You've prepped your garden area and built raised beds. What comes next? While you could simply fill the beds with soil, this can be costly. Plus, you may have concerns you'd like to address—rodents in your garden, weed prevention, or water drainage for instance. To find the best material for your beds, read through our comprehensive list of options and suggestions for when you should use them.

3

Cardboard

  1. Lay cardboard on the bed to smother weeds and provide insulation. The cardboard prevent weeds from shooting up through the soil and they add a layer of insulation that keeps plant roots warm during the winter months. Since cardboard absorbs water, it can also keep the soil moist, so the plant roots don't dry out.[3]
    • You only need a single layer of cardboard to block weeds. Since it will break down after a season, you will need to replace the cardboard the next time you top up your raised bed's soil.
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7

Compost

  1. Fill half the bed with compost to add rich nutrients to your garden soil. You can use compost from your yard or buy high-quality compost from a garden supply store. Fill the rest of the bed with quality topsoil and mix it in a shovel, so you have a soil combination of 50% compost and 50% topsoil.[7]
    • You can use straight compost without any soil mixed in if your compost is well-aged and no longer smells.
    • The soil level in your raised bed garden will sink a few inches every year as the soil settles. Just add a few inches of compost every year to replace it and keep your soil healthy.
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8

Hardware cloth

  1. Line the bottom of the bed with a metal hardware cloth to deter rodents. If you've got gophers or moles trying to sabotage your garden, hardware cloth can prevent them from digging under your beds. Staple a layer of metal hardware cloth to the very bottom of the bed before you fill it in with soil. This barrier stops rodents from digging underneath your garden.[8]
    • Purchase metal hardware cloth at your local hardware store, farming supply store, or online.
    • If you've dealt with pests in the past, it's also a good idea to put up a fence around the beds, so the gophers can't climb over the barrier. Make your little garden fence at least 1 foot (0.30 m) high.
9

Landscape fabric

  1. Spread landscape fabric to prevent weeds and encourage drainage. You might see landscape fabric called weed mat. It acts as a barrier to stop weeds or roots from nearby trees from working their way into your garden bed. Landscape fabric is usually effective for a few seasons before you need to replace it.[9]
    • Landscape fabric keeps the soil in place, but water can easily drain away from the soil. This is useful if you've got clay soil for instance.
    • To keep the landscape fabric in place before you add the soil, staple the material to the sides of the raised bed.
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11

Food-grade plastic

About This Article

Ben Barkan
Co-authored by:
Garden & Landscape Designer
This article was co-authored by Ben Barkan and by wikiHow staff writer, Jessica Gibson. Ben Barkan is a Garden and Landscape Designer and the Owner and Founder of HomeHarvest LLC, an edible landscapes and construction business based in Boston, Massachusetts. Ben has over 12 years of experience working with organic gardening and specializes in designing and building beautiful landscapes with custom construction and creative plant integration. He is a Certified Permaculture Designer, is licensed Construction Supervisor in Massachusetts, and is a Licensed Home Improvement Contractor. He holds an associates degree in Sustainable Agriculture from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. This article has been viewed 9,445 times.
6 votes - 100%
Co-authors: 2
Updated: May 23, 2022
Views: 9,445
Categories: Gardening
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