How to Make a Raised Bed Garden with Cinder Blocks
Have you ever wondered how to make a raised bed garden with cinder blocks? I have a quick and easy tutorial for you, if you’d like to try it.
My daughter saw those raised bed gardens made from cinder blocks while she was browsing Pinterest, and she decided she wanted to make one. This was completely new to me, but I was all in.
I had to cart the blocks home from Home Depot in two trips. Those things are heavy and weigh down the car. Thankfully, an employee loaded them for me. This is one of the times a truck would have been useful… A wheelbarrow will help you move them around, once you have them home.
If I had it to do over again, I would probably just have the blocks delivered. As I said, these are really heavy.
Also, I’m not sure if these are actually cinder blocks or just concrete blocks! They are commonly called cinder blocks, but whatever the technical term is, they make great gardens.
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These raised bed gardens are easy to make. Ours is pretty tiny, as we were just experimenting, but these can be as big as you like. Next time I will make a bigger one. You just need to buy more cinder blocks!
Here’s How to Make a Raised Bed Garden with Cinder Blocks:
- Place the cinder blocks on the ground to form a rectangle (size optional). You can pound them down with a rubber mallet to make them even and more stable, but we didn’t. If you’re making a really long rectangle, having a level and a tape measure will help you keep it uniform, but those are optional.
- Lay down some weed fabric, cardboard, or newspaper, and add your soil to both the main bed and all of the holes in the blocks. If you like to sit while you garden, leave a couple of the holes in the blocks empty. Then start planting.
I just love how there is one big space plus lots of little spaces to plant. Each of the blocks has two smaller places to plant, so you can plant so many different things. Herbs, flowers, plants, whatever you want! (That’s like having a bunch of small pots; but these won’t blow away.)
My daughter planted vegetables in the main section and marigolds in some of the small spaces. (Did you know marigolds repel some garden insects?) A garden tools set would have been helpful.
Now if we could just keep the rabbits away…
Raised bed gardening was brand new to me, but now I’m fully on board. I hope that if you’ve ever wondered how to make a raised garden bed from cinder blocks, that this post has helped you.
Are you doing any gardening this year?
This post was originally published in 2014 and updated in 2023.
Linking to:
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Hi there, dear Pam! Great to "see" you! 🙂 I know you must be enjoying your gal being back home for a while. Sweet Sunny must be also! I've been a bit absent from the blogging world too. I'm with you – when challenges roll in, creativity rolls out. If you get a chance, let us know how your garden does. That's a neat idea – I love Pinterest! Well, my bloggy friend, I hope that you have a good summer with your family!
Hi Mrs. Smith! Yes, we are all so glad to have her home. I hope you have a good summer too!
My husband does a lot of raised bed gardening. It's incredible!
That's awesome. My sister does too, but this is our first try. If the rabbits stay away, this little garden may have a chance!
Since we live in a condo, I can't use this idea, but it's a good one.
Hugs,
Kat
Honestly, I would gladly trade my garden for your view of the ocean, Kat!
It's nice to have you blogging again!!
This is a great idea that I'm sure many can put to use.
Have a great rest of the week!!
Thank you! I hope you have a great weekend too.
Nice idea!
I'm gardening with a single patio pepper plant 🙂
I hope you get some beautiful peppers, Dawn. 🙂
Good luck with the rabbits. We usually have lots of rabbits here so I was concerned about putting a garden out this year. But so far, no evidence of any rabbits.
Thanks. I just bought some rabbit repellent this morning. We have SO MANY RABBITS. I used to think they were cute…
Great post ~ I personally don't have any raised garden beds, but hope to someday try something similar! Thank you so much for linking up to this weeks Garden Party over here at Fishtail Cottage's! oxox
Thanks! Also, thanks for hosting the linkup.
What a great idea! No rabbits here, just snails and I think being rough they might keep them off 🙂
Thank you! You are so lucky not to have these troublesome rabbits. One year we planted lettuce, and the rabbits literally ate every piece!
We do everything in pots on the deck. I have 5 tomatoes, beans, and a ton of herbs. So far so good! The herbs are going crazy and it's nice to just have everything right outside on the deck. I think I am going to try to bring stuff in this year in the fall and see how long I can keep it going.
Great idea! Do you think strawberries will creep into the surrounding garden area?
Thanks, Lu! I’m sorry to say I really don’t know! I’ve never planted strawberries before. I wish I had that answer!
I have wanted to have a little herb garden for a while now. It would be great to have fresh herbs so available and right on the deck.
What a great idea some of the wooden raised beds on my allotment need replacing as the bottom edges have started to rot away, will definitely look into cinder blocks or similar as replacements.
I'd say the weed suppression fabric is quite important where you've placed your raised bed (it looks like it's on your lawn) to stop the grass growing through your compost to produce weeds. If you dug the turf out and cleared any reading roots before adding the compost then it wouldn't be needed x
Thanks so much, Dawn. Cinder blocks are so easy. Thanks, also, for the info about the weed suppression fabric. That makes perfect sense.
What a great idea Pam, I have never thought of this before. I need to do some gardening over the next few weeks too 🙂
Thanks so much for linking up to The Weekend Link Up #TheWeekendLinkUp
Thanks, Claire. It was really easy to do and worked out so well.
Pinned this post Pam. Visiting from Unlimited Link Party 31 where I shared three posts. Warm regards, Nancy Andres at Colors 4 Health.
Thanks so much for pinning it, Nancy. I really appreciate it!
I love my raised beds, and always encourage people to start a garden. Laying down the card board was smart. It will help keep the weeds away. Fun project for summer:)
Thanks for adding your post to the FWF party fun.
hugs
RR
Thank you! You are right, after a while, I really did see the benefit of the weed cover. It was definitely fun, and we loved having so many spots to plant different things.
My porch has become a garden. I think it is time to move to the raised bed. This is an easy way to do this. Thanks for sharing! I will keep this in mind next year!
We are still clearing out the overgrown trees in our yard but this is a good idea for next year. Thanks so much for sharing with us this week. #HomeMattersParty
This is a cute idea! I agree to start small to see how it goes before lugging around those heavy, heavy blocks.
Thanks so much, Allyson! Yes, those blocks are incredibly heavy!
I hope you get lots of tasty veggies from your cinderblock, raised-bed garden. Thank you for sharing this post in the Talent-Sharing Tuesdays Link-Up 66.
Carol
http://www.scribblingboomer.com
Thank you, Carol! And, thank you for hosting.
I’d like to do something like this. It looks pretty easy to do, too. Visiting from the Wednesdays in the Studio linkup.
Yes, it really is simple. I was kind of shocked at how easy it was!
Pam, this is a great idea! I love that cinder blocks can be so useful and used for many projects. Gardening is a favorite of mine, and my husband made a raised garden using bricks; it has held up nicely after a few years. I love this idea. Thank you for sharing it with us at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party. We love having you join us. I hope you can join us again this Friday. Take care!
I love that your husband made one from bricks, Steph! Until my daughter taught me about raised gardens, I was completely clueless. They’re such a nice alternative. Thank you for your party!
What a great way to build a garden that combines produce and flowers! I love the clover in your yard around the blocks. We are in the process of purposefully transitioning our entire yard from grass to low growing clover and just put down another layer of seed. Featuring you at Wednesdays in the Studio!
Thank you so much, Jennifer! I’m thrilled to be featured!
Wow, this is a great idea, as I usually plant in large pots which we are working on this week. Thanks for sharing at #WednesdayLinkUp Party.
I love the pot idea, too, Antionette! I’ve been thinking of growing some things in pots on my deck.