Raised bed gardens both beautiful and practical

I missed gardening this year since we moved in early July.  I'm eager to plan and build my garden next year in our new home.  Our backyard is a blank canvas (this is an understatement that I'll post about in the future).  Just in researching this post, I've been inspired and bombarded with ideas on how to make our rather unattractive backyard into a wonderful garden.  A unique feature we've inherited, as you may see in the picture, is that the back of our new house is subterranean.  Anything we plant in this area must be fairly low as you look out onto ground level from inside the house - an interesting challenge.  (Click on the photo and it will take you to Flickr where I have a few notes attached to it.)

One thing I've always wanted was a raised bed garden.  I think they are beautifully compact and organized.  They make maintenance easy and allow for limitless creativity.   You can design them in various shapes and configurations.  They can be for flowers, herbs, garden vegetables, succulents, etc.  You can make them small and portable for city gardens or large with ungulating pathways through which to wander.  Whether perfectly groomed or simply practical (like using old tires, gathered pots,  or a kiddie pool), raised beds can make a garden special.

My brother-in-law (Mr. Bump Smitten), in Park City, UT, made these galvanized steel raised beds.  I love the look of the steel.  The beds are slightly taller due to the standard size of the steel making the beds that much easier to access.  Nice job, J!

Here is a gallery of raised beds I gathered.  If you want more inspiration, simply search raised bed gardens on Flickr for an abundance of inspiration and how to.

Beautiful raised gardens, a gallery on Flickr.

Tell me about your garden!