Raised Bed Guide

Build a raised bed when it solves a problem. A bed can help with packed, rocky, wet, weedy, or hard-to-reach ground. If your soil drains well and is easy to work, an in-ground bed may be simpler and cost less.

Choose the site first

Match the sunlight to the crops and keep water close. Fruiting crops often need six to eight hours of direct sun. A shadier bed may suit leafy crops better. Plan the paths and make sure extra water can drain before you fill the bed.

Make every part reachable

The right width is the width you can reach without stepping on the soil. A bed reached from one side should be narrower than one reached from both sides. Your height and mobility matter more than one standard measurement.

Treat the soil as a no-step area. Walking on it presses out the air and makes roots work harder.

Use soil with structure

A useful starting mix is mostly good topsoil with some plant-based compost. Compost is an ingredient, not the whole bed. A bed filled only with compost can dry quickly and build up too much salt or phosphorus.

On normal ground, roots and water usually benefit from an open connection to the soil below. On a patio or other hard surface, use a base that lets water drain. The bed height should solve your site's access or soil problem, not follow one universal number.

Space crops by their mature size

These raised-bed crops come from the published library. Each card shows the plant spacing saved in its crop guide. Do not crowd extra plants into a bed just because the soil looks empty at planting time.

• 

  Takes some care

  Bell Pepper

  A sweet, warm-season pepper that can be picked green or left to ripen to its final color.

  • Full sun
  • 70 to 85 days
  • 5 gal pot or bigger
  • 18 in apart
• 

  For a confident grower

  Blueberry

  A long-lived fruit shrub that needs much more acidic soil than most garden crops.

  • Full sun
  • 36 to 48 in apart
• 

  Takes some care

  Broccoli

  A cool-season cabbage-family crop grown for tight green flower buds.

  • Full sun
  • 8 to 10 in apart
• 

  Takes some care

  Cabbage

  A cool-season leaf crop that wraps its inner leaves into a firm head.

  • Full sun
  • 15 to 18 in apart
• 

  Takes some care

  Carrot

  A root crop that asks for little except loose, stone free ground and patience while it germinates.

  • Full sun
  • 70 to 80 days
  • 2 to 4 in apart
• 

  Takes some care

  Chili Pepper

  A warm-season pepper grown for pods that range from gently warm to very hot.

  • Full sun
  • 70 to 120 days
  • 5 gal pot or bigger
  • 12 to 24 in apart
• 

  Easy

  Cilantro

  A cool-weather herb with fresh leaves called cilantro and dried seeds called coriander.

  • Full sun
  • 45 to 80 days
  • Grows in a pot
  • 3 to 6 in apart
• 

  Takes some care

  Cucumber

  A warm-season vine grown for crisp green fruit that is picked before it turns yellow.

  • Full sun
  • Grows in a pot
  • 8 to 12 in apart
• 

  Easy

  Garlic

  A hardy bulb usually planted as separate cloves in fall and harvested the next summer.

  • Full sun
  • 3 to 4 in apart
• 

  Easy

  Green Beans

  A warm-season crop picked while the pods are crisp and the seeds inside are still small.

  • Full sun
  • 50 to 60 days
  • Grows in a pot
  • 3 to 4 in apart
• 

  Easy

  Green Onion

  An onion grown for its mild green stalks and small white base instead of a dry storage bulb.

  • Full sun
  • Grows in a pot
  • 2 to 4 in apart
• 

  Easy

  Kale

  A cold-tough leafy green that can keep making harvests well into fall.

  • Full sun
  • Grows in a pot
  • 8 to 12 in apart

Expect the bed to dry sooner

Raised beds often dry faster than nearby ground, and taller beds may need more frequent watering. Check the soil instead of using a fixed schedule. Water near the soil, and use mulch when it helps slow evaporation and weeds.

Sources

• Raised bed gardens (University of Minnesota Extension)
• Raised Beds (Clemson Cooperative Extension)