Raised Bed Garden Design: How To Layout & Build - Garden Design (2024)

FAQs

How do you layout a raised garden bed? ›

Square-foot gardening (SFG) is a type of raised-bed gardening where you have a raised box divided into squares. With the square-foot gardening method, you plant in 4×4-foot blocks instead of traditional rows. In each square, you plant a different veggie. It's said to save time, money, watering and space.

I. Square-Foot Gardening Layouts

Square-foot gardening (SFG) makes efficient use of space. Normally, an SFG garden is made of multiple 4 x 4 foot “boxes” (deeply-raised beds) that can be densely planted for multiple harvests. A lattice is laid across the top to separate each square foot.

For home vegetable gardens, narrow beds up to four feet wide are best, as this enables the gardener to reach into the center of the bed. This avoids the requirement for digging and disturbing the existing soil structure, and soil compaction is reduced as there is no need to walk on it.

Cardboard and Wood Chips: Layering cardboard at the bottom of your raised bed is an effective, cost-efficient way to suppress weeds. It eventually breaks down, enriching the soil with carbon. Wood chips can be added on top of the cardboard as an additional layer for weed control and moisture retention.

The minimum required depth depends on the plant. But on average, a raised garden bed should accommodate about 20 inches of soil for the roots of flowers and vegetables.

Add a mixture of compost and purchased topsoil in a 1:2 or 1:1 ratio, to the top of the bed. There are vendors who sell topsoil mixed with compost. Alternatively, fill the bed with compost and a soilless growing mix in a 1:1 ratio.

Your garden layout should be planned based on factors including location, sun exposure, and the types of plants you'd like to grow. You'll plan the size and type of beds according to whether it's a vegetable garden, herb garden, flower garden, or a low maintenance spaced primarily designed as an outdoor living area.

Successive Crops

In early spring, grow lettuce, greens (such as arugula), peas, radishes, carrots, and broccoli. After you've harvested your cool-weather crops, plant hot-weather favorites, such as tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and herbs. In fall, you can harvest potatoes, cabbage, and kale.

What shouldn t be planted together? ›

Plant layout ideally involves the planning and integrating the paths of the component parts of a product to achieve the most effective and economic interrelationships between the operating equipment and personnel, the material movement, storage facilities, service functions and auxiliary equipment.

Some gardeners chose to implement a barrier at the bottom to keep out pests and weeds. Below are a few materials you can use: Cardboard or newspaper: Cardboard is a great option if you are on a budget. You can line the bottom of your raised garden bed with cardboard and newspaper to deter pests and weeds.

Corn, beans, and squash are all excellent crops to grow together. These are larger crops, but if you have a big enough raised garden bed, it's no problem. The corn stalks provide a support structure for the beans, the beans add nitrogen to the soil, and the squash leaves protect the roots.

Layer the bottom with cardboard or newspaper as a weed barrier, which will decompose over time. Then, use a mix of yard waste, leaves, grass clippings, and kitchen scraps layered with soil and compost.

These are the basic, most frequently used spacing's in the square foot garden: The 3-inch spacing accommodates beets, carrots, onions and radishes. The 4-inch spacing is for bush beans and spinach. A 6-inch spacing is needed for Swiss chard, leaf lettuce and parsley.