Make an Instant Raised Bed for Less Than a Coffee

Most people assume raised beds are a pricey garden upgrade – but the truth is, you can make one in minutes for less than the price of a coffee using simple materials you may already have lying around. Here are three of the best!

Option 1: Reusable Bag Bed

Let’s start with the cheapest and simplest option of all – a big, reusable, woven bag. If you’ve ever brought home groceries or nicknacks in one of these, you already own a potential raised bed. Hurrah!

These big bags are incredibly tough. They’re made from really tough polypropylene, they hold soil well, and at around a couple of feet high and over a foot wide, they’re the perfect size for a quick garden. (You could use a builder’s bulk bag as a larger scale alternative.) If setting it up on soil you could cut out the bottom entirely to make it more of a proper raised bed – otherwise, add some drainage holes into the bottom. Plants hate sitting in soggy soil, so punch or cut about six to eight small holes into the bottom. A screwdriver, scissors, or even a heated metal skewer will do the job.

Deep raised beds like this can take quite a lot of potting mix to fill, which can quickly get expensive. With that in mind you can part-fill the bag with other materials, for instance prunings, wood chips, dried leaves, or even grass clippings mixed with woodier materials so it doesn’t turn into mush. This works a bit like a mini hügelkultur bed, taking up space initially before slowly breaking down and feeding the soil that’ll go in on top. Aim to fill roughly half the bag with this material.

So far, so cheap! But now it’s time for the soil that the plants will actively grow in. Use a mix of garden soil, some lovely garden-made compost if you have it, and then a decent, all-purpose potting mix. And to finish, a generous handful of organic fertiliser such as blood, fish and bone. Thoroughly mix it all together, and then fill the bag right up to within an inch or a few centimetres of the top.

And that’s it. We’ve just made a miniature raised bed in less than ten minutes! Bags like this can start to degrade in full sunshine, so one way to make them last longer is to shade them with something like a bamboo or reed screen, cut down to fit – and it will also make your bag beds look a lot more attractive too. Alternatively, to keep costs down you could make a skirt of cardboard, or perhaps secure something like burlap or hessian around the edge using pegs.

This sort of bag is large enough to grow crops like lettuce, herbs, radishes, spinach or even tomatoes or peppers. But if you’d like something a little sturdier, or prefer plastic-free, let’s look at option two.

Option 2: Wire Cage Bed

Having given this a try out already, I have to say the wire cage raised bed is shaping out to be my favourite because it’s fast, flexible, and very cheap.

All we need is a length of galvanised wire mesh or fencing, chicken wire or hardware cloth – something nice and rigid. Thinner wire will work, but something a bit sturdier is my preference.

Start by unrolling a section that’s the size you need. Larger circles hold more soil, but even a small one will grow plenty. This stuff has a bit of a tendency to fight back, so a good pair of gloves is essential! Cut the section free then simply curve it around into a circle.

Once you’re happy with the shape, overlap the ends and secure them together with cable ties, garden wire or similar to make a sturdy circular frame. This can go directly onto the soil, or it can be fully lined to sit on a hard surface without spilling the growing medium everywhere.

Even if the holes of the mesh aren’t particularly big, watering the growing medium would still likely just wash out through the holes whenever you water, so you’ll need some sort of liner around the edges. Good options include burlap or hessian, landscape fabric, cardboard, or even plastic if you don’t mind using it. Simply tuck your liner of choice neatly inside the frame, leaving a little overlap at the top.

Position the bed where you want it to be, then fill it in exactly the same way as for the bag bed, starting with a layer of bulky material at the bottom. Once you’ve filled your bed, gently level the surface with your hands and, just like that, you’ve created a full raised bed for around the same cost of a coffee – perhaps a slightly fancier coffee this time round, but it’s still super cheap!

These wire beds are great because they warm up quickly in spring, they drain well, and they can be made to pretty much any size you wish. But if you’re gardening on a patio, balcony, or just have a very small yard or garden, this next option might be the best one of all for you…

Option 3: Storage Box Bed

With just a tiny modification, plastic storage boxes can be repurposed into fantastic miniature raised beds. First, make sure the container is made from food-safe or food-grade plastic by checking for a recycling symbol. Plastics numbered 2, 4, or 5 are generally considered safe for growing food, or you might see a fork and cup/wine glass symbol. Other indicators are labels or writing that indicates the plastic is ‘BPA-free’ or ‘FDA Approved’. Or if in doubt, ask the supplier.

Next we need to add drainage holes using a drill. Make sure to gather up and dispose of responsibly all the little bits of plastic you’ve drilled out.

If your boxes are shallower than the previous beds, you’ll need to add a thinner layer of bulkier materials than before. Top if off with the soil-compost-potting mix growing medium. Lightly firm the soil surface to ensure there are no big air pockets, and that’s it – you now have a compact raised bed perfect for crops such as salads, herbs, radishes, or baby carrots!

The real bonus with storage box raised beds is that they’re super easy to move, so you can shift them into the sun or shelter whenever you need. Some storage boxes come equipped with wheels, like trolleys, which would be very handy, or you could buy a wheeled plant caddy and pop your new container raised bed on top of that to make it easy to move about.

So there you have it: three instant raised beds that cost almost nothing. None of them require tools, carpentry skills, or big budgets – just a little creativity. Which is your favourite?