Keep beds about 4 feet wide so you can reach the middle from either side, put tall and trellised crops on the north side, divide the bed into a 1-foot grid, and group companions together while giving keep-apart crops their own bed.
A good raised bed layout answers three questions: how big is the bed, where does each crop go so nothing gets shaded out, and which plants share the space happily. Below are the basics, a square-foot spacing chart, and three ready-made layouts you can copy.
Bed size and spacing
- Width: 4 feet or less. Most adults can comfortably reach about 2 feet in, so a 4-foot bed can be worked from both sides without stepping on the soil. Against a fence or wall, keep it to about 2–3 feet.
- Length: whatever fits. 8 feet is a common, easy-to-build length.
- Paths: 18–24 inches between beds, wider if you need to get a wheelbarrow through.
- Depth: even 6 inches above grade improves drainage; deeper beds suit root crops and are easier on your back.
- Sun: pick the sunniest level spot you have, ideally 6–8 hours or more of direct sun, close to a water source.
Put tall crops on the north side
In North America the sun tracks across the southern sky, so plants on the north edge of a bed cast their shade outside it. Put trellised peas, beans and cucumbers, caged tomatoes and corn along the north side, medium crops in the middle and low crops (lettuce, carrots, radishes, herbs, flowers) at the south edge.
Square-foot spacing chart
Divide the bed into 1-foot squares with string or lath, then plant each square with a set number of plants. These counts are from Clemson Extension's small-scale gardening guide; check your seed packet too, since compact and giant varieties differ.
| Crop | Plants per 1-ft square |
|---|---|
| Tomato (caged or staked) | 1 |
| Pepper | 1 |
| Broccoli / cabbage | 1 |
| Kale | 1 |
| Summer squash (staked) | 1 |
| Cucumber (trellised) | 2 |
| Basil | 4 |
| Leaf lettuce | 4 |
| Onion (bulb) | 4 |
| Garlic | 4 |
| Swiss chard | 4 |
| Pea (trellised) | 8 |
| Pole bean (trellised) | 8 |
| Bush bean | 9 |
| Beet | 9 |
| Spinach | 9 |
| Carrot | 16 |
| Radish | 16 |
| Green onion | 16 |
Vining squash, melons and pumpkins need far more room, often several squares per plant, unless you grow them up a sturdy trellis.
Layout 1: 4×8 summer salsa bed
Tomatoes span two squares each so caged plants have room. Numbers show plants per square. Every pair here is a listed companion or neutral: tomato, pepper, onion, garlic, basil, carrot, marigold, nasturtium.
Plant after your last frost (tomatoes and basil at the frost date, peppers 2–3 weeks later). Carrots can go in a few weeks earlier. Nothing in this bed is on the keep-apart list: there are no beans or peas near the onions and no potatoes near the tomatoes. For more on tomato neighbors, see what to plant with tomatoes.
Layout 2: 4×4 cool-season bed
Peas climb a trellis on the north edge. No onions or garlic, because the onion family is listed as a poor neighbor for peas and lettuce.
Sow about 4 weeks before your last frost, once the soil can be worked. Pull radishes early so they do not crowd the carrots (sources differ on carrots and radishes together; quick harvests avoid the problem). When the bed clears in early summer, replant it with beans or cucumbers.
Layout 3: 4×4 Three Sisters bed
Corn is planted as a block so it pollinates well; pole beans climb the second row of corn once it is a few inches tall. Squash spills over the south edge.
Corn, beans and squash are the classic Three Sisters companions. A 4×4 block is about the minimum for decent corn pollination, so treat this as a small, fun planting. Sow beans once the corn is up, not on the same day.
Plan your own bed in five steps
- List what you will eat.
Six to ten crops is plenty for a first bed.
- Split warm- and cool-season crops.
Use the planting calendar to see what goes out before and after your last frost.
- Check companions.
Run your list through the companion checker and give keep-apart pairs separate beds.
- Draw the grid.
Tall crops north, low crops south, using the spacing chart above.
- Rotate next year.
Move each plant family to a different bed to reduce soil-borne disease.
Check your bed list for good buddies and keep-apart pairs.
Open itSources
- Virginia Cooperative Extension, "Companion Planting in Gardening" (SPES-620P)
- University of Maryland Extension, "Vegetable Succession and Companion Planting"
- Oregon State University Extension, "Companion Planting"
- Penn State Extension, "Herbs Make Good Plant Partners and Companions"
- University of Minnesota Extension, "Planting the vegetable garden"
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map
- NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals (frost/freeze data)
- Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC, "Small-Scale Gardening"
- University of Florida IFAS Extension, "Gardening in Raised Beds" (ENH1211)
- University of Maryland Extension, "Growing Vegetables in Raised Beds"
Pairings are summarized in our own words from extension-service guidance. Research support for many companion effects is limited, so treat them as good habits, not guarantees.