Cedar is not a commodity. The same species designation — "Western red cedar" or "Eastern white cedar" — covers an enormous range of quality, grade, heartwood content, and dimensional accuracy depending on where it was milled, how it was dried, and how it has been stored. Knowing where to buy cedar, and what to ask for at each type of supplier, is as important as knowing which species to choose.
Home Improvement Retailers (Big Box)
Home Depot, Lowe's, and similar large retailers are the default cedar source for most suburban and urban builders. Their advantages are convenience, consistent availability, and predictable pricing. Cedar at big-box retailers is typically kiln-dried, surfaced on four sides (S4S), and sold in standard dimensions that are easy to plan around.
The trade-offs are significant. Big-box cedar is often lower-grade than what is available at specialty yards — common grades with frequent knots, significant sapwood, and occasional warp. The wood may have been stored outdoors under tarps, where UV exposure and moisture cycling begin degrading surface quality before it ever reaches your project. Staff are rarely equipped to answer detailed questions about heartwood content, moisture readings, or grade specifics.
How to Buy Well at a Big-Box Store
Pull every board out of the rack and inspect it individually. This is expected behavior at any lumber retailer and the only way to curate a useful selection from a mixed-quality rack. Look for boards with the deepest heartwood color, the straightest grain, and the fewest loose knots. Avoid boards with visible twist, excessive cup, or wet-feeling end grain. Check moisture content with an inexpensive pin-type moisture meter if you have one — target readings below 19%.
Big-box cedar is most appropriate for utilitarian raised beds and garden structures where appearance is secondary and cost efficiency is the priority. For a standard raised bed build using common-grade cedar, a big-box retailer is a perfectly reasonable source.
Regional and Local Sawmills
Regional mills are the best source for Eastern white cedar in the Northeast and Great Lakes states. They sell rough-sawn lumber at lower prices than surfaced big-box stock, often with better heartwood content because they are milling older trees from local forests. They also offer non-standard dimensions — wider boards, thicker stock — that are unavailable at retailers.
The process of buying from a mill is different from a retail experience. Expect to deal with operators who know their wood deeply but communicate in rough-cut dimensions and species-specific terminology. Ask specifically for heartwood-dominant stock, and ask about the tree age — older trees produce denser heartwood with higher extractive content. Request air-dried or kiln-dried lumber rather than green stock if it will be used in joinery projects where dimensional change matters.
Rough-sawn lumber from a mill will require planing or hand-dressing if smooth surfaces are needed. For raised beds and rustic garden structures, rough-sawn surfaces are entirely functional and many builders prefer the texture for aesthetic reasons.
Specialty Lumber Yards
Specialty lumber yards stock a wider range of cedar grades, dimensions, and species than any retail chain. They carry clear and select grades that never appear at big-box stores, wide boards for feature applications, and often have staff with genuine species knowledge who can help select material for specific projects.
Specialty yards are the right source when appearance quality matters — for visible planter boxes in a designed garden space, cedar garden furniture, or any project where the wood is a prominent visual element. They are also the best source for wide, clear cedar boards needed for container planters with clean corner joinery.
Price at specialty yards is higher than big-box retail, but the gap narrows when quality is matched — a clear-grade cedar board from a specialty yard compared to the best-available board at a big-box store will not differ as dramatically as the headline per-board-foot prices suggest.
Online Lumber Suppliers
Several online suppliers sell cedar lumber with shipping direct to a project site. For small quantities of specific dimensions or grades that local sources cannot provide, online purchasing is viable. The freight cost for lumber is high, however, and the inability to inspect boards before purchase means relying entirely on the supplier's grading consistency.
Online sources are most practical for specialty items — wide clear boards, specific grades for featured applications, or hardwood accents to complement cedar structures — rather than for bulk dimensional lumber orders.
What to Ask for When Ordering Cedar
Regardless of supplier type, a few specific questions improve outcomes significantly:
- What percentage of heartwood can I expect? Any knowledgeable supplier can answer this. Clear grades from older trees will run 90%+ heartwood; common grades from younger plantation stock may be 50% sapwood or more.
- What is the moisture content? Kiln-dried stock at 15–19% is ideal for immediate use in garden projects. Green stock needs to be stickered and air-dried before joinery use.
- Is this FSC-certified or from a sustainably managed forest? Both Western red cedar and Eastern white cedar are available FSC-certified from responsible mills.
- What dimensions are available rough-sawn? Regional mills often have non-standard dimensions that are better suited to specific projects than standard dimensional lumber.
Pricing Benchmarks
Cedar pricing varies considerably by region and grade, but rough benchmarks help with project budgeting. Expect to pay $1.50 to $4.00 per linear foot for common-grade 2x6 Western red cedar at a big-box retailer, depending on region. Select Tight Knot runs $3.00 to $6.00 per linear foot for 2x6. Clear grades at specialty yards start around $6.00 to $10.00 per linear foot for 2x6.
Eastern white cedar from a Northeast regional mill may be available in rough-sawn form at $1.00 to $2.50 per board-foot, which can represent significant savings for large projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it worth driving to a regional mill instead of buying from a big-box store?
For large projects — multiple raised beds, a garden shed, a major planter installation — the combination of better heartwood content, wider dimensions, and lower price at a regional mill makes the trip worthwhile. For a single small raised bed, the convenience of big-box retail usually wins.
Can cedar be special-ordered at a home improvement retailer?
Many large retailers can special-order cedar in grades and dimensions not stocked in-store. Lead times vary from 1 to 3 weeks. This is a useful option for specific project requirements, though pricing on special orders is often higher per board-foot than standard stocked items.
How can green versus dry cedar be told apart at the mill?
Green cedar is noticeably heavier than dry cedar of the same dimension. The end grain of green lumber will feel damp and may show visible surface moisture. A pin-type moisture meter is the most reliable tool — green lumber commonly reads 30–80% moisture content, while kiln-dried reads below 19%.
What are "shims" or "clear-cuts" at a specialty lumber yard?
Clear-cuts or shorts are full-grade boards cut to non-standard lengths — often remnants from larger boards or project cuts. They are frequently sold at a discount and are useful for projects where full 8-foot or 12-foot boards are not needed. Checking the shorts rack at a specialty yard can yield excellent clear cedar at significantly reduced prices.
Is reclaimed cedar a viable option for raised beds?
Reclaimed cedar from old barns, fences, and structures can be an excellent source of highly weathered, dense, old-growth heartwood. The caveat is provenance — reclaimed lumber from unknown sources may have been treated with legacy preservatives including lead-based paints or creosote. Source reclaimed cedar from trusted salvage dealers who can document the wood's history, particularly for food-growing applications.