Design your raised bed layout, choose the right sizes, and plan what to grow in each bed — free and online
Raised beds give you faster-warming soil, better drainage, and a tidy, structured garden you can rotate crops in year after year. Our free raised bed garden planner lets you drag, drop and resize beds to match your real plot — then fill them with crops at correct spacing.
Pick a size that fits your space, your reach, and what you want to grow
The classic starter raised bed. Small enough to reach the centre from any side, big enough to grow a real mix of salads, herbs, and small veg. Ideal first raised bed.
Fits roughly: 16 lettuces, or 9 bush beans, or 4 tomatoes
The most popular UK raised bed size. Comfortable to reach across, long enough for proper rotation, and a perfect fit for a 4-bed potager layout. Holds roughly 1.2 cubic metres of soil.
Fits roughly: 32 onions + a row of carrots + 4 brassicas
A great option for narrow gardens or accessible raised beds. Works well at waist height for gardeners who want to avoid bending.
Fits roughly: 12 strawberries + herbs around the edge
Deeper beds give you the option to grow root crops like carrots and parsnips with no compaction, and are far easier on the back. Ideal for new builds and small spaces.
Fits roughly: Carrots, parsnips, potatoes, leeks
Before you build a single bed, measure the area you have. Allow at least 45cm for paths between beds (60cm if you'll wheel a barrow). Beds should be no wider than 1.2m so you can reach the centre from each side without stepping on the soil.
Salads and herbs are happy in 20cm of soil. Brassicas and beans want 30–40cm. Root crops like carrots and parsnips need at least 40–60cm of loose, stone-free soil.
A four-bed layout makes rotation easy: roots, brassicas, legumes, and "everything else" each get one bed. Each year, shift the families one bed clockwise. Our crop rotation tool automates this for you.
A 50/50 mix of good topsoil and well-rotted compost is hard to beat. Top up with 5cm of fresh compost each spring — raised beds drain quickly, so feeding the soil matters more than in open ground.
Most vegetables want at least six hours of direct sun. Run beds north–south so tall crops at the north end don't shade everything else.
Drag, drop, resize and assign crops in minutes