If you're new to gardening with raised beds, adding hoops is one of the smartest, most affordable upgrades you can make. Hoops let you cover your plants with protective materials like shade cloth, bird netting, row covers, or plastic—helping you grow more successfully through all seasons.
Easy Inexpensive Hoop Systems for Raised Beds
Whether you want to block harsh sun, stop birds and rabbits, warm up your soil in spring, or shield your crops from early frosts, there's a hoop system that can help. Below are four types of hoops you can make yourself using easy-to-find materials. Each method is simple and ideal for beginners. Watch video How to Make Hoops for Raised Beds.
Tips for First-Time Gardeners
Start with a simple material like poly tubing or PVC. Choose your hoop height based on how big your plants will get and what kind of protection they need. Use shade cloth in hot summer months to protect cool-season crops from burning. In spring and fall, cover your hoops with row cover or plastic to warm up the soil and shield from cold. And always secure your hoops well—wind can lift lightweight covers if they’re not anchored.
With just a small investment in materials and time, hoops can help protect your plants, extend your harvest, and give you more gardening success all year round.
Black Poly Tubing – Light, Simple, Inexpensive
Black poly tubing (½-inch wide) is one of the easiest and cheapest materials to work with. It’s ideal for supporting lightweight materials like row cover fabric, insect netting, or bird netting. When you cut it into 5-foot lengths, the resulting hoop stands about 16 inches above the soil—perfect for small plants like strawberries or young seedlings.
You can cut the tubing with a utility knife or a plastic pipe cutter. Pipe cutters are safer and easier for beginners—just squeeze and twist to get a clean cut. To install the hoops, you can push the ends into the soil if your raised bed isn’t too wide. However, for more stability, especially if you’re using wooden beds, attach tube straps to the inside of your bed walls and slide the tubing into them. These straps screw into the wood and hold the tubing firmly in place. If you use ¾-inch straps, you’ll have the flexibility to upgrade to thicker tubing later without replacing the hardware.
This setup is incredibly affordable. You can build a full hoop system for one bed for less than five dollars.
PVC Pipe – Sturdier for bug netting, plastic & more
For more durability and strength, many gardeners turn to schedule 40 PVC pipe, either ½-inch or ¾-inch in diameter. This option can handle heavier covers like plastic or shade cloth. If you cut the pipe into 6-foot lengths, you’ll get hoops about 24 inches tall. That’s enough height for medium-sized crops or for general spring and summer protection. If you're growing taller plants or want a tunnel-like structure in fall, leave the 10-foot pipes uncut to make hoops that reach about 50 inches above the soil.
Just like with poly tubing, you can use tube straps to secure the ends to your bed. But when working with taller hoops, a better method is to drive short metal stakes—called rebar—into the ground, then slide the ends of the PVC pipe over the rebar. This gives your hoops more stability and keeps them upright even in wind or rain.
Tall hoops can be a bit floppy, especially when covered with plastic, so it helps to support the structure using long wooden strips. A simple 1 x 2-inch fir strip works well. Place one strip across the top of the hoops and one on each long side of the bed, tying them to the PVC using twine. This keeps the entire system firm and resistant to wind. A basic medium-height PVC hoop setup costs about five to eight dollars. A taller system with rebar and bracing runs closer to ten dollars.
Metal Conduit – Durable & Professional
Metal conduit (also called EMT) is a galvanized steel tube used for running electrical wire, but it makes fantastic, long-lasting garden hoops. These hoops are stronger and more stable than PVC, and they don’t degrade in sunlight. Many gardeners use ¾-inch conduit for high hoops, which makes them great for large covers, heavy winds, or repeated seasonal use.
Conduit doesn’t bend easily by hand, so you’ll need a special metal hoop bender (also called a jig), available from garden suppliers. Once mounted to a sturdy surface, the jig lets you gradually bend the conduit into a smooth arch. You’ll need to move the pipe slowly along the jig, making the bend in sections to get a nice even curve. When done, the hoops are typically sized to span a 4-foot-wide raised bed.
To install metal conduit hoops, drive rebar stakes into the ground, just as with PVC hoops, and slide the ends of the metal pipe over them. You can tie a fir strip across the top for added support, using twine or clamps. While metal conduit hoops cost about twice as much as PVC (closer to $20 for a full setup), they’re incredibly sturdy and will last for many seasons. For serious gardeners, they’re often worth the extra investment.
Cattle Panels – Super Sturdy & Dual-Purpose
Cattle panels are another excellent option for hoops, especially if you want something that doubles as a trellis. These are heavy-duty, welded wire grids used for fencing livestock, and they come in 16-foot lengths. Cut into 6-foot sections, they can be bent into low arches that stand about two feet above your raised bed. They're perfect for shade cloth, row cover, or netting—and sturdy enough to last for decades.
To cut a cattle panel, use bolt cutters to snip through the wire. Then, place one end of the panel on the ground and bend it into a hoop using your body weight. Start in the middle and gradually curve the sides until you have the shape you want. Once shaped, press the ends into the soil or secure them with stakes.
Cattle panels are strong enough to hold up to wind, snow, and even climbing plants. In fact, many gardeners let beans, cucumbers, or peas grow up through the panel, using it as both a cover and a vertical trellis. One downside is transportation. At 16 feet long, you’ll need a truck or trailer to bring them home from the store. But once you have them, cattle panels are among the longest-lasting and most useful hoop systems available. Surprisingly, they cost less than the metal conduit option.
Choosing the Right Hoop System
Choosing the right hoop depends on your plants and your goals. Low hoops, around 16 to 24 inches tall, are perfect for protecting small plants and seedlings in early spring. Medium hoops, 24 to 36 inches high, are great for general use throughout the growing season. High hoops, about 50 inches tall, work best later in the season or for tall crops like tomatoes and pole beans.
Most gardeners use different hoop types at different times. You might use low hoops in spring to protect lettuce from a late frost, then switch to tall hoops in fall to extend the growing season for your tomatoes. Medium hoops can be helpful all season long, especially if you're dealing with birds, bugs, or hail.
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