Nicole's Take: Raised beds cost more upfront than gardening in the ground, but they are worth every penny. After installing hundreds of gardens, I can tell you that raised beds produce two to three times more food, require less maintenance, and add genuine beauty and value to your home in a way that in-ground gardening simply cannot match.

By Nicole Johnsey Burke: Founder of Gardenary and Author of Kitchen Garden Revival

Raised Beds vs In-Ground Gardens

After several unsuccessful and unproductive years of gardening in the ground, I converted to growing most of my edible plants in raised beds.

Not only did setting up a raised-bed kitchen garden help me find so much more success and productivity, it added one thing to my entire backyard I didn't expect: beauty.

Options to Install a Raised Bed:

• Purchase a raised bed kit online, at a hardware store, or at a local garden center
• Build your own raised garden bed
• Hire a professional carpenter or contractor to build your raised beds for you
• Hire a garden consultant to build and install a turnkey garden for you, complete with raised beds, soil, the works

You can start small for a couple hundred bucks or invest more significantly for a few thousand dollars.

I'm sure plenty of you are now thinking: But... gardening in the ground is basically free, right? Why pay money at all to house dirt? I've got dirt in my backyard. Let's get into the reasons I recommend upgrading from the ground.

What Are the Benefits of Raised Beds?

Before we get into the cost of raised beds, let's consider their many benefits.

• Earlier planting, longer season — the soil in a raised bed warms up faster in spring, extending your total growing time on both ends of the season.
• Better drainage — raised beds prevent roots from sitting in water, eliminating the mold, rot, and mildew battles that plague in-ground gardens.
• More production in less space — the added depth lets you practice intensive planting and grow two to three times more than an in-ground garden of the same footprint.
• Instant curb appeal — raised beds look good from day one, before a single plant goes in.
• Start with perfect soil — no years of amending clay or rocky ground; you fill your beds with exactly the right mix from the start.
• Low weed pressure — the added height keeps most weeds out and makes the ones that do appear easy to spot and pull.
• No heavy tools needed — a hori hori and a good pair of pruners are all you need. No rototiller, no shovel, no back pain.
• Comfortable to tend — the extra height means less kneeling and bending, making gardening accessible at every age and ability level.
• Higher productivity — better drainage and root depth mean plants produce two to three times more than in-ground or small container growing.

How Much Do Raised Beds Actually Cost?

Keep in mind that costs will vary depending on your location and the materials available. Other factors, of course, are the raised bed size and the quality and type of materials you're using.

Overall, the total cost might include:

• raised bed material (wood, steel, brick, stone)
• hardware
• delivery
• labor to build
• labor to install

If you're DIY'ing your raised beds, then your cost will include the raised bed material, hardware, and soil to fill the inside (and, obviously, your time). If you plan to have materials delivered, don't forget to factor in delivery cost.

Wood Raised Beds

On average, a DIY raised bed constructed from wood will cost $25 to $50 per square foot. To have a wooden raised bed constructed and installed for you, budget for at least $100 per square foot.

These costs are for the thickest pieces of wood you can afford. While there are many inexpensive wooden raised bed kits available for purchase, I've found the boards are usually too thin (typically 1 inch) to be very durable. I hate to see people going through all the work to set up their raised beds only to realize it's a space they won't be able to grow in for longer than a couple years.

Steel Raised Beds

After wood, the next most affordable option is steel. I've created loads of raised beds and planters out of stainless steel containers by adding drainage holes. Corten steel, growing in popularity thanks to its rusty appearance, is a sustainable and incredibly durable material.

We have two different corten steel raised beds available for sale in our Gardenary shop, each in various sizes to suit your space. Let's look at the large corten steel bed, which is 48"W x 96"L x 16"H. You're paying about $31 per square foot of growing space for this raised bed. If you were to commission a custom corten steel raised bed from a metal worker, you'd obviously be looking at much more per square foot.

Stone Raised Beds

Stone is by far the most expensive material for your raised beds, at about $42 per square foot just for materials. You have the option of dry laying stones (or not securing your stones with cement), but if you're going above two layers tall, I highly recommend using a cement footer or hiring a professional to install it (same goes for brick). Brickmasons typically charge between $40 and $70 per hour for labor. The good news is, after all that, those beds will be there forever.

Raised Beds Are a Good Investment

As you can probably see, costs can add up quickly when you're installing a garden. When my husband and I installed our kitchen garden in Houston, we bought untreated cedar and built the raised beds ourselves. We ordered the best soil we could find (I recommend you do the same), and then we did all the shoveling ourselves and started everything from seed to save costs elsewhere. Even so, we still spent over $2,500 for 120 square feet of kitchen garden space.

Our finances had been tight at the time, so I felt an urge to report to my husband every time I "saved" us money by not having to buy boxes of kale or lettuce or parsley at the grocery store. I experienced more than a little guilt over how much my whole garden setup had run us, especially when my husband pointed out—with a smile—how many bags of lettuce I'd have to skip before we made up our $2.5K investment.

And an investment it was. Unless you discover a way to grow money in your garden (and please let me know if you do), it'll take you a long time to come out "even." But I still believe raised beds are worth every penny you spend on them.

Instead of hoping your garden will one day save you money at the grocery store, view your garden as an investment in your home, your landscape, and yourself. As I write in my book, Kitchen Garden Revival:

“Consider money spent in the garden like money spent on gym equipment, a club membership, or music lessons, or simply consider it as paying for a doctor's visit. The saying is a little lame, but it doesn't mean it's not true: Gardening is cheaper than therapy and you get tomatoes. It would take quite a few therapy sessions to equal the cost of a kitchen garden, but you will at least get to eat your results."

Wait, you might be thinking, you're talking about gardening, and I just want to know if the raised bed part is worth it. To me, gardening and gardening in raised beds are one and the same. If you want to have a beautiful and productive kitchen garden that you can tend easily and harvest from regularly, you need raised beds.

Raised Beds Are an Investment in Your Home

Opting for raised beds is like splurging on a piece of art to hang in your entryway.

Some of the critics of my book, Kitchen Garden Revival, were appalled at the prices I quoted for raised beds, but I'd love to know how much those same people would be willing to spend on a new couch or a home improvement project like a new deck or even a swimming pool. I know that not everybody spends money on improvements in their home, but most people do. If you're a homeowner, it's normal to spend thousands a year improving aspects of your space.  

The kitchen garden is just a small part of your overall home, but I can tell you that it is a very important one. In fact, I experienced this firsthand when we sold our home in Houston, Texas, to move to Chicago. Our realtor put a photo of the kitchen garden in our listing, and it became a key selling point. One of the first offers we received was from an interested buyer who wanted us to throw in the garden trellises.

The kitchen garden had been one of our favorite "rooms" in the house, and I guarantee you the buyers appreciated having that space too.

Ask Yourself

How much would you normally spend on a home improvement project? How much would you spend to create a space that brings you joy? How much are you already spending on home decor? Your garden will become a beautiful place where you can grow food and have special experiences.  

Raised Beds Are an Investment in Your Landscaping

When I first started Rooted Garden, I did some research on how much you're supposed to spend on landscaping for your home. I wanted to ensure it was worth it for my clients to spend so much money on their kitchen garden setups. The consensus from real estate agents and home professionals seemed to be that you should spend about 10 to 15 percent of your home value on landscaping. That means if your home is worth $300,000, you should spend about $30,000 on landscaping.

Ask Yourself

If you're going to spend, say, $10,000 on your whole landscape, then why not consider at least 10 percent of that going to the kitchen garden? That's $1,000 for your kitchen garden, and most of that budget can be for your raised beds. They will become a central feature of your landscape.

Raised Beds Are an Investment in Yourself

I like to think of the four sides of a raised bed as a room — and it can be all of these things at once:

• A gym — daily movement, cardiovascular health, and a bowl of salad at the end
• A therapist's office — space to clear your head and reset without the hourly rate
• A classroom — constant learning, zero tuition, endless discoveries
• A workshop — hands-on making and creating in a world that's gone almost entirely digital
• A health food store — nutrient-dense food harvested at peak freshness, no supplements required
• A grocery store — skip the wilted spinach and the herb clamshells; pick everything fresh
• A family hangout spot — some of the best time I've spent with my kids has been in the garden
• An ecosystem — a small, meaningful way to support nature and beneficial insects in your own backyard

Ask Yourself

I like to say to my clients, or to anyone considering a garden, that the question really is not: “Do I have enough money for a garden?” Instead it's: “How much am I already spending on all the things that a garden could provide in the areas of experience, health, community, and beauty?”  

Do a little math.

How much do you spend on entertainment and experiences and vacations? How much do you spend on classes you attend, memberships, excursions, toys, equipment, etc.? How much do you spend on vitamins and gym memberships and organic produce?

Because I guarantee you that a garden can fulfill the same urge that drives you to spend money on many of these things. The same amount of money spent on a 20-class pass to a workout studio, for instance, could instead be spent on raised beds that will last for 20 years.

Which of the above items could you pause for a few months to save up money for raised beds? Remember, these raised beds are something you can have for many years to come.

Find Raised-Bed Gardening Support

No matter your budget, there are ways that you can set up raised beds and start gardening simply and quickly—even for just a few hundred bucks. There is a beautiful garden space that will work for you no matter what your financial situation is, whether you build it for $300 or $30,000.

So, take a look at your home improvement budget and your available fun money to see how much you can afford to invest in your raised beds. You can always start small and add another raised bed to your space later. I promise that the value those raised beds will bring to your gardening experience and to your overall life will be well worth it!

If you're feeling stuck or intimidated over building your own raised bed, you're not alone. Gardenary exists to give beginner gardeners a place where they can find all the resources they need to keep on growing.

My book, Kitchen Garden Revival, delves deeper into picking a location for your kitchen garden and then walks you through the planning, designing, and building of your raised beds, plus how to plant and tend your favorite edible plants.

If you're more of an online-course-type of person, check out our popular course, Kitchen Garden Academy. Over the course of eight modules, we walk you through the complete step-by-step process to set up and grow your own kitchen garden.