Raised beds are a garden designer’s secret weapon, and not just because they look good. A raised bed is a microclimate of fertile soil where flowers flourish and herbs and edibles co-exist peacefully with trailing nasturtiums.
Perhaps you worry that you don’t have enough room for raised beds or that a raised bed or two will disrupt the design of your garden? Allow us to us change your mind, with these 10 innovative ideas for adding raised beds to a garden.
N.B.: Looking for practical advice about how to build DIY raised beds, how big to make them, or what materials to use? See our design guide at Hardscaping 101: Raised Garden Beds.
The New Front Yard
Above: Photograph courtesy of Sam Tisdall Architects.
In London, architect Sam Tisdall designed a tiny 800-square-foot house with an enormous vegetable garden in raised beds in the front yard. For more, see Garden Visit: The Little House at No. 24a Dorset Road.
Seaside Sprawl
Above: At their summer house in Little Compton, Rhode Island, Dan and Dara Brewster ceded much of the lawn (and view) to a sprawling kitchen garden with raised beds. For more, see Rhode Island Roses: A Seaside Summer Garden in New England.
Triple Threat
![Vegetables, flowers, and fruit. Photograph by Lori L. Stalteri via Flickr.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/raised-vegetable-beds-garden-lori-l-stalteri-733x617.jpg)
A Stacked Deck
![On a sloping property in West Sussex, England, garden designer Annie Guilfoyle of Creative Landscapes designed three tiers of terraced beds; the middle level is used as a vegetable garden and the lower level is dedicated to growing fruit. For more, see Before & After: A Kitchen Garden in Sussex, England.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/kitchen-edible-garden-sussex-endland-veronicastrum-annie-guilfoyle-9390-733x489.jpg)
Edible Backyard
![In Hollywood’s hills, garden designer Lauri Kranz of Edible Gardens LA conceived a chic enclosure more reminiscent of an Apple store than of deer fencing. For more, see Steal This Look: A Deer-Proof Garden in Hollywood Hills.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/lauri-krantz-deer-proof-vegetable-garden-la-gardenista-733x485.jpg)
Clever Camouflage
![In Connecticut garden landscape architect Janice Parker created a procession of raised beds, a row of \2\20;five strong planters spaced so the very ugly manhole covers in between them, which are for drain-out and maintenance on the coast and can\2\17;t be grassed over, can\2\17;t be seen,\2\2\1; she says. For more of this garden, see Landscape Architect Visit: A Cottage Garden on the Connecticut Coast.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/jpla_coastal_cottage_neil_landino_7_gardenista-e1462558340712-733x942.jpg)
Tennis, Anyone?
Above: Ceramicist Frances Palmer transformed a neglected tennis court into a verdant garden, using the surface as a foundation for rows of raised beds. For more, see Steal This Look: An Old Tennis Court Turned Kitchen Garden.
A Concrete Plan
Above: LA-based landscape designer Kathleen Ferguson transforms a sunny corner of a garden into a mini edible garden with a closely clustered collection of small raised beds. For another of her gardens, see New Glamor for Old Hollywood: A Visit to Howard Hughes’ Garden.
Black Beauty
![Photograph by Sandra Pettersson.](https://media.gardenista.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/black-white-orangery-outbuilding-gardenista-black-stained-raised-beds-733x547.jpg)
Above: We admire stained and painted raised beds in gardens, such as Swedish designer and entrepreneur Agneta Enzell’s black raised beds. Be sure to use eco-friendly stains and paints that are safe to use on edible beds (for more detail see our 5 Favorite Eco Friendly Stains). For more, see Hardscaping 101: Raised Garden Beds.
Above: Sunset designers created a checkerboard effect with raised beds, with a single variety of plant in each box in a demonstration garden at the magazine’s Celebration Weekend 2015. Photograph courtesy of Sunset.
For more:
- Hardscaping 101: Design Guide to Raised Garden Beds.
- Edible Garden: A Veg-Wedge on Wheels.
- Trend Alert: Stained Raised Beds.
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