Design
Raised Bed Garden Layout and Spacing
A good raised bed layout uses beds 4 ft wide (or 2 to 3 ft against a wall), paths of 18 to 24 in, tall crops on the north side, and plant spacing measured in square feet.
| Element | Typical measurement |
|---|---|
| Bed width, open on both sides | 4 ft |
| Bed width, against a wall or fence | 2–3 ft |
| Bed length | Flexible; 8 ft is common |
| Walking path | 18–24 in |
| Wheelbarrow or wheelchair path | About 3 ft |
| Sun for most vegetables | 6–8 hours direct |
| Sun for greens and herbs | 4–6 hours |
Bed width and length
Width is set by your reach. Most adults can comfortably work about 2 ft in from the edge without stepping into the bed, so a bed open on both sides should be no wider than 4 ft. Backed against a fence, wall or hedge, it should be 2 to 3 ft, since you can only reach from the front. Stepping on bed soil compacts it, which is exactly what a raised bed is meant to avoid.
Length is up to you. Eight feet is popular since boards are sold in 8-ft lengths, and a 4x8 bed gives a tidy 32 sq ft. Longer beds are fine, but past 10 to 12 ft you will find yourself walking the long way around to reach the other side. Two 8-ft beds with a path between are often more useful than one 16-ft bed. If you are building, our raised garden bed plans cover 4x8, two-tier, waist-high and L-shaped designs.
Path width between beds
Allow 18 to 24 in of path between beds at minimum. That is enough to walk, kneel and set down a basket. Where you need to push a wheelbarrow or garden cart, or for wheelchair access, make the main path about 3 ft wide. A common plan is one 3-ft main aisle with 18- to 24-in side paths branching off it.
Plan paths around the tools you will use. If the paths are grass, they must be at least as wide as your mower deck. Wood chips over cardboard are the low-maintenance choice for most gardens. Leave 2 ft or more between beds and a fence so you can reach the back and keep weeds down.
Orienting beds to the sun
Fruiting vegetables want 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight. Before you lay out beds, watch where shade falls from buildings, fences and trees across a full day, ideally in spring, when the sun is lower than in summer.
In the Northern Hemisphere the sun tracks across the southern sky, so tall plants cast shade to the north. Two rules follow:
- Tall crops go on the north side. Put trellised cucumbers, pole beans, staked tomatoes and corn at the north end or north edge of a bed, where their shadow falls on paths rather than on shorter plants.
- Long axis north to south spreads light evenly. A bed running north to south gets sun on both long sides across the day. A bed running east to west works too; just keep the tall crops along its north edge.
Where your best sun is only 4 to 6 hours, plan that bed for lettuce, spinach, chard, kale and herbs, and save the full-sun beds for fruiting crops.
Spacing plants in a 4x8 bed
Raised beds let you plant closer than traditional rows, because you never walk between plants. The easiest way to plan is to divide a 4x8 bed into 32 squares, each 1 ft by 1 ft, and fill each square with a set number of plants.
| Crop | Plants per square foot |
|---|---|
| Tomato, staked or caged | 1 per 1–2 squares |
| Pepper, eggplant | 1 |
| Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower | 1 |
| Cucumber, trellised | 2 |
| Bush beans, spinach, beets | 9 |
| Lettuce, chard | 4 (or 1 for large heads) |
| Onions, garlic | 9–16 |
| Carrots, radishes | 16 |
| Basil, parsley | 1–4 |
| Summer squash, zucchini | 1 per 2–3 squares |
Treat these numbers as a starting point. In hot, humid climates, give tomatoes and squash more room for air flow, which helps limit leaf disease. Our planting guide for raised beds covers which crops grow well together.
Sample layouts
One 4x8 bed for a first season. North row (4 squares): two caged tomatoes taking two squares each. Next row: two peppers and two basil. Middle rows: 4 squares of lettuce at 4 per square, 2 squares of bush beans at 9 per square, 2 of spinach. Southern half: 4 squares of carrots at 16 each, 4 of radishes, and onions in the last 8 squares. That adds up to 6 tomato, pepper and basil plants, about 50 lettuce, bean and spinach plants, and roughly 200 to 250 carrots, radishes and onions.
Two beds in a narrow yard. Two 4x8 beds side by side with a 2-ft path between, plus 2 ft around the outside, fit in a 14 x 12 ft space. Use one bed for summer crops and the other for greens and roots, then swap the next year.
Four-bed rotation. Four 4x8 beds in a square with 2-ft paths and a 2-ft border take about 14 x 22 ft. Rotate four crop groups: tomatoes and peppers, then legumes, then leafy crops, then roots, moving each group one bed over every year.
Fence-line garden. Three 2 x 8 ft beds end to end along a south-facing fence give 48 sq ft with a single 2-ft path in front. Train cucumbers or beans up the fence itself.
More shapes, including keyhole and U-shaped beds, are in our raised garden bed ideas.
How to choose
Reachable from both sides
Build 4 ft wide and leave a path on every long side.
Against a wall or fence
Keep it 2 to 3 ft wide and plant tall crops along the back.
Using a wheelbarrow
Make the main aisle about 3 ft and keep side paths at least 18 in.
Part-shade plot
Plan that bed for greens and herbs that manage on 4 to 6 hours.