Raised garden beds provide many benefits for growing vegetables, herbs, flowers and other plants. The contained, elevated soil warms faster, drains freely, and allows control over soil quality.
But filling raised beds entirely with high-quality potting mix or garden soil can get expensive. An affordable solution is to layer different organic materials in your raised bed.
In this article, we’ll look at:
- Why layering soil in raised beds saves money
- What materials to use for each layer
- Step-by-step instructions for layering your raised bed
- Additional cost-saving tips
Using layered materials reduces cost while still providing excellent growing conditions in your raised garden beds.
Why Layer Soil in Raised Beds?
Filling an entire raised bed with Bagged potting soil or premium organic blends can cost over $100 for a standard 3×8 foot bed. That adds up fast if you want to install multiple raised beds.
By layering different organic materials, you only need to use the more expensive potting mix or soil blend for the top 12-18 inches where most plant roots grow.
The lower layers in the bed provide:
- Gradual nutrient release as the materials break down over time
- Soil aeration and moisture retention
- A deep root zone for plants to expand into
- Excellent drainage
- Weed prevention from below
The layered approach provides an optimal growing environment at a fraction of the cost of filling the entire depth with premium bagged soils.
Best Materials for Each Raised Bed Layer
Here are the best options to use when layering different organic materials in your raised garden beds:
Bottom Layer
- Thin sticks, twigs, bark, crushed branches
- Newspaper or cardboard
- Aged manure
Middle Layer
- Leaves, leaf mold, shredded leaves
- Grass clippings
- Straw or hay
- Wood chips or shredded bark
- Garden compost
- Inexpensive topsoil or loam
Top Layer
- High-quality potting mix
- Organic raised bed soil blend
- Compost-enriched garden soil
Wood materials create a sponge-like water retaining layer. Paper products prevent weed growth from below. The middle layer bridges between the slow-to-decompose bottom layer and nutrient-rich topsoil.
Use the best soil you can afford in the top 12-18 inches where most plant roots actively grow and absorb nutrients.
How to Layer Soil in a Raised Bed
Follow these simple steps for layered raised bed filling:
- Add bottom layer: Place a 2-4 inch layer of sticks, twigs, mulch, newspaper, or other high-carbon materials at the very bottom of the empty framed raised bed.
- Fill middle layer: Add cheaper loam, native soil, compost, grass clippings, shredded leaves, or straw in the middle 12-24 inches of depth.
- Install top soil: Shovel in high-quality potting mix or compost-enriched soil blend to fill the top 12-18 inches where most roots grow.
- Mix and water: Mix the top few inches of potting soil and compost together. Water thoroughly until drained to help settle.
- Mulch: Top off the bed with 2-3 inches of shredded bark, leaves, hay or other organic mulch.
- Plant: Your layered raised bed is now ready for planting seeds or transplants!
It’s that easy to layer different organic materials in your raised garden beds to save money while still providing excellent growing conditions.
Additional Tips for Cost Savings
Here are some other great tips to save money when filling raised garden beds:
- Use 100% premium soil in smaller or shallow beds since those take less soil overall.
- Buy bulk soil from local landscape/garden supply companies instead of bagged soils.
- Arrange pickup yourself when buying bulk to save the delivery fees.
- Re-use existing soil if you have an existing raised bed garden, just top it off with fresh organic matter.
- Build hugged culture style layering right into the ground for freestanding raised bed walls.
With smart layering and buying, you can create thriving raised bed gardens for a fraction of what it would cost to fill the entire depth with premium bagged soils.
Layering + Hugelkultur = Raised Bed Gardening Success
An excellent variation on layering for raised beds is a method called hugelkultur gardening. Hugelkultur utilizes logs, branches, and other woody materials layered in a mound or trench before installing raised garden bed walls on top.
The key steps when using the hugelkultur approach are:
- Mound or trench logs, branches, brush, and woody materials 2-3 feet high.
- Cover wood layers with nitrogen-rich organic matter – manure, grass clippings, leaves.
- Install raised bed framing directly on top of the layered mound.
- Fill the bed with great potting mix or soil blend as usual.
As the buried wood slowly decomposes over several years, it provides nutrients, retains moisture, and creates air pockets that plant roots penetrate.
Hugelkultur raised beds are essentially self-fertilizing, retain water extremely well, and provide excellent aeration and drainage. The layered logs provide a deep organic sponge for vigorous root growth.
Combining smart layering with hugelkultur techniques results in productive, low-maintenance raised garden beds that can be created on the cheap using available organic resources.
Enjoy Affordable Raised Bed Gardening
With a bit of planning and effort on the front end, you can save a lot of money on raised bed soil while still giving your plants an ideal growing environment.
Use woody bottom layers for moisture retention and nutrition. Bridge with nitrogen-rich organic materials in the middle depths. Then top off with high quality potting mix where active roots thrive.
The layered approach reduces cost, improves drainage, adds organic matter over time, and lets plant roots penetrate deep into the successive soil horizons.
Follow the tips above to affordably layer soil in your raised beds. Then relax and enjoy growing bountiful flowers and vegetables in your productive raised bed gardens!
FAQ
How to layer your raised bed garden?
What do I put on the bottom of a raised garden bed?
How do you prepare soil for raised garden beds?
How deep should soil be in raised garden bed?
