4' x 12' Raised Garden Bed — Frame It All (2024)

FAQs

Is 12 inches enough for a raised garden bed? ›

A depth of 8 – 12 inches will suffice for most gardening situations.

The Best Length for a Raised Bed

In my experience, the best length for a bed maxes out around 10 to 12 feet long. I've installed beds as long as 25 feet, but we encountered issues with holding the bed structure together as the soil was added. Wooden beds that are too long might start to bow.

I'll justify my answer in a bit. But first, let's get into the nitty gritty of just how much room each plant takes up. You can typically grow 6 to 12 small plants like lettuce and carrots per square foot. You can grow 4 to 6 medium plants like basil or zinnias per square foot.

A depth of 8 – 12 inches will suffice for most gardening situations. Because of the excellent drainage properties of raised beds, it is possible to grow an abundance of vegetables in a limited amount of space.

As a general rule, raised beds are typically between 1.5 and 4 feet wide and between 4 and 10 feet long. Common raised bed garden sizes include: 4' x 4' 2' X 8'

Medium-rooting vegetables like kale, cucumbers, and zucchini love at least 18 inches. A 2-foot bed is ideal for these types of vegetables, as well as fruits that grow on bushes like blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries.

Tomatoes should ideally be grown in a raised bed that's at least 15 to 18 inches deep. Many of my clients in Houston are successfully growing tomatoes in 12-inch deep raised garden beds, but their plants tend to be a little stunted compared to plants in deeper beds.

Ideally, the beds should be around 24-30 inches tall to allow for comfortable gardening without bending or reaching too much.

Raised garden beds that are too long can become a nuisance. They also tempt people to take a shortcut and step in the beds to get across. Consider keeping your beds short enough that going around them isn't a chore.

Raised bed sizes can vary greatly, but let's use the example of a 4x8' raised bed. In this bed you could plant two rows of tomatoes, which are each 8' long. If using cages or another wide support system, you can probably fit 6-8 tomato plants in that bed.

Can I use regular lumber for raised garden beds? ›

You can safely use other kinds of untreated hardwood to build raised beds, but your project will rot and warp in a few years, depending on the wood. Plastic lumber is durable lumber that looks a lot like wood. The plastics and composites used to make the product vary by manufacturer. They may or may not be food safe.

To put it simply, you should put a layer of organic material at the bottom of your garden bed, which will break down and enrich the soil. This can include compost, or woody material such as logs, dry wood, branches, and leaves.

Raised garden bed lining isn't mandatory to have healthy growing plants. But adding raised garden bed lining does provide benefits. Many experienced gardeners recommend lining raised beds for these reasons: It provides insulation for the soil and helps control temperature fluctuations.

For a 4x8-foot raised bed with a 6” height, using Mel's Mix: about 5 cubic feet each of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite is needed. It usually takes about two to three bags of purchased fertile mix (1.5 cubic feet each) to cover the bed surface to a depth of 2 inches.

It depends upon the amount of space you have to devote to plants. A raised flower trough can still hold plenty of blooms with some herbs added in to the fun. If your goal is to raise food for yourself, even a tiny raised bed of 2 x 4 feet (0.6 x 1.2 m.) will provide plenty of fresh produce.

Raised beds should be at least 12 inches deep and filled to about six inches with a good planter mix and lots of compost. Locate them where they will get at least 4 to 6 hours per day of unobstructed sun.