offer the same level of design flexibility and longevity as wall retainer bricks. Fabric/cloth beds, while portable, lack the durability and aesthetic appeal of the other options.
Once I did cinderblocks
or you can do what i do. i just have raised mounds. i also have salvaged metal roofing and made my own free metal raised beds. that is the cheapest raised bed🤣
I like the wood beds, but I also I’m actually just doing containers, but I like those metal beds
My "raised beds" were actually large pots I had salvaged from the recycling pile that was at the garden centre. Most were black or green in colour which led to the ones on the perimeter of my pot clusters getting too hot in the root zone around mid to late summer. What I found effective was to paint those pots white to reflect the sun. It was a very flexible arrangement to grow dahlias and herbs. I could move the blooming plants in and out of the best places to see them at their best from the window and entry path.
My raised beds are hemlock. This is their 14th or 15th year.
Thank you so much for your wisdom and experience you share with us in all areas gardening.This was very helpful.
I’ve always liked the look of raised beds. But, here in northeastern Ohio, I grow directly in the ground. We have a five foot fence around the garden to protect from deer, rabbits, and other critters. I replenish my garden with compost from the house and chicken manure from my hens. Little to no maintenance required. LOL! We do pretty well, production wise. Plenty for us, neighbors and canning and freezing.
What about a food safe plastic drum raised bed? 😁
I've got 4 raised bed containers metal containers, thank you so much for the info
There is a Japanese method of torching wood called Yakisugi (Shou Sugi Ban) that will reportedly make it last about 50 years. It makes the wood bug, rot and fire proof. If I were making raised beds, I think I would try it. Matt at Celebrating Appalachia did that last year, and it turned out very nice.
My raised beds/trellises have been built from pallets, ranging from 4' to 12' long pallets, I haul in a KIA Sorrento suv lol . I used a sawzall to break them apart, then a nail punch to remove the nail heads, then a hand electric planner to remove any grime and finally a tiger torch to weather treat the boards. It is a bit of work, but I enjoy it. The building supply store leaves them in the parking lot and spring is the best time for 8' to 12' pallets!!
I have been looking at metal raised beds for 2 years. After your explanation and discount code, I bought 2. Thanks for your help.
Hi Brian, I have just finished a 7Ft X 3FT raised bed in pine. About 15 inches high, as you said filling is the costly bit. I painted a few coats of water based fence paint, it contains waxes and is reasonably long lived out in the Irish elements. But I lined the inside with a woven PVC tarp type weed membrane to keep the soil from direct contact with the timber. It worked well on my other raised beds. I staple it in position till the soil / compost does the job. And in the bottom, like you suggested I filled it with branched and old mulch material. I also shredded small branches and leaves in my shredder. Its only 2/3 full but added soil , compost, chicken manure and blood fish and bone; mixed up and watered it should be good to go in a few weeks. And I can top up at the end of the season and again next year. The corrugated metal ones, for one cost more than my eight raised beds. So its really down to what your pocket can absorb. I like the fabric ones you have, I,e not seen them over here.
Happy Gardening;
Joe
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Cardboard banana boxes. They hold up well for the season even in rainy weather.I set them on the ground with the bottom open to the ground and the top and bottom sides folded in. I throw them away at the end of the season, shovel the soil into a big pile and cover with a tarp. Get new boxes from the grocery store next season and refill with soil.