'Optima(?)l' raised bed shape: Square or Rectangle?

[Samuel1988]

Afternoon All,

I am new to horticulture & growing my own vegetables although I have always shadowed my mother and grandmother during their vegetable growing tasks.

Anyway, I have been given a section of my cousins garden to look after (7 metres L X 5 metres wide, in which to grow produce [in exchange for the growing space she gets a 50% take of what is produced]) where I will be setting up a pilot food growing and wildlife project (my aim is to inspire my younger 2nd cousin about wildlife, help certain species by providing food sources such as wild flowers etc & show the benefits of growing own produce).

It is a south facing garden.

This is the first time I have been given such a responsibility and control to grow my own produce which leads me to my question.

I wish to divide up the area into raised beds (to help contain the growing areas as I will not be round to the plot every day due to other time commitments and so my cousin who is studying full time will be spending some time doing daily maintenance) and I was thinking of carving it up into square raised bed plots and row raised bed plots. My thinking is that some crops, such as Tomatoes are sun loving and I think that growing in a single, 5 metre long growing row will maximise sunlight for each individual plant (as opposed to a square plot where other plants may block sunlight).

I was wondering if different raised bed shapes have different advantages and disadvantages (such as good for companion planting, space efficiency etc) and if certain vegetables are more 'suited' to different raised bed shapes (in that sense I relate to the sunlight factor). I hope what I type makes sense.

Thank you for your time and help,

Samuel

[vikkib]

Firstly welcome to the Vine!

It sounds like you've got a decent bit of space to get growing in - should be great fun!

I've not done much in raised beds but plenty of people on here have and I'm sure they'll be along soon.

There's a fantastic thread on a concept which works really well with raised beds called Square Foot Gardening which you might find interesting.

It might be particularly handy when it comes to the maintenance side of things as everything is divided up in manageable sized chunks which might be far less daunting for your cousin to tackle if you're not around.

There are also some great suggested plans/layouts which would help a lot in terms of the height and size of different plants.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ing_44388.html

[Aberdeenplotter]

One important factor is that whatever shape your raised bed is, you will want to be able to reach the centre easily from each side. Other than that, the old make do and mend priciple applies, i.e. make your beds the shape that suits the space available

[salome2001]

as Aberdeen said, don't make your beds wider than you can reach to the middle from either side. I used deck planks which come in handy 2.4m lengths, half a deck plank is 1.2m which is about right for me.
IMHO square beds will have too much path and too little growing area.
On that note, think about how much space you need to leave between your beds. Some of mine have 70cm- too much- and some 45cm - too little, I can't comfortably kneel between them.
Length-wise, I have some 3.6m long beds and they are good for big plants like brassicas.

[Paulieb]

Obviously you want to maximise the growing space so to achieve this you would say the less pathways between beds the better.

However;
- as AP says above you need to be able to reach the middle of the beds so you don't have to walk on them (mine are about 4ft across)
- I find you always need bigger paths than you may think for easy passage with a wheelbarrow, so I'd recommend a physical test with some markers beforehand
- don't make the beds too long which will encourage you to try to jump over instead of walking around, because you'll always leave something on the other side that you need!

.....and enjoy!

[Two_Sheds]

Samuel: the important thing is that you never walk on your beds. To that end, you need to be able to reach the middle of the bed without stepping on it, so the width should be double your reach.
I have small arms, so my beds are only 5ft wide.

The length: too long and you won't bother to walk round them, you'll try to jump over, or step on the bed.

[ugley_matt]

I used 6ft gravel boards to make my beds and the middle it just about reachable. I've then got 2ft wide paths between the 4 beds. Its in the back garden so i had to make it look attractive as well to keep the boss happy.

What about the correct orientation?

[Alison]

Although I'm tall I find that anything wider than 4' means that it's hard to reach the centre of the beds when they're fully planted up. I don't have proper raised beds but do edge them and found that 4' by 10' (I think that this is about 3m by 1.2m but am not good with metric) works really well, not too far to walk round the ends and fine to reach across. Also that size of bed can be cleared fairly quickly so that you can give yourself the illusion of progress which is always nice.

[Bigmallly]

Just echoing what has already been said really:
Beds wide enough to reach the centre, long enough to walk round & not step on, paths wide enough for kneeling down & wheelbarrow. The only thing I can add is to grow your tallest plant on the North end of the bed therefore casting no shadows.

[veggiechicken]

Would beds running from North to South be best, where the ground slopes to the south?
Just checking for my own plotting

[Aberdeenplotter]

depends on the length of the bed. A long bed could encourage run off of rainwater.

[Bigmallly]

Most of the guys on our site run there beds east/west but I wanted to be different so did mine north/south. Can't say I noticed any difference...........just make sure your tall plants are at the north end.

[veggiechicken]

Dunno yet Ap. Just trying to work out my orientation

[veggiechicken]

Most of the guys on our site run there beds east/west but I wanted to be different so did mine north/south. Can't say I noticed any difference...........just make sure your tall plants are at the north end.

East/west would have given you lots of shorter beds - yes? so not as space efficient.
North'south would suit me better too.

[Aberdeenplotter]

Dunno yet Ap. Just trying to work out my orientation

just remember not to take a bed away at a tangent