| Planning your Raised Garden Layout |
an introspective series of articles about raised gardening
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Raised Garden Beds usually come in three fairly
standard sizes. The smallest being 4ft. X 4 ft. by 11
inches tall. Next size up is 4 ft. wide X 6 ft. long and
the large size is 4 ft. wide and about 8 ft. long.
From a practical standpoint, these sizes make good
sense. Main reason is that different types of
vegetables require varying amounts of space, both
horizontally as well as vertically.
One extreme would be green onions which require
very little space both horizontally and vertically.
Another extreme would be tomato plants which can
easily top out at five feet tall and two to three feet in
diameter.
With this in mind the gardener must plan the garden
in a way that maximizes the useful space in the
garden and that is where garden sizing becomes
important.
Taking tomatoes for example, the optimum size for
this type of plant would be the 4 ft. X 4 ft. by 11 inch tall
garden. Tomato plants are best planted in clusters so
that the wire frames used to support them are fully
utilized.
As a rule of thumb, this size garden is able to support
10 plants when they are planted as five pairs. Each
pair will be assigned to one wire frame so that the
arrangement appears as shown in the first illustration.
There would be one pair in the middle of the garden
and the other four pairs would be located into each of
the four quadrants of the garden.
The 6 ft. and 8 ft. X 4 ft. by 11 inch tall gardens are best
suited for row planting rather than cluster planting
with one exception. One or two rows are planted
lengthwise across the north edge of the garden and
are reserved for vegetables that grow tall rather than
wide such as corn. Then comes another possibility and
that is to take advantage of the corn's structure and
plant your peas adjacent to the corn so that they grow
up the corn stalk. Sort of a "Jack and the Beanstalk".
The rest of the garden should be planted with rows
going across the narrow direction from front to back
reserving the two end rows for items that may spread
out or grow in the form of vines like peppers and
cucumbers.
Finally, big leaf items such as squash should be
planted in the smallest available garden and located
possibly around the periphery of your gardening area.
Reason for this is these plants often grow very large
leaves and would smother any lesser sized
vegetables and should be ostracized. Melons should
receive the same treatment and be allowed to grow
out away from the garden giving them all the room
they need.
Next Chapter
standard sizes. The smallest being 4ft. X 4 ft. by 11
inches tall. Next size up is 4 ft. wide X 6 ft. long and
the large size is 4 ft. wide and about 8 ft. long.
From a practical standpoint, these sizes make good
sense. Main reason is that different types of
vegetables require varying amounts of space, both
horizontally as well as vertically.
One extreme would be green onions which require
very little space both horizontally and vertically.
Another extreme would be tomato plants which can
easily top out at five feet tall and two to three feet in
diameter.
With this in mind the gardener must plan the garden
in a way that maximizes the useful space in the
garden and that is where garden sizing becomes
important.
Taking tomatoes for example, the optimum size for
this type of plant would be the 4 ft. X 4 ft. by 11 inch tall
garden. Tomato plants are best planted in clusters so
that the wire frames used to support them are fully
utilized.
As a rule of thumb, this size garden is able to support
10 plants when they are planted as five pairs. Each
pair will be assigned to one wire frame so that the
arrangement appears as shown in the first illustration.
There would be one pair in the middle of the garden
and the other four pairs would be located into each of
the four quadrants of the garden.
The 6 ft. and 8 ft. X 4 ft. by 11 inch tall gardens are best
suited for row planting rather than cluster planting
with one exception. One or two rows are planted
lengthwise across the north edge of the garden and
are reserved for vegetables that grow tall rather than
wide such as corn. Then comes another possibility and
that is to take advantage of the corn's structure and
plant your peas adjacent to the corn so that they grow
up the corn stalk. Sort of a "Jack and the Beanstalk".
The rest of the garden should be planted with rows
going across the narrow direction from front to back
reserving the two end rows for items that may spread
out or grow in the form of vines like peppers and
cucumbers.
Finally, big leaf items such as squash should be
planted in the smallest available garden and located
possibly around the periphery of your gardening area.
Reason for this is these plants often grow very large
leaves and would smother any lesser sized
vegetables and should be ostracized. Melons should
receive the same treatment and be allowed to grow
out away from the garden giving them all the room
they need.
Next Chapter
The preferred arrangement for tomato
plants is planting them in pairs with
each pair sharing a wire frame shown
illustrated as circles.
plants is planting them in pairs with
each pair sharing a wire frame shown
illustrated as circles.
A row garden accommodates smaller, low to the
ground vegetable varieties. The taller corn is
planted in a row going the length of the bed
and is located on the north side of the garden.
Peas are planted immediately adjacent to the
corn so that they can use the corn stalks for
support.
ground vegetable varieties. The taller corn is
planted in a row going the length of the bed
and is located on the north side of the garden.
Peas are planted immediately adjacent to the
corn so that they can use the corn stalks for
support.