Raised Beds

Our range includes award-winning wooden raised beds in a market-leading selection of sizes and heights, alongside stylish metal raised beds, all manufactured in our Suffolk factory.

Raised beds have become an increasingly popular way to ‘grow your own’ fruit and vegetables. They can also be used to create beautiful floral displays or dedicated cutting gardens. Versatile and practical, they are available in a range of sizes, styles and materials to suit any outside space.

To complement our comprehensive range, we also supply hoops, protective covers, bed liners and soil to complete your set-up.

We have designed and manufactured raised beds for over 20 years so we understand what works. All of our beds come with reassuring guarantees and have hundreds of 5-star customer reviews.

BENEFITS OF RAISED BED GARDENING

Raised beds provide a lot of advantages over open ground. Some key benefits include

• Easy to position for good levels of sunshine and shade
• Comfortable working height can help reduce bending
• Easy to access and tend to plants
• Different heights and sizes can be used for different crops
• Less prone to pests and easier to protect
• Good drainage, less prone to waterlogging
• Less soil compaction encouraging easier growth and less need to re-dig the soil
• Soil tends to warm earlier and longer than open plots

CHOOSING YOUR RAISED BEDS

It can be difficult deciding which raised beds are best for your garden or plot. Some important points to consider are:

How much space you have - This will determine how many beds you need, think about paths between beds and try different bed layouts to optimise your space.

Wooden or Metal beds - This is an aesthetic and longevity decision. Wooden beds tend to be more suited to traditional style gardens with metal beds suiting a more contemporary outside space. Although our wooden beds are treated and come with long guarantees, metal beds win the durability battle and will last longer.

Raised Bed depth - This really depends on what you are looking to grow and at what height you find gardening comfortable. Higher beds (ours range from 15cm to 81cm high) will require more soil, but will also allow you to grow deeper rooting crops and require less bending when gardening. Lower beds are ideal for shallow rooting plants such as herbs and lettuce.

What are you growing - Root vegetables or flowers, lettuce or potatoes – this can determine the depth and shape of the bed needed. A longer thinner bed may work better as a planter for flowers whereas a deeper square bed would be ideal for root vegetables 

Crop protection - This again will depend on what you are growing. There is fleece and wind protection netting to stop damage from adverse weather along with bird netting, butterfly netting and insect mesh. All designed to protect your crops from different pests and bad weather. 

HARROD HORTICULTURAL RAISED BED RANGE

Whether you have decided on Wooden or Metal beds our range will have the perfect solution. Wooden Beds are available in 3 styles – Allotment, Standard and Superior. All made using sustainably sourced Scandinavian timber, which is slow grown for extra strength. The planks are planed for a smooth finish and pre-drilled for easy assembly. All timber is high-pressure treated with a safe wood preservative for long term protection against fungal decay and wood boring insects.

Our range is probably the most comprehensive available with each raised bed style having a huge range of sizes and heights to choose from 0.6m x 0.6m up to 2.4m x 2.4m and heights from 15cm to 81cm.

Different Wooden Beds at a glance:

Allotment – Affordable Quality – 2cm thick planks with 2-year structural guarantee

Standard – Award Winning Beds – 3.5cm thick planks with 3-year structural guarantee

Superior – Premium Range – 3.5cm thick planks includes corner posts and aluminium brackets with 5-year structural guarantee

Metal Raised Beds are available in a couple of styles, our Superior Metal Raised Beds and our best-selling Modular Raised Beds.

Our Superior Metal Raised Beds are available in 2 colours – anthracite grey and heritage green. The beds are available in a range of sizes from 0.6m x 0.6m to 2.4m x 2.4m and 20cm to 60cm high. These beds are galvanised inside and out and then powder coated for superb weather resistance and come with a 10-year structural guarantee.

The modular beds are again low maintenance and have a corrugated style, powder coated in either cream or green. The beds can be constructed in different shapes to suit the area:

• Standard – 1.44m x 1.2m
• Narrow – 2.1m x 0.54m
• Rectangle – 1.65m x 0.99m
• Square – 0.99m x 0.99m

There is also a buy one get one half price offer on these beds, making them a really affordable way to start growing your own.

INSTALLATION ADVICE

To get the best from your raised beds they need to have between 6-8 hours of direct sunlight so position them in open, south or west facing areas of the garden. Keep them away from heavy shade such as trees, fences or buildings that cast shifting shadows through the day. With long rectangular beds, run them in a north to south direction so the sun passes evenly across both sides of the crops throughout the day. Plant taller crops on the north side of the bed so they don’t cast shadows on smaller plants. 

Wooden raised beds planks arrive pre drilled, but we advise using an electric screwdriver for assembly. Metal beds are bolted together and will require spanners or sockets to fully tighten.

Assemble the beds where you are planning to have them as the larger beds can get heavy to move when built.

We would advise using liners for the raised beds. These can add further protection, especially to the wooden beds.  If siting the beds on a patio or deck please be aware that the beds are not supplied with bases so soil can leach from the beds over time causing staining. Again a liner will help reduce this but will not eliminate completely.

FAQs

How much soil will I need?

Simply multiply the length x width x depth in metres and multiply x 1000 e.g 2.4m length x 1.2m width x 15cm depth = (2.4 x 1.2 x 0.15) x 1000 = 432 litres (each soil tote bag supplies 500 litres so would require 1 bag)

What wood is used for the raised beds?

The wooden raised beds are all manufactured using Scandinavian softwood which is slow-grown for extra strength and from sustainable forests.

Is the treatment used on the wooden raised beds safe?

To help protect the beds we use a high-pressure treatment with a non-toxic preservative which is plant and human safe, complies with all EU standards and does not contain CCA (Chromated Copper Arsenate)

What is the raised bed capping?

The wooden raised beds can be supplied with or without capping. This is a finishing edge fixed to the top of the planks. It can provide a useful perch when tending the beds and also offers additional protection to the planks. 

What are the metal beds made from?

The Harrod Superior metal raised beds are made using 1mm thick steel. This is galvanised inside and out for maximum rust protection and then powder coated for a stylish, weatherproof finish.

Why are your raised beds more expensive than some others?

With both our wooden and metal raised beds we use premium materials and trusted processes to create raised beds that will stand the test of time. The timber used on the wooden beds is from sustainable forests and slow grown for extra strength – don’t mistake this for cheaper inferior timber. The beds are treated with non-toxic preservative for longevity and are all pre-drilled for easy assembly. The metal beds use premium quality steel which is galvanised and powder coated for superb weather protection, beware of cheaper alternatives that may be susceptible to rusting. The thoughtful designs, premium materials, easy assembly and longevity that come with our beds may cost a little more, but the awards we have won and the hundreds of positive reviews prove they are worth it.