Raised Bed Garden Layout: 5 Plans That Actually Work

⬇ Download all 5 plans as a printable PDF

Five rules every raised bed layout follows

1. Tall crops on the north side. Trellised cucumbers, pole beans, and indeterminate tomatoes belong on the north edge so they don't shade shorter plants. (Flip this in the southern hemisphere.)
2. Group by water need. Lettuce wants consistent moisture; tomatoes want deep, infrequent soaks. Cluster similar drinkers so a single watering routine works for the whole zone.
3. Group by lifespan. Quick spring crops (radish, lettuce, spinach) go together so you can clear and replant that section without disturbing tomatoes that will be there until October.
4. Leave a 1×1 herb corner. Basil with tomatoes, dill with cucumbers — herbs slot into corners and edges without competing for footprint.
5. Mind the 2-foot reach. A 4-foot-wide bed lets you reach the middle from either side without stepping on soil. Wider than that and you'll compact the planting area harvesting.

Plan 1 — The classic salsa bed (4×4)

16 square feet, everything you need for a summer of fresh salsa.

• Back row (north): 2 indeterminate tomatoes, caged, 24″ apart
• Middle row: 2 jalapeño peppers, 1 sweet pepper
• Front row (south): 1 cilantro square, 1 basil square, 4 garlic, 4 onions
• Corners: marigolds (pest deterrent + pollinator forage)

Plant cilantro every 3 weeks — it bolts fast in heat, and a steady supply matters more than a one-time harvest.

Plan 2 — The family vegetable bed (4×8)

32 square feet, designed to feed two adults a salad a day from June through October.

• North edge (trellis): 4 cucumber plants on a 4×6-foot trellis
• Row 2: 3 tomatoes (1 cherry, 2 slicers), basil interplanted
• Row 3: 4 peppers + 1 zucchini at the end (it'll sprawl out)
• South edge: alternating bands of lettuce, spinach, carrots, radishes, and beets — pulled and re-sown every 3–4 weeks

Plan 3 — The salad-and-greens bed (4×4, partial shade)

For a spot with 4–5 hours of sun. Skip the tomatoes; double down on greens.

• 4 squares leaf lettuce, sown 2 weeks apart
• 2 squares spinach, 1 square arugula
• 2 squares Swiss chard (cut-and-come-again all season)
• 1 square kale, 1 square parsley
• Edge: chives, a clump of scallions, and nasturtiums for color and pest control

Plan 4 — The L-shaped bed (around a patio corner)

An L-shape gives you reach from outside and inside the corner — useful for hugging a patio or walkway. Treat each arm as its own zone:

• Long arm (4×8): trellised pole beans on the outside edge, peppers and bush beans in the middle, herbs along the patio-facing edge for easy snipping while cooking
• Short arm (4×4): tomato + basil block, with a marigold border

Run drip irrigation along the inside edge of both arms — it's the only spot you can plumb without tripping over a hose.

Plan 5 — The pollinator-and-vegetable bed (4×8)

For gardeners who care about bees and butterflies as much as harvest weight.

• North edge: a trellis of pole beans and one cucumber
• Middle: 2 tomatoes, 2 peppers
• South strip: a continuous band of cosmos, zinnias, and borage with carrots and radishes tucked between
• Corners: dill, fennel (in a pot — fennel inhibits neighbors in soil), and parsley to host swallowtail caterpillars

Soil depth, drainage, and edging

• Depth: 10–12 inches for most vegetables; 18+ inches if you want full-size carrots, parsnips, or potatoes in the bed.
• Soil mix: roughly 50% topsoil, 30% compost, 20% aeration material (perlite, coarse sand, or vermiculite). Top up with an inch of compost every spring.
• Drainage: avoid sealing the bottom. Lay landscape fabric or cardboard to suppress weeds but allow drainage; never plastic sheeting.
• Edging: cedar lasts 8–10 years, untreated pine 3–5, galvanized steel 15+. Stone and concrete are permanent but heat up the soil edges in summer.

Spacing cheat-sheet

• Tomato (indeterminate, caged): 24″
• Pepper, eggplant, broccoli, cabbage: 18″
• Bush beans, lettuce (head), kale: 12″
• Carrot, beet, spinach: 3–4″
• Cucumber on trellis: 12″
• Zucchini: 24″ (give it an end of the bed)

Map it before you dig

Sketching the bed on graph paper takes ten minutes and saves a season of regret. A planner that holds onto last year's plan is even better — rotating crops away from where their family grew last year is the single biggest disease-prevention move you can make. Lay out your raised beds in BotaNotes and the rotation history travels with you year to year.

Want a smaller-grid approach? See the full square foot gardening chart for exact plant counts per square.