How To Build A Stone-Raised Garden Bed

Having a garden bed raised over a gorgeous stone with numerous nice-looking flowers is an asset to the area or garden around your home. Some of the soil in your landscape may be heavy clay, alkaline or acidic, or simply too rocky to work with. But you can easily mix and adjust the soil in the raised bed to accommodate the specific needs of your plants. Stones or concrete blocks are usually suitable for building a stone-raised garden bed with a beautiful look. This guide will walk you through the steps on how to build a stone-raised garden bed from scratch.

How Do You Make a Raised Garden Bed with Stone?

A stone-raised garden bed is simply a box or frame that sits above the ground in a sunny spot and is filled with good soil. It’s easy to make a stone-raised garden bed without a frame. You can simply mound the soil about six to eight inches high and then flatten the top. The raising process doesn’t require other intricate additional materials.

The rough, unevenly stacked stonework will become more attractive with time and with better weathering. If someone in your family is a big fan of growing plants and flowers in gardens, why not build them a special garden bed? 

Natural stone walls look great in any home and are easy to build. A stone-raised garden bed is perfect for poor natural soil areas. A stone-raised garden bed will increase the value of your property as most potential buyers are always looking for properties with modern garden designs. This is if you intend to sell your property at some in the future.

What is the Cheapest Way to Build Raised Garden Beds?

There are different ways of approaching a stone-raised garden bed project. Here are easy-to-follow steps on which you can get started:

• Step One: Start by marking out the boundaries of an 8-foot circle with a permanent marker, and dig a trench that is four inches deep and 12 inches wide. If the slope of the ground is steep, you will have to dig deeper trenches. 
• Step Two: Install four inches of a base material of pavers in the trench, leveling it and filling it as you go.
• Step Three: You can choose to either add or remove some of the paving base materials to help level the block properly. You can tap the block repeatedly with a rubber mallet to achieve the desired level.
• Step Four: Bring the second block up to the level of the first one and level it if necessary. Keep adding blocks and leveling or adjusting them until you reach the first level. Continue adding more blocks until all levels are completed.
• Step Five: Start your garden’s second course by laying a block on top of the first course to ensure the joint is lined up with the one that you did on the previous course. Laminate the blocks: place the first block over the studs and continue the course, ensuring that it is parallel to the studs. Add blocks until to finish the second course.
• Step Six: Once you have installed the second course, put a bead of sturdy building adhesive on top of it. After completing the second course, add the third and final course to finish the project.

Are Stones Good for Garden Beds?

Rocks are great at preventing weeds from growing and are better than mulch. Stone covers are perfect for low-water gardens and landscapes. Mulch and stones create a beautiful accent for your flower beds. Moreover, the stones give the appearance of a nice-looking garden. Each product has advantages and cons, so deciding between mulch and stones is worth researching.

Benefits of Stone Raised Garden Beds

• The raised bed helps you to start gardening early in the spring and have a longer growing season because the soil in raised beds is warmer than the soil below.
• Raised garden beds drain well and help prevent soil from becoming too hard or too loose.
• It is easier to plant crops that are resistant to pests and diseases when you use a stone-raised bed.
• You can plant any variety of vegetables that you want because you can easily control the soil you put in the beds.
• Some plants that are close together in raised beds mature faster because of being close to each other.
• It’s easier to prevent the growth of weeds in the raised beds.
• Since you won’t be walking on the beds, the soil won’t become too compacted and will remain loose, making it easy to plant seeds that will eventually grow big.
• Raised garden beds allow you to plant many different things in a small space that is not too big for a row garden or a flower bed.
• Your gardening chores are made more accessible and more comfortable because you don’t have to bend down and kneel while you work.

Can You Use Rocks for a Raised Bed?

It is helpful to put crushed rock or gravel on top of raised beds to improve drainage, especially if the beds are more than 18 inches high or if you have an area in your yard that has poor drainage. Crushed rock or gravel is readily available in your rock yards and hardware stores near you.

Because most plants need water that drains away from them, placing rocks or even gravel in a raised bed to create drainage space below the soil is a sensible idea. There are many situations in which excess water can cause problems for plant life. This may include allowing root rot to thrive and killing delicate plants. Unlike soil, rocks will not degrade or become as compacted over time as the soil does.

Wrapping Up

A stone-raised garden bed is a great project that doesn’t require any particular DIY skills. Stone-raised garden beds add beauty to gardens by providing height, which improves the look and drainage of your property’s landscape. Building a stone-raised garden flower bed requires taking your time in choosing the right stones and being creative so you can come up with walls that are securely installed.