Make a plan you can measure
This planner is for home vegetable gardeners arranging one rectangular bed. Start with the usable inside dimensions, choose crops, and enter how many final plants you want. Each crop receives a full-length strip across the bed. The diagram shows plant centres rather than mature foliage.
- Measure inside the frame, excluding paths and timber.
- Choose blocks or traditional rows. Inspect the linked source and edit spacing when your variety needs a different distance.
- Enter desired quantities. Add a trellis crop only if you actually plan to provide support.
- Enter the depth of soil being added, review the result, and use Print plan.
Changing the spacing method deliberately reloads crop presets. Changing units converts measurements. Desired quantity is a final plant count, not seeds to purchase or expected harvest.
What each input means
| Input | What to enter | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Inside length and width | The usable growing area inside the frame. Length runs along the horizontal edge of the drawing. | Timber, paths and edging are not growing space. |
| Bed units | Feet, inches, centimetres or metres. | Changing units converts the numbers already entered. |
| Spacing method | Blocks (the same distance both ways) or traditional rows (a separate distance between rows). | Switching reloads every crop’s preset from a different source. |
| Vegetable and desired plants | The crop, and how many final plants you want. Zero leaves it out. | Final plants after thinning, not seeds. |
| Plant and row spacing | Centre-to-centre distances. The preset comes from the linked source. | Your packet or local advice may call for a different value. |
| Crop order | The order of the crop blocks, from the back edge forward. | Earlier crops get space first when the bed is tight. |
| Trellis | One crop to place in a single row along the back edge. | It does not change spacing or build a support. |
| Soil depth, bag volume, allowance | The layer of soil you are adding, the volume printed on the bag and any optional extra. | Enter only the missing layer for a top-up. |
How the layout is produced
Crops are allocated in list order, with a selected trellis crop first. The engine counts positions along the length, then adds enough rows for the desired quantity while respecting the available width. Every strip reserves half the chosen spacing at its boundaries; adjacent strips therefore keep their own spacing allowances.
The grid is centred within each strip. When a last row is only partly planted, vacant positions remain visible. Unallocated area is the separate part of the bed outside all strips, not a claim about canopy cover. The layout is deterministic and does not search for the mathematically densest packing.
A trellis crop is limited to one row along the back edge. A request exceeding that row is shown as unmet. If no plants fit, nothing is squeezed in and no spacing is reduced.
Reading the result
The result is laid out in the order you will need it. The headline number and status line say whether everything fits. The drawing shows each crop strip to scale: dimension lines give the overall size, and the chain of measurements down the left gives each strip’s depth. The crop table lists wanted, placed and unmet plants.
Below that, Marking out the bed turns the drawing into distances you can measure in the garden, and What to do next reports the width or length that would fit every request and how many more of each crop the spare space could take. Both are worked out by re-running the same layout rules. Read the full guide to reading a plan or see four worked examples.
A worked bed plan
In an 8 × 4 ft bed, choose block spacing and request 8 head lettuces at 12 inches, 16 carrots at 3 inches, and 4 peppers at 18 inches. Lettuce takes a 12-inch strip, carrots a 3-inch strip, and peppers an 18-inch strip.
The result is 28 plants, 33 inches of allocated bed width, and an 8 ft × 15 in unallocated strip: 10 ft². The carrot and pepper strips have additional vacant positions because the requested counts are below their strip capacities. Filling the whole bed to 12 inches takes 32 ft³, or 22 bags of 1.5 ft³, before an allowance.
This example is also worked through in more detail, with three others, on the worked examples page.
Assumptions & common mistakes
Block presets come from Colorado Extension guidance and traditional-row presets from Georgia Extension guidance. They describe different systems; switching methods is not simply a display change. Local conditions, mature plant size, access, and your seed packet may require changes.
- Do not treat the maximum count as a recommended planting target or a yield prediction.
- Leave paths outside the entered bed. The planner does not add walkways or simulate shade.
- Supported tomato spacing requires actual support, even without a marked trellis edge.
- Do not put total frame height into the top-up field; enter only the missing soil layer.
- Mixed crops sharing a strip boundary are not assessed for biological compatibility.
Limits: rectangular sides up to 100 ft each, 8 crop blocks, and 10,000 total positions. Very dense diagrams show a sample of dots; counts and the downloadable position list remain complete.
Planner questions
Can I plan a square-foot garden?
Use equal-distance blocks and enter the spacing appropriate for your method. This is a continuous measured grid, not a fixed one-foot-cell planner, and it does not automatically apply square-foot planting recipes.
Why are some requested plants missing?
A strip has only so many rows and positions. The result lists requested, placed, and unmet quantities. Reduce your request, change the bed size, or verify whether a different spacing is suitable; the tool never silently changes it.
Can I save my plan?
Use Copy plan link to keep the current inputs in a link you can bookmark or send; opening it restores the plan and recalculates. You can also print the result, save it as PDF through your browser’s print dialog, or download its position list. Nothing is stored in an account or on a server. Tool-to-tool transfers use this tab’s session storage.
Why does the order of my crops matter?
Strips are filled from the back edge in list order. When the bed runs out of width, the crops at the end of the list lose space first. Put your priority crops first; the result also reports the width that would fit everything.
Will the trellis change plant spacing?
No. It changes placement order and limits that crop to one back-edge row. You must enter spacing suitable for the crop and its training system.