By Amanda MacArthur |
The best bit of advice I have learned about garden planning is to group your vegetables and herbs together that have similar watering and light requirements. Generally, when we envision ideas for a raised bed vegetable garden layout, we might be tempted to put vegetables where we think they’ll look best, or simply fit best, but experienced gardeners spend early spring planning their gardens for a good reason, so let’s get into all the things to consider before you build your beds and lay them out.
- Pick Plants that Make Good Roommates
One reason why the pros spend so much time planning is because there are such things as incompatible plants—like their moon signs are polar opposites and you definitely shouldn’t ask them to share an apartment. Have you ever had a toxic roommate? Some vegetables are considered allelopathic, meaning they may have either toxic behaviors or even chemicals that can harm plants around them, such as tomatoes, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, peas, and soybeans.
There are others that just don’t seem to get along, according to many gardeners. For example, dill and carrots, cabbage and strawberries, mint and asparagus, potatoes and tomatoes, or peppers and beans.
Some better pairings include tomatoes with basil, corn and green beans, carrots and onions, lettuce and chives, and carrots and leeks. These pairings have benefits of either improving the soil, optimizing a growing environment, or keeping specific bugs away. I recommend looking more into companion planting when planning your raised bed vegetable garden layout.
Discover 7 top tips for growing, harvesting, and enjoying tomatoes from your home garden—when you access the FREE guide The Best Way to Grow Tomatoes, right now!
- Group Plants with Similar Light Requirements
Keeping everything above in mind, organize your sun-soaking plants together, and your shady plants together. Or, you can use your sun-loving plants to shade their more fair-skinned friends.
With enough foresight, you can also get creative by planting companion plants together. For example, if you plant carrots behind tomatoes, the tomatoes will shade the light for the carrots, who prefer shade. Corn and green beans, which have similar light requirements, also thrive together because you can allow the beans to use the corn stalks as a trellis, while the beans actually improve the soil for the corn too.
- Group Plants that Like/Dislike Water
This one is particularly important, as well as grouping veggies together that like a similar type of soil. Again, keeping the bad roommate situations above in mind, I like to organize my raised bed vegetable garden layout in a way where I can water one section at a time. I’m actually lucky enough that the home I bought had a built-in sprinkler system and I’ve been able to tinker with it to water different sections longer and shorter, but the same can be done with a hose.
Since I enjoy manually watering my garden, it’s helpful to separate the Pisces from the Aries in the garden so that everybody gets the water they want.
- Consider Your Back
If you don’t like bending over to weed your garden, you’re not alone. When thinking of your raised bed vegetable garden layout, think about how high you’ll want your raised beds to be.
I love this 32″ tall raised bed on Amazon:
A good friend of mine who is quite pregnant, recently had her husband build some waist-high garden beds for her, so that she could still enjoy gardening without all the bending over, and it made me wish I had a full-sized waist-high garden myself! My body would probably argue that I could use the exercise, but it sure sounds nice, doesn’t it?
- Give Yourself Room
The benefits of building raised beds are mostly convenience. Less bending to weed, more organized plants, and spacing to move between your plants. The best raised bed vegetable garden layout generally has at least a 2 – 3 foot wide path between boxes, allowing you to crouch, harvest, and weed easily. Many gardeners prefer a stone or sand pathway that’s easy to maintain without using any chemicals to keep the weeds out.
However, if you don’t have the space or budget for that, you can easily do it with the lawn in between, just leave enough room for your lawnmower to move through. The grass clippings can actually make great mulch if it’s untreated.
Top-Rated Raised Beds on Amazon
If you have any other raised bed vegetable garden layout ideas, I’d love to hear them in the comments below. Getting personal anecdotes from other gardeners is my favorite part of this community!
Note: Food Gardening Network contains links to affiliate websites including Amazon and Rakuten Affiliate Network and we may receive a commission for any eligible purchases made by you through links on this page.
Discover 7 top tips for growing, harvesting, and enjoying tomatoes from your home garden—when you access the FREE guide The Best Way to Grow Tomatoes, right now!
«
5 Benefits of Worm Castings for Indoor Plants »
Insights, advice, suggestions, feedback and comments from experts
As an expert in gardening and garden planning, I can provide you with information related to the concepts mentioned in this article. Let's dive into each concept:
Grouping Vegetables and Herbs with Similar Watering and Light Requirements
When planning a raised bed vegetable garden layout, it is important to group vegetables and herbs together that have similar watering and light requirements. This ensures that each plant receives the appropriate amount of water and sunlight for optimal growth. Experienced gardeners spend time planning their gardens for this reason.
Incompatible Plants and Companion Planting
Some plants are considered incompatible due to allelopathy, which means they may have toxic behaviors or chemicals that can harm other plants around them. For example, tomatoes, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbage, peas, and soybeans are considered allelopathic. Other plant pairings, such as dill and carrots, cabbage and strawberries, mint and asparagus, potatoes and tomatoes, or peppers and beans, are also known to have negative interactions.
On the other hand, there are plant pairings that work well together. For example, tomatoes and basil, corn and green beans, carrots and onions, lettuce and chives, and carrots and leeks are considered beneficial pairings. These combinations can improve the soil, optimize the growing environment, or keep specific bugs away. Companion planting is a technique that involves strategically planting certain plants together to enhance their growth and health.
Grouping Plants with Similar Light Requirements
Organizing plants with similar light requirements is another important aspect of garden planning. Sun-soaking plants should be grouped together, as well as shady plants. Alternatively, sun-loving plants can be used to shade more fair-skinned plants. This allows each plant to receive the appropriate amount of sunlight for their specific needs. Additionally, creative planting techniques can be used, such as planting carrots behind tomatoes to provide shade for the carrots, which prefer shade. Corn and green beans also thrive together because the beans can use the corn stalks as a trellis, while the beans improve the soil for the corn.
Grouping Plants with Similar Watering Preferences
Grouping vegetables together that have similar water requirements is crucial for efficient watering. By organizing the garden layout in a way that allows watering one section at a time, you can ensure that each plant receives the desired amount of water. This can be done using a built-in sprinkler system or a hose. Separating plants with different water preferences, such as Pisces (plants that require more water) from Aries (plants that require less water), can help ensure that each plant gets the water it needs.
Considering the Height of Raised Beds
When planning a raised bed vegetable garden layout, it's important to consider the height of the raised beds. The height should be comfortable for you to work with, especially if you don't like bending over to weed your garden. Some gardeners prefer waist-high raised beds to minimize bending and make gardening more accessible. The height of the raised beds can be adjusted based on personal preference and physical abilities.
Allowing Sufficient Space Between Beds
One of the benefits of building raised beds is the convenience they offer. To make the most of this convenience, it is recommended to have at least a 2-3 foot wide path between the raised beds. This allows for easy movement, harvesting, and weeding. Many gardeners prefer using stone or sand pathways that are easy to maintain without using chemicals to keep weeds out. However, if space or budget is limited, leaving enough room for a lawnmower to move through the lawn in between the beds is also an option. Grass clippings from mowing can even be used as mulch if they are untreated.
In conclusion, when planning a raised bed vegetable garden layout, it is important to consider grouping plants with similar watering and light requirements, avoiding incompatible plant pairings, and utilizing companion planting techniques. Additionally, the height of the raised beds and the spacing between them should be taken into account for ease of maintenance and movement in the garden.
