Garden Blog

How to Source Cheap Materials For Garden Beds

If you found yourself here, you are probably second guessing your intentions of starting a garden because of the cost of materials for garden beds. The good news is, starting a garden doesn’t have to be expensive. We are going to talk about ways to cut costs so you can start yours today!

What type of garden fits you?

Before starting, it is important to know the type of gardening you plan to do. In-ground gardening will save you the most on soil cost because you are already using what you have. Raised beds will require materials to build the beds as well as soil to fill them. Container gardens require pots and soil. If you need help picking which gardening method is right for you, go check out this post.

In-Ground Garden

Let’s talk about the cheapest route first, the in-ground garden. The in-ground garden is exactly what it sounds like. You pick a section of your yard to grow directly in the ground. Once removing the grass and weeds (read this article on how to do so), you have 2 options. You can till the ground, breaking up and loosening the soil – or just add soil on top of the ground.

This option takes work and a hand tiller or garden cultivator that costs less than 50.00. The second takes less work but requires purchase of soil – just not as much soil as garden beds. Now, sew your seeds (that only cost you a few dollars a pack) and that is it.

Raised Garden Bed

Next is typically the most expensive option, raised garden beds. Raised garden beds require the material for the frame and the soil to fill them. One could easily spend $150 or more on a prebuilt garden bed that is roughly 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 1 foot tall. Filling that bed could cost almost as much as the bed itself, around $240.00. One can see that is not a feasible price point for many of us.

So how do we make that cheaper? Let’s start with the materials for the beds themselves. While you may see all these fancy garden beds on Pinterest and Instagram, they aren’t necessary to grow food. You don’t need expensive brand new 2x4s. You don’t need galvanized beds in the trending color.

What is already available?

Take a look around your own property and your neighbors. What is just sitting around not being used? Is there a pile of 2x4s laying around for a project you are never going to complete? Do you see old logs that have been in a pile for months? Is there a tree you have been meaning to trim but didn’t want to clean up after? Tree logs are a great source for building the frames of your beds. Best of all, they can be free.

You can also check Craigslist for people who just need wood or logs removed from their home and are giving it away. So now you have free beds, but that soil still costs too much for your tight budget. What now?

Bulk Soil

That is a great question. This is where the beauty of bulk soil comes in. A quick Google search for “bulk soil near me” should produce a few options for local pickup or delivery. These locations will likely have topsoil, compost, or mushroom soil available. My personal favorite is mushroom soil because damn near anything will grow in it and it is affordable.

Price Comparison

Let’s break this down in comparison to bagged soil.

Going back to our 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 1 foot tall garden bed example – this would take about 16 bags of soil to fill.
The average cost for a 2 cu ft bag of raised bed soil is $15.00.
A single bed that needed 32 cu ft of soil would cost a total of $240.00.

Photo shows a pile of mushroom soil that has been delivered outside the fence. Soil is one of the materials for garden beds that can be cheaply sourced from local companies. — A freshly delivered pile of mushroom soil that was locally sourced.

If instead you were to order bulk soil you would pay about $30.00 for a scoop of soil. A scoop of soil is roughly 27 cu ft or a cubic yard. Two scoops would be 54 cu ft for $60.00. Do you see that….for nearly double the amount of soil, you pay a fraction of the cost of bagged soil.

The Bigger Picture

Let me put this into perspective on a larger scale, for those of you with giant garden dreams.

I was able to fill two beds at 50 ft long x 3 feet wide x 1 ft tall for under $250.00, including a delivery fee!
The same amount in bagged soil would have cost me well over $1200.00 AND I would have had to go to the store to get it myself or pay an almost $90.00 delivery fee.
That is a savings of at least $950.00!

Container Garden

Bonus feature of mushroom soil, you can use it for container gardens as well. To save money on the containers, check out Craigslist again or OfferUp. Sometimes people have cheap or free pots posted. Also be sure to check out local nurseries. Unlike the big box stores, your local nurseries might have some better deals on pots. They also might be willing to give you a bulk discount if you are buying a lot.

Garden Method Summary

That was a lot of information to soak up, so take a quick moment to review.

In-ground tilled garden – A few packs of seeds, tiller/cultivator that you will only need to buy once (under $50.00).
In-ground no-till garden – A few packs of seeds, scoop(s) of soil because mushroom soil ($30.00 a scoop picked up) can also be used for your no-till.
Raised Garden Beds – A few packets of seeds, free materials to construct and you can fill your first 8 x 4 x 1 foot bed plus extra for $60.00. Bonus for having the extra soil that can be used to amend your beds later in the season.
Container garden – A few packets of seeds, free or cheap pots from online or local nurseries, a scoop of mushroom soil for $30.00 picked up (which will fill more pots that you will know what to do with).

Note that I said $30.00 for one scoop picked up. Most places deliver for $40.00. Even at a total of $70.00, that would be less than its equivalent in bagged soil which would run about $202.00 WITHOUT delivery.

(As an aside note, I did not include fertilizer and water. These two items are heavily dependent on what you are growing, how much you are growing, and where you live.)

Final Thoughts

You can see that there are in fact cost-effective and viable ways to start a garden. Nothing has to be fancy or expensive to get you started. You just have to do a little research and think outside the garden box.

Also remember, a garden is an evergreen project, something that is always changing and growing. You might wake up one season and decide to change your entire garden because your budget grew. Maybe you can only change one thing at a time over a few years. Go at your own pace that works for you.

I hope this puts you well on your way to starting your first garden, because it is an attainable goal that will ultimately save you money on food in the long run. Happy gardening!