RANKED: The BEST (and Worst) Raised Garden Materials

In this epic gardening video we walk through the top 5 best materials to use when you're making or buying a raised garden bed. I also discuss several materials to avoid.

All of these raised garden bed materials, Wood, cedar, cinder block, stock tanks, corrugated steel and Corten steel, have their pluses and minuses. If you're growing vegetables in your raised bed, definitely avoid the materials I mentioned (old tires, pressure treated wood, wood pallets and railroad ties).

Here's a breakdown of the video segments below! Be sure to see the article links beyond that. Happy gardening!

00:00 - Intro
01:26 - Number 5 (Cinder Block)
03:30 - Number 4 (Wood)
05:11 - Number 3 (Stock Tanks)
06:34 - Number 2 (Corrugated Steel)
08:00 - Materials to avoid
08:53 - Number 1 (Steel)

Here are the links to the articles below! Please take a moment to subscribe and turn on notifications so I can continue to making these videos and turning those thumbs green! Love you all! - Acres

#gardening #gardeningtips #gardeningideas #raisedbedgarden #epicgardening #smallgarden #containergardens

Hello! If you're new here, I'm Acres Greenbed, your affable garden guru dispensing all my garden knowledge (with a little help from the internet. Let’s be honest) for your consumption. My goal is for you to be extremely successful with all your gardening ambitions. I want that thumb of yours to turn so green that even your hippie neighbor who spends all their time cultivating gigantic artichokes will be jealous. I try to upload 2 information packed videos a week. So whether you're into small gardens, succulents, general gardening, vegetable growing or anything else garden, landscape and yard related, I'm here for you! If you're looking for information on a specific topic about gardening, be sure and leave a comment and I'll see if I can make a video or short about it!

Thank you for being here. Be sure to like, subscribe and turn on notifications. You know the drill! I'm here for you. I just need to be sure you're watching! - Happy gardening everyone!

[kalinystazvoruna]

All of my beds are made out of concrete block because the cedar wood that I had made 20 years ago rotted away. I had considered making the beds out of composite lumber because that doesn't rot, but it's difficult to make them tall enough so I don't have to get down on the ground to work the earth. The concrete block, I've found, is the best alternative. It doesn't rot, is cost effective, can be raised as far as I need it and I only have to buy it once and not be constantly replacing it. It's now about 18 years old. I also put solid block on top so weeds don't grow in the spaces. Best idea I've had in a long time.

[MeanOldLady]

My journey with raised beds led me to making them out of concrete.
We used basalt fibers (they don't chemically react with the alkalinity of the concrete & are 3x lighter & 2.5 stronger (tensile) than steel fibers) mixed in with the concrete (+ dye for color) & used some hardware cloth to reinforce the corners, otherwise no rebar.
We built them right on top of French drains we dug to deal with drainage (we covered the trench from bottom to top with landscape fabric to greatly slow infiltration of dirt over time, as well as keeping the concrete mix out) as well as a cushion to buffer against the seasonal, clay shifting in the ground.
We made them 4" wide at the top & 6" wide at the base & 2' tall. It took us all summer to build them with just the 2 of us. (We wanted them to lie fallow that year as they needed to rest after 7 years of rotational use.)

We set up forms with plywood & aluminum roofing sheets, filled & gently vibrated them to ensure even distribution & let them set for a week, covered with tarps to keep the moisture in. & then filled them after 2 weeks with mostly half decomposed wood chips which would finish by the time spring planting came back around.
They've stood up with no cracks, no mole/vole invasions & good, healthy soil for 3 years now.

[turningpoint]

Made my own when living in France out of concrete, found it the cheapest option and last. Bit of work making a form work up (had to knock down and rebuild, but worked out well.

[elmohead]

Steel isn't an option here in Australia. I want to cook my veg in the kitchen, not while it's still in the planter box haha

[thegardenguru]

Thanks for watching my videos! If you like my content, be sure and subscribe. I love sharing valuable garden information! - AG

[weibullguy]

Concrete blocks are super porous and will wick moisture out of the soil causing it to dry out much faster than other options. Modern (as in AC2 that's been mandated for the past 20+ years) pressure treated lumber is food safe. It contains no arsenic which was the problem with the older CCA lumber.

[kurt]

I'm using UC4 pressure treated fence posts, but I've stapled damp proof course material to the sides and bottoms that I am sure will prevent the leaking of any chemicals into the soil.

[mikesorensen]

I like cinder block, price is good, flexible meaning you can change your setup and height!

[davidallred]

Treated lumber is perfectly fine. Old type treated... yes had bad chemicals, but the current treated is non-toxic. It uses a copper solution.

[beetlebayley]

Well done. Great video and to the point. You've just gained a subscriber + like

[ckmbyrnes]

Pallets are an good choice so long as they are heat treated. Look for the HT stamped somewhere on the pallet. It there is no stamp or it says BT, use for other projects. A drawback is that pallets are not uniform so there are various thicknesses and types of wood. They are also better for small planters than huge raised gardens. Slather them with linseed or tung oil and they will last ~5 years.

[samsdaughterdehaven]

My old 1/4 inch galvanized troughs (3x5 ft. and 30 inches high) are a heat magnet. The soil gets HOT. I now have a a12x20 40% white shade cloth over my garden area. Liking the idea of new cinder blocks plus the stone would hold moisture a little better. And good insulation qualities??

[wnshelton]

You really should do some research on pressure treated wood, today’s PT is not the same as 20 years ago. It uses Copper, an organic fungicide. Most people drink water carried by copper pipes and some of us even take a daily vitamin and mineral pill with copper as one of the minerals.

[jimpeter]

Nicely done, thanks! Regards from Baltimore.

[stk.plantation]

Thank you for sharing. I wish you success and good health always

[kennethboyer]

I think I'd prefer cement blocks, they last forever and they can be dressed up with "stone" veneer. As long as they aren't mortered in olace they can be easily torn down and rebuilt somewhere else or just removed.

[bobbun]

I'm cheap and expect my beds to be temporary. So I use rings of 30" tall net wire lined with a decent quality landscape fabric. Fill the bottom 3/4 with woody material, then soil to the top and you're getting a slow compost pile that doubles as a waist high raised bed for at least a few years.

[mikeddh]

I have a garden bed that's made out of cinder blocks that's been there at least since the mid 1990s. I wonder if those are safe or toxic like the ones you mentioned at the beginning of the video

[sumantra]

I honor your research and love your indianness in your channel.

[dorkavenger]

Do you have any experience with charred wood? There is a fair amount of information on how long the can last but nothing about if stuff can leach into the soil. I built some at my old place out of pine and they held up great for the years I was there.