Permanent Raised Bed Gardening: Bed Layout

Extra high beds require fortification.

There is no hard and fast rule as to the width of paths between beds. Anyone planning to use wheeled equipment such as a wheel barrow, garden cart or lawn mower between beds should make sure the paths are wide enough to handle the equipment. All of the Noble Foundation's 40-inch by 30-foot beds are on 5-foot centers. Path width was sacrificed for production area. Although the 20-inch-wide paths do not permit access by garden cart, they provide easy access by one person with a harvest bucket.

Ideally, beds should be built on a north-south orientation. This alignment minimizes shading of low-growing plants. If it is impossible to orient the beds north and south, don't worry. Excellent results have been obtained growing crops in east-west oriented beds as well. In this situation, keep the tallest growing plants on the north side of the garden and try to group similarly sized plants together.

Make a scale drawing of the raised bed garden on graph paper. Once a bed width is selected, adjust bed length on the sketch to fit the site in the most efficient manner.

Box-type beds are excellent for classroom use at Oak Hall Episcopal School, Ardmore, Okla.

The perfect combination – 40-inch by 30-foot recycled tire beds constructed on 5-foot centers.