Cast Concrete Raised Bed Garden Ideas

Using cast concrete for raised bed or container gardens is more time consuming and permanent, but provides a modern look for a garden.

There are a couple of ways to build a raised bed garden from cast concrete.  The first way is to use pre-cast containers of different sizes.

Pre-Cast Concrete Containers

There advantages of using pre-cast containers

• The labor cost is lower if not a DIY project
• Pre-cast containers come in many shapes and sizes and can be arranged in different shapes.

Another option for cast concrete raised bed gardening is to build forms and cast the concrete in place.

Cast In Place Concrete Raised Garden

Cast in place concrete gardens are more time consuming and permanent than using pre-cast containers, but there are more options and the look can be cleaner.

Mixing cast concrete with other materials, such as wood and metal, can result in a unique look. 

Concrete and Teak Raised Planter

It might be necessary to put a waterproof barrier between materials like wood to keep water from leaking out the sides.

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Concrete Block Raised Bed Gardens

I've recently become fascinated with concrete as a building material.  The cost is reasonable, a 8 inch x 8 inch x 16 block is around $1.20 each.  Enough about me, let's look at some examples.

The usual things will apply when creating a concrete block garden.

• Use a weed blocker on the bottom
• Minimum amount of soil should be 6 inches deep

It looks like this raised bed was made with 16 concrete blocks.  This makes this bed under $20 to make.  Please note that no mortar was used in-between the blocks.



The next example is a really finished product. 

• There are 2 rows of blocks
• The concrete blocks are staggered so seams don't line up
• A cap was used around the top to cover the holes in the concrete blocks
• The blocks are mortared in





Stacked Landscape Paver Raised Bed Concept

In case you are looking to make a more permanent vegetable or flower bed without some masonry knowledge then this next one might give you some ideas.

According to the posting, A Vegetable Garden For Everyone, the cost to do this was $110 for the blocks.  That seems about right since these landscape pavers are anywhere from $2.50 - $4.50 each from what I've seen.

Here are some of the take aways I see:

• Even though the fence looks like it is meant to enclose the garden area, it gave me the idea that you could put a fence / trellis down the center of the bed.
• The 2 layers of stone seem to provide enough soil for planting.
• One thing that might help would be to put down a weed barrier and some type of mulch, either wood chips or gravel.

U Shaped Raised Bed Garden

This isn't a home made raised bed, but I have to post it up because it has some good ideas for construction.  The original is a $600 kit that you can buy from Northern Tool and Equipment.

• There is a vinyl-coated mesh fencing for the built in trellis along the back side.
• The soaker hose has a holder to make it easier to water specific areas that need more water than what is provided by the irrigation system.
• I'm assuming the raised height is about the height of an average table.  That puts it at 30".  This would make it easier on the back.
• Walk-through gate is nice to keep pets out of the area.  I'm lucky mine doesn't like to eat the vegetables I grow.

Stacking Landscape Timber To Make A Garden

Not sure where I came across this photo of a garden where someone used what looks like landscaping timbers.  

Even though this looks like a stock photo it still has some good ideas.

• Like a lot of raised bed gardens that use multiple layers of stacked wood, the joints are alternating.
• I'm assuming there is some type of post or metal rod, possibly rebar, that pins the corners together.
• It looks to be about a foot high
• This makes it good for planting deeper rooted vegetables like carrots an turnips
• Similar to other photos I've seen, the area around the beds is covered with mulch.

Beautifuly Constructed Raised Bed Garden

I was looking around in Flickr and found Kristin's raised bed garden. 

Looks like they're going to drop the bed about 2-3 inches below the surface.  Good idea.

Raised Garden Bed Ideas From Washington State

I found a post where this guy went to Washington State, and while there saw some raised bed gardening ideas from a restraunt.  The site has more detailed images.

Some good ideas were things like

• Drip irrigation
• 1x8 and 4x4 construction
• From the pictures it looks like the beds were about 21" high
• They used gravel around the beds
• Lastly there was a picture of pots that were partially in the ground.

 I'm thinking of doing some pots in the ground, and like the way they used plastic containers instead of expensive clay ones.