How to Plant Small Raised Garden Bed - 2 Layout Ideas
You can grow a surprising amount of vegetables in a small space. It is a great size to start gardening, especially if you don’t have time and space for something bigger. When you garden in a smaller space, you want to maximize it. Although there is a number of options of vegetables out there, it is more satisfying to plant things you enjoy eating and that you can harvest frequently. For example, if you only have a small, raised bed and you plant one or two cabbages, there will not be space for anything else. Plus, you will wait 3 months to harvest. Instead, plant some herbs, lettuce, and leavy greens and you will have constant supply. A small bed is also ideal when time to garden is limited. In the summer season, putting ollas in the garden bed can help with watering the plants and avoiding daily checks.
To start out with there are a few basics to consider. This does not only go for small gardens but any growing space (with maybe the exception of a greenhouse). Regardless of the space, the climate will limit the options of what has the potential to thrive in your area. A local planting guide is helpful to determine what to grow in which month. In addition, the sun exposure in the garden bed will further narrow down the options. And, lastly the spacing dictates how much you can grow. That said, grow what you like and enjoy experimenting with it. There will be dead plants, inevitably!
Layout Option 1: Small Sunny Summer Garden Bed
This layout is ideal for warm season plants that love the heat, like peppers and tomatoes. The combination in the bed will give a variety herbs and veggies to harvest throughout the season, it is also pollinator-friendly, and deters pest.
The taller plants, like the tomatoes are planted in the back to avoid casting shade on the others. Cherry tomatoes will usually start producing earlier. For a small garden they are ideal to grow for snacking. For indeterminate tomato varieties a trellis system needs to be set up. This will ensure that the plants stay uprights and allow for airflow. Marigold, as well as basil are great companion plants for tomatoes, in addition to being edible flowers, just like the nasturtiums. These flowers will look beautiful planted on the edge of the bed, as they can grow over the side of the raised bed.
In front are the pepper plants. If they do get some shade in the strong afternoon sun, they are even better off because although they love the heat they can get too much sun.
Rocket and summer lettuce can be planted in between in the shadier spots. And if the lettuce goes to flower, there will be more color in the bed. Plus, the seeds can be saved.
Layout Option 2: Small Cool Season Garden Bed
This layout includes a variety of cool season plants: lettuce, leafy greens (kale and spinach), and herbs like parsley and coriander. They also provide a consistent harvest. Plant the herbs in the front where they are easy to access. And each crop does not take a lot of space to grow. A row of carrots can be planted in the middle or substituted for beetroot. They can be sown relatively close together. Just give them as much space as a grown vegetable would be.
For vertical gardening a trellis could be added in the back for some pole beans or peas. They will not only look beautiful growing vertically but also produce pretty flowers.
This garden bed can be planted in early spring. Once the temperatures increase, the herbs and lettuce will likely go to flower. You can either leave them for seed saving or make space for a summer planting. Alternatively, these crops can go in the garden after mid-summer for a autumn harvest.
There are other cool season crops, like broccoli and cabbages. In a small garden, they tend to take up a lot of space for ‘only’ one harvest. But at the end of the day, it is best to grow what you like to eat!
Companion planting can be interesting to experiment with, but they are not strict rules. If you have limited space there is not always the option to separate crops, so you could place them at opposition end of the garden bed instead.
Yes, some plants might compete with each other for nutrition and space and others could stunt the growth of a plant but it’s not illegal to try.
