I need to redo my raised beds, and I've been seeing some gardeners in one of my local Facebook groups building beds with cinder/concrete blocks. But these people aren't growing daylilies, and I'm wondering if blocks would be detrimental to my plants. I'm in Ohio, so we get snow and ice in the winter, but can have summer days in the 90 - 100 degree range.

Would those types of blocks getting too cold/hot be damaging to the daylilies? I feel like the blocks would make my beds more stable, but if there's any chance of hurting my daylilies, I can definitely stick with wood.

Since I have a really bad back, I can't spend my entire life in pain trying to keep thousands of clumps in raised beds weeded, so I do mine the old- fashioned way and plant them in the ground. Sorry I can't help with this one!

I have a ton of daylilies planted in metal raised beds and they are doing fine. I've seen daylilies planted in brick and cinderblock raised beds around trees and shrubs also. I don't think it will hurt the plants in the slightest.

Proof is in the pudding

Deryll said: Since I have a really bad back, I can't spend my entire life in pain trying to keep thousands of clumps in raised beds weeded, so I do mine the old- fashioned way and plant them in the ground. Sorry I can't help with this one!

I would love to be able to do that, but when my suburb/city was being developed, they stripped the top soil and sold it. We're basically gardening in clay.

Diggerofdirt said:






Proof is in the pudding

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! Except, a higher wall, because I'm tired of the dogs jumping into my beds and eating my plant labels.

I would think that the concrete will not bother anything.
But I really don't care for the open whole look. To me, for my taste, it is not a good look. I would gradually fill in all of the holes up to an inch less and plant something like creeping herbs in those spots. Maybe things like tyme, creeping phlox, basil, etc.

Dragging in concrete blocks can be a job, and an added expense. I think I would haul in some sand, add a bunch of composted wood chips and leaves, and plow it. You might be amazed at how quickly you can turn your clay into really nice soil... but if you do the blocks and want any creeping phlox, just let me know! I have truckloads of them that need to go!

Deryll said: Dragging in concrete blocks can be a job, and an added expense. I think I would haul in some sand, add a bunch of composted wood chips and leaves, and plow it. You might be amazed at how quickly you can turn your clay into really nice soil... but if you do the blocks and want any creeping phlox, just let me know! I have truckloads of them that need to go!

What sort of creeping phlox?? I also have beds in front of my house to redo, and I love creeping phlox!

Just creeping phlox. Different colors too...
Sorry, but this is the only photo I have of it, but there are truckloads of it.

I have a small bed with the larger opening cinder blocks that I use to plant small annuals in. You could also cover the openings with other landscape caps. I saw P. Allen Smith with painted raised cinder block planters that looked nice on his show. Once you start painting you will most likely have to touch it up every once in awhile. You could also stack the solid ones to form the bed on the flat side for stability.

My dad ran a concrete business for many years, so my one 'new' contribution to this thread is: over time, concrete gradually leaches lime to the soil. If your soil is acidic, this may be a plus. If you have alkaline soil, it will add a slight impact to the alkalinity.

Having said that, I used raised concrete block beds once upon a time... if you stack higher, stagger the tiers so the blocks on the row above overlaps the blocks below by half.... the upper block should cover half (the ends) of two blocks below. It's more stable.

And if you do decide to paint, use a paint intended for concrete, it will last for years. Unlike metal, BTW, concrete does not get hot in summer sun... nor rot, as untreated wood will eventually do. (I never use treated wood, I don't want the toxic chemicals in my yard ... or where I 'may' plant food.) I did plant creeping phlox into the holes in the concrete, it worked spectacularly.

One last note: if your raised beds are below the eaves of the house, set them so the rain goes 'into' the raised bed, not onto the edges with the holes. The rain from the eaves will splash into the holes and, over time, wash the dirt out and damage or kill plants in the holes. Bring the bed out a bit further, so the rain drips into the bed (and a hard rain, which may be damaging, will overshoot the bed).

If the beds are not near the house, then no worries. They hold up for a very long time. The dirt may settle, so you will find yourself topping them off from time to time, but otherwise they work very well. Sorry I don't have pictures to put up, but they are not digital (back in the day).

There was a young guy down the street who bought a really gorgeous house, and built raised beds to really dress the place up-- BUT-- he put them right about even with the foundation of the house! If planting up near the house, make sure you are at least a foot under the top of your foundation. People who once lived in my house filled in the yard to help with flooding issues, and it has totally destroyed my footers.. and short of rebuilding a new house, there is no way to repair the damage.

They sell a concrete cap stone that fits perfectly on top. You don't have to cover all of the holes .

I too have a bad back, so about 8 years ago we started collecting used " cattle troughs". We but old pots in the bottom to take up some of the space, then filled 1/2 with sand and the rest with soil, manure and compost. Each year the soil got better and better as well as the produce. This year I tried Zinnias as I could never get them to do much indoors. They are growing well and now I just have to transplant them in the flower beds. I take old plastic containers from plants I have bought and cut the bottoms out and use them as collars around the Zinnia's until they get bigger, and the rabbits leave them alone. I can sit on a bench and weed from the troughs and my back feels great!

I live on one of the receiving ends of a dangerous curve in the road. In the past 15 years we have had 36 accidents (most on the other end of the curve where another road comes into it at an angle). A year ago we experienced another (one of the more spectacular ones). My wife and I decided that THAT WAS ENOUGH, and waged war with the State--who never put warning signs up and posted the speed limit at 45mph (most come around the curve at at least 50mph--which is too fast for that curve that has little to no banking on it). We waged war on the Sherriff's Dept. who did not help us in dealing with this situation when asked, and thought it was funny that we even asked. We got the local TV action reporter involved. We now have signs all the way through the curve, and help from the State Patrol who now comes around periodically to keep drivers on their toes. If you live on a bad curve--do not be complacent. You may end up with a car in your living room some day. Now, to get to the point:
To prevent future speeders from being so flamboyant in their attack on our property I built two planter boxes. They are made of cinder block, topped with bricks to match the brick on the house, sitting on a concrete slab. They each have a 2.5" drain at the base. Interiors are painted with rubberized paint. Their outsides are covered with mortar in a swirl pattern, tinted to coordinate with the fence. They would be fine for any perennial plants--including daylilies. If someone decides to plow into them I doubt that they would be seriously hurt (so long as their air bags work). The rubberized paint is available from all the big box stores. I got mine from Amazon. The paint keeps the dirt away from the blocks/mortar so high pH problems are avoided.

Very nice planter boxes, Greg. I think I would have done the same thing given all those accidents.

Wow, Greg. Those are some horrific accident pictures. And the planters are very impressive. I sincerely hope you never have an accident in your yard again.

Raised terraced beds are a great way to maximize planting space in a sloped yard. Ours has a two-directional slope. These aren't cinderblocks but they are a concrete-type landscape block, three raised beds of varying heights on either side of concrete stairs in the middle. Daylilies grow in three of these raised beds. This is USDA hardiness zone 5b, I don't mulch anything here, and almost everything grows and performs well in these beds. Atop the beds a row of Hyperion daylilies grow to anchor the soil, they've been here since the mid 1980s.


Looking northeast from the southwest corner of our back yard


Right after the stairs were replaced (first set wasn't properly installed and collapsed); when the steps collapsed it destroyed the old worn-out garden arches


Looking up the steps; old broken garden arches replaced with a new cattle panel arch


Looking northeast from just north of the steps


Looking southeast from just south of the steps


Looking north from the farthest south terraced bed


One of the six raised terraced beds with daylilies and companion plants


Another of the six raised terraced beds with daylilies and companion plants


Looking southwest atop the raised backyard terraced beds


Looking northwest stop the raised backyard terraced beds

That is very neat looking!