The Best Raised Garden Bed for Herbs

For most kitchens the best herb bed is the Yaheetech elevated planter: waist height, a drainage liner, and small enough to put within a few steps of the back door, which is the single thing that decides whether herbs get used. Herbs do not need the 17 inch depth a vegetable bed wants -- most of them do better in a shallower, faster-draining bed -- and they absolutely need to be somewhere you will walk past while cooking.

Most culinary herbs are Mediterranean in origin: rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, marjoram, lavender. They evolved on thin, stony, sharply drained ground, and the way to kill them is a deep, rich, moisture-retentive bed -- exactly the mix that grows the best tomatoes. In a wet winter, a herb sitting in a water-holding raised bed mix rots at the crown.

The softer herbs are the exception. Basil, parsley, cilantro, chives, dill and mint are leafy annuals or vigorous perennials that want the normal treatment: steady moisture and reasonable fertility. Those two groups genuinely want different conditions, which is the one real complication in herb growing.

Quick picks

#	Product	Best for	Score	Price
1	Top pickYaheetech Elevated Wooden Planter BoxWaist-height fir planter with drainage liner	Balconies and bad backs	8.0★★★★★	$47.99 - View on Amazon
2	Keter Easy Grow Elevated Garden BedResin planter with self-watering reservoir	Low-maintenance patio growing	8.1★★★★★	Check price on Amazon
3	Greenes Fence Cedar Raised Garden Bed KitUntreated North American cedar, dovetail corners	People who want wood	8.4★★★★★	$227.03 - View on Amazon
4	Smart Pot 10-Gallon Soft-Sided Container16 in across, 11.5 in tall, 1.33 cu ft	Bags you keep for years	8.6★★★★★	$13.59 - View on Amazon

#ad We may earn a commission - Price as of October 10, 2026

Scores are our own editorial judgment, formed from published specifications and independent sources. They are not aggregated customer ratings, and they are not the result of hands-on testing, which we do not currently do. See how we choose.

Nothing on that list needs the depth a vegetable bed needs, which is why an elevated planter works so well here and works badly for carrots or tomatoes. If you are planning a mixed bed, our raised bed size guide has the depth-by-crop table for everything else.

Mint spreads by runners and it will take an entire herb bed in two seasons. It is not badly behaved so much as extremely successful, and no amount of pulling fixes it once the runners are through the bed.

Give it a container of its own, standing beside the bed rather than sunk into it -- a 10 gallon fabric pot does the job and costs very little. Lemon balm, tarragon and horseradish all deserve the same treatment for the same reason.

Herbs are a convenience crop. The difference between a herb bed that gets used every evening and one that gets harvested twice a summer is how far it is from the kitchen, and nothing else. Six steps from the door, within reach, at a height you can cut from without bending -- that is the specification.

Sun is the second requirement. The Mediterranean group wants as much as you can give it, six hours minimum and ideally more, and will sulk in shade. The soft leafy herbs are more forgiving and actually prefer some afternoon shade in a hot summer, which is useful if your only spot is partly shaded.

The self-watering resin planter on the list above exists for a specific case: a sunny patio where you are not home every day. The reservoir evens out the soft herbs and is worth having, though it suits basil and parsley far better than it suits thyme.

1. Check the bed actually drains. An elevated planter needs open drainage holes and a liner that lets water out, not a sealed tray.
2. Add grit to the Mediterranean half. A third coarse grit or perlite by volume into an ordinary raised bed mix is enough to change the character completely.
3. Do not add extra compost for the woody herbs. Rich soil gives soft, floppy, less aromatic growth that then dies over winter. Thyme grown hard tastes better.
4. Raise the crown. Plant woody herbs slightly high so water runs away from the stem base rather than sitting against it.

If you want to understand the mix itself rather than just amend it, the raised bed soil mix recipe explains what each component does and what happens when you change the ratio.

Herbs are the only crop that is improved by being used. Basil pinched back weekly stays bushy and productive; basil left alone flowers and goes bitter within a month. Thyme and oregano get woody and sparse in the centre unless they are cut regularly. Chives want shearing to the base two or three times a season. A neglected herb bed does not just stop producing -- it actively declines.

Which is the real argument for putting the bed by the door at a height you can cut from. Not convenience for its own sake: harvesting is the maintenance.

A herb bed is partly permanent planting, which makes it unlike a vegetable bed. Rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano stay put for years and will resent being dug around, so plan the layout once: woody perennials toward the back or the drier end, annual leafy herbs at the front where you can replant them twice a season.

That permanence is an argument for a material that lasts. Untreated cedar is pleasant and will need replacing within about a decade; coated steel will outlast the plants in it. Either is fine, but a bed you will not be rebuilding around established rosemary is worth a little more.

Starting herbs from seed is cheap and mostly easy -- basil, parsley, cilantro and dill all germinate readily. The woody perennials are slow and fiddly from seed and are worth buying as plants. The best seed starting kits covers the equipment for the annuals.