Raised garden beds are a great way to grow not only vegetables and herbs, also to bring your backyard to life with flowers and other ornamental plants. But before you start building your raised garden bed, it is important to select the best wood for the job. The best woods to use for raised beds are Cedar, Redwood, Pine, and Pressure-Treated Lumber.
Quick Verdict: Cedar is the best
If you’re looking for a quick answer, we’d pick Cedar as the best wood to use for raised garden beds. If you can find some at your local lumberyard and it’s at a price you can afford, it’s a good bet for any raised garden bed you’re building, regardless of what you’re planting in it.
Factors That Make a Wood Good for Raised Beds
Resistance To Decay: You want to build your raised beds with wood that resists rot. All the woods on this list resist rot to varying degrees. Sometimes, however the degree to which the wood resists decay is directly related to it’s cost and/or how healthy it keeps the soil that it contains.
Price: If you’re building a large bed or several raised beds, the cost of wood can add up quickly. It’s something to be careful of, especially if you’re on a budget. Before you go all in on a wood selection try to determine how much wood you’re going to need for your project and estimate your total cost of wood.
Availability: Folks that move from one part of the country to another might understand this better that others: some wood can be hard to find. Most of the time the best wood prices are going to be at Lowes or Home Depot and you may find that you simply can’t find cedar or redwood at your local big box hardware store. That’s because certain woods are just to expensive to ship in large quantity to certain parts of the country. If you’re finding that’s the case in your area, you can try a smaller lumber yard close-by. Just be prepared to pay a bit more.
Aesthetic: Some woods just look better than others. Not only when you first put your raised beds together, but as they age. The more sought-after woods will actually start to look better with age, whereas some of the less expensive varieties start to look work out and dilapidated.
Effect on Soil: The chemicals that leech into your soil as a result of the wood’s decomposition can be a factor on your soil health. There are some pressure treated woods, specifically those that are treated with copper, that claim to be ok for vegetables, as copper is non-toxic. But the jury is really out on the safety of building vegetable garden beds. To be on the safe side, we recommend using non-treated wood for vegetables to maintain good soil health.
Reviews of The Best Woods for Raised Beds
Here’s what we think are the best woods for raised garden beds according to the factors listed above. Obviously there are many varieties of wood not on this list and some of them are great for raised garden beds. However, these are the 4 best wood varieties that are accessible to most people.
1. Cedar
The best pick for a raised garden bed, Cedar is a softwood that is naturally resistant to decay and rot, making it an ideal choice for raised garden beds. This type of wood has a light brown color and is relatively lightweight. It does not require regular staining or painting unless you want to maintain its appearance.
| Resistant to Decay | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Cost | ⭐️⭐️ |
| Availability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Aesthetic | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Effect on Soil | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
2. Redwood
Redwood is a dense hardwood that is well suited for outdoor use due to its natural resistance to decay. It has a warm red color and is resistant to insects. Redwood can be expensive, but it will last for many years if properly cared for.
| Resistant to Decay | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Cost | ⭐️ |
| Availability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Aesthetic | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Effect on Soil | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
3. Pine
Pine is one of the most economical choices when it comes to wood for raised garden beds. This softwood is relatively easy to work with and is somewhat resistant to decay. It is also lightweight, making it easy to move around when necessary.
| Resistant to Decay | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Cost | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Availability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Aesthetic | ⭐️ |
| Effect on Soil | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
4. Pressure-Treated Lumber
Pressure-treated lumber uses a combination of chemicals to create a barrier against water and insect damage. This makes it an ideal choice for that house ornamentals and flowers, but not for vegetables. Although many types of pressure-treated wood is rated safe for vegetable beds, some are not intended to come in contact with soil. One telling fact is that the USDA does not certify organic vegetables that have been grown in a bed a bed from standard pressure treatment. Best to err on the side of caution and choose another wood for vegetable beds. You don’t want those chemicals potentially leeching into the soil you’re growing your food in.
| Resistant to Decay | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Cost | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Availability | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Aesthetic | ⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Effect on Soil | ⭐️ |
Treatment and Staining
If you do elect to go with a non-pressure treated variety, it’s a good idea to coat it with an organic treatment to properly treated and sealed to keep out moisture and insects. One popular choice to do so amongst organic gardeners is to use linseed oil as a varnish. Coating your wood with linseed oil is a non-toxic way will help ensure that your project lasts for many years to come.
Tips for Picking Out Good Wood at the Lumberyard
When you’re at the big box store or lumberyard, inspect the wood a bit before loading it on your cart. Wood warps naturally as it dries and is subjected to the elements. You want to pick wood that’s as straight as possible.
Trust us on this. Warped wood is harder to work with and if it’s severely warped, you could be left with a big gap in your bed that the soil falls out of over time.
Take a moment to look down the length of your wood both down the narrow and wide sides of each piece. You should be able to spot any significant warping. Keep in mind that all wood warps a bit ,so don’t get too picky.
Alternatives to Wood for Raised Beds
Keep in mind that you don’t have to build a raised bed out of wood. One trend these days is to build them out of corrugated sheet metal. You can even skip the work and buy one off Amazon
You might also consider making them out of concrete or brick.
Do some poking around online or on Pinterest. Look on Craigslist for materials people are giving away. With a little creativity and imagination, you may be able to come up with a unique way to build some raised garden beds that don’t require wood at all.
Happy Gardening!