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Raised Bed Vegetable Garden Layout Plans You Can Copy (4×4, 4×8, Kitchen Garden)

Five copy-and-plant layouts with plant counts, spacing and what goes where.

Updated 2026-09-10

Layout rules that apply to every bed

• Tall crops (tomatoes, trellised cucumbers, pole beans) on the north side so they do not shade the rest.
• Grid the bed in 1-ft squares. Most beginners' spacing problems disappear when they count squares.
• One square = 1 tomato, 1 pepper, 4 lettuces, 9 bush beans, 16 carrots or radishes.

Plan 1: 4×4 salad bed (16 squares)

Row 1 (north): 2 cherry tomatoes on ladders, 2 basil. Row 2: 4 squares of lettuce (succession sow every 2 weeks). Row 3: 2 kale, 2 Swiss chard. Row 4: radishes, carrots, scallions, parsley. Feeds two people salads from May to frost.

Plan 2: 4×8 family bed (32 squares)

North row: 3 tomatoes, 1 cucumber on a trellis, 2 peppers, 2 basil. Middle: 4 bush beans squares, 2 zucchini (they need 2 squares each), 4 lettuce. South: carrots, beets, radishes, spinach, chives, dill, cilantro, marigolds in the corners.

Plan 3: tomato & basil bed (4×4)

4 indeterminate tomatoes on the north half, 4 basil in front, 8 squares of lettuce and arugula that get shaded (and stay sweet) in July. Companion classic.

Plan 4: herb bed (2×4 or an elevated planter)

Rosemary, thyme and oregano on the sunny dry end; parsley, chives, cilantro and dill on the end nearest the hose. Mint only in its own pot.

Plan 5: two-bed kitchen garden

Bed A is the salad bed (plan 1), bed B is the family bed (plan 2). Rotate them next year: what grew in A goes in B. Paths 18–24 in wide, mulched with wood chips.

Getting the timing right

A layout is only half the plan. Enter your frost date in the planting calendar to see when each square gets planted, and check the companion planting chart before you swap crops around.

What I'd buy first

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