Top Raised Bed Garden Layouts and How to Choose the Right One for Your Garden

Raised garden beds are becoming highly popular for their benefits over in-ground beds. When creating a raised bed garden, choosing the best layouts for your raised garden beds is essential as it will maximize your growing space and increase the aesthetics of your landscape. The best design is the one that fits your space and garden goals. Raised beds elevate the growing space, which reduces the need for bending to weed, water, and harvest. Additionally, these beds warm the soil faster, allowing you to extend the growing season. From a small to large backyard garden, raised garden beds can be used for any size of garden.

Finding the right raised bed layout is key to growing well throughout the season. Our gardening experts share their favorite ways to set up raised beds for various garden designs. For these layouts, you can use wood-framed garden beds or metal raised beds.

1. All Beds in a Row

This is the most popular raised bed garden layout because it fits into many spaces, including balconies and patios. This is also known as the border garden layout. A border garden is an economical, functional layout perfect for gardeners with limited garden space who want to use most of the landscape for other uses. It allows you to use the areas of your yard that were previously unused. Design this garden next to a house, along driveways, fences, and the backyard's perimeter.

Place raised beds along the edge of your yard and driveway. Choose the bed size according to available space and plant requirements. Keep enough space around the beds for sitting or placing garden tools. Raised beds in one row with central breaks between beds vertically are perfect for convenient access. You can align the space and row with your outdoor space and landscape features.

2. Twin Garden

Twin Garden is one of the favorite raised garden bed layouts among gardeners. Place two raised beds in this layout and join them with an arched trellis. If you're not planning a border garden layout, having a single raised bed in the middle of the yard will not look good. So, always go for a minimum of two raised garden beds. When placing both beds, leave enough space for a path so you can enjoy a magical walk between them. Plant different types of crops in both beds. Plant climbing crops on the edge and hang their vines along the trellis. A twin garden adds more interest and appeal to your yard than a single bed.

Read More: How to Use a Garden Trellis

3. Trio Garden

Trio garden layout works well for long, circular, or curved spaces. In a circular space, you can mirror planting arrangements in two side beds and use a center bed for something else, like cutting flowers or perennials. Creating a raised garden in a group of three is an excellent way to maximize the growing area. Pair these beds with trellises to define the space. When designing a trio-raised garden in a circle, leave at least two feet of space between each bed to access beds from the center.

Pair a Trio of Beds with Garden Trellises

Adding height to your raised bed garden is also important for making the most of your space and creating vertical interest. In this layout, there are various options for garden trellises. If three beds are in a row, join them with two arched trellises. The middle bed will have one side of the trellis at each end.

If three beds are placed in a circular design, you can join each bed with a trellis. This will create three lovely entranceways into your garden space. An arch trellis adorned with tomato vines will look beautiful and eye-catching. You can also place an obelisk trellis in the middle of each raised bed.

4. Four-Garden Classic Beds

If space is not an issue and you want to make your garden feel like a destination, choose four square or rectangle beds of the same size. The symmetry between raised beds will add harmony, balance, and order to your outdoor space. The four-square layout ideally requires a square space. Each raised bed in this layout should be the same size, usually 4, 6, or 8 feet long and 2 or 4 feet wide. Raised garden beds in a four-garden design are accessible from all sides. Four beds allow you to grow various nutritious leafy greens, root crops, herbs, flowers, and fruits.

Connect the beds with two arched trellises and create a center walkaway with a grand entrance and exit. In addition, you can place an obelisk trellis on each bed.

5. Potager Garden

Raised garden beds are ideal for creating a potager garden. If your garden area is more than 20 feet long and wide, you have enough space to make a formal potager. This large and ornate garden design originated in France.

In potager, raised beds can be placed around a focal point like a water feature, tree, or sculpture. A fountain surrounded by plants can add interest to your landscape.

When creating a potager garden layout, focus on the center. You can also design a raised bed garden around the existing seating space in the courtyard to highlight the central space.

Use garden trellises to interconnect raised beds and make a path following the pattern of beds. You can pave with gravel or stone chippings; unlike grass, they won't muddy the path in wet weather.

Things to Consider Before Choosing the Right Layout for Your Garden

Consider these top factors before building raised beds and creating a garden design.

Size and Shape of Your Beds

The size and shape of your beds are the most important elements that contribute to the success or failure of your raised garden layout. The recommended ideal width for raised beds is about 3 to 4 feet. Any wider than 4.5-5 feet will make reaching the center of the bed difficult. You can aim for a height of 3 feet or your knees. Beds lower than three feet can increase the risk of critters getting into beds. Choose the length depending on your garden space, but the preferred length can be between 6 to 8 feet.

Raised Bed Materials

Choose raised bed materials that are durable, natural, beautiful, and affordable. Consider your climate, rainfall, humidity, and temperature to choose the best material. You can build your raised bed garden with wood, bricks, or metal raised beds. Avoid using pressure-treated timber to build wood-framed beds for safety and garden success.

DripWorks stocks durable and stylish metal raised beds for your landscape. If you plan to DIY your bed, use stacking joints by Frame It All to firmly attach the wooden frames.

Location

Choose a raised bed garden location that receives 6 to 8 hours of sunlight daily. Most vegetables, annuals, and perennial flowers need full sun to thrive. If a tree, fountain, or any other feature can block any side of your raised beds, you can plant something that loves shade, like kale and lettuce.

Pathways

It's a space you'll be moving in and out of your garden daily and between beds. Adding pathways can make planting and harvesting easier and more pleasant, so you aren't stepping on the plants. When choosing a location for your raised beds, allot some workable space around beds to move around.

Wrapping Up

Raised garden beds enable you to plant intensively and enjoy abundant harvests all year. Recognize the style of your home and choose the best-raised garden layout for your yard. Once you've learned about your landscape needs and picked the garden spot and raised bed layout, you're on your way to creating your dream garden. Your raised bed garden should look like it's always been a part of your home and landscape. If you need more clarity on creating a raised bed garden, check out our beginner's guide to starting a raised bed garden.

Are you looking for high-quality raised beds suitable for these layouts? Browse our durable, stylish, modern-looking metal raised beds in various sizes and shapes. DripWorks also offers affordable and water-efficient drip irrigation kits to provide deep and consistent watering to your raised bed garden.