Fill the bed, not a spreadsheet

Raised bed garden planner.

A raised bed is small, so the plan has to be exact. Size the bed, calculate the soil to fill it, lay out crops with square-foot spacing, and get sow dates by ZIP. This guide walks each step, and the free planner fills the bed for you.

Build your free planSoil mix calculator →

Step 1 of 6

Size the bed to how you reach it

Keep a raised bed no wider than 4 feet so you can reach the center from either side, and never step on the soil. Length is up to your space; 4x8 is the workhorse. Depth of 10 to 12 inches suits most crops.

The one rule that saves a raised bed: no compaction. If you can reach every plant from a path, the soil stays loose and roots run deep. Go 18 inches or deeper if you want long roots like carrots and potatoes. See raised bed planning for bed dimensions and orientation that work.

Step 2 of 6

Calculate the soil to fill it

Length times width times depth, in feet, gives cubic feet. A 4x8 bed at 12 inches needs about 32 cubic feet. Fill it with a blend, not bagged garden soil, so it drains and holds nutrients.

Buying soil by guesswork is how people overspend or come up a wheelbarrow short. The free soil mix calculator turns your bed size into an exact compost, topsoil, and aeration blend, then prepare the soil before you plant.

Step 3 of 6

Start from what you want to eat

A raised bed is small, so every square foot has to earn its place. List the vegetables your household really eats and how much, then let the plan work backward to plant counts.

Layout-first planners make you drag plants around an empty grid and hope it feeds anyone. Start from the meals instead. If you want numbers to sanity-check, how many plants to grow per person gives per-crop counts you can drop straight into a bed.

Step 4 of 6

Lay out crops with square-foot spacing

Raised beds pay off with intensive spacing: 2 to 3 times more plants than rows in the same footprint. Tall crops go on the north edge, sprawlers to the corners, quick crops tucked between slow ones.

Check every crop against the free plant spacing calculator and see vegetable garden spacing. Not sure a bed will fit your yard? Preview it in place with Will it fit?

Step 5 of 6

Get sow dates for your ZIP

Every planting date on a raised bed counts forward or backward from your last spring frost and first fall frost. Look them up once, then build the schedule around them.

Use the free planting calendar by ZIP code for both frost dates and what to sow each month. The planner turns them into a dated sow, transplant, and harvest schedule for every crop in the bed.

Step 6 of 6

Let the planner do the math

Enter your goal, your ZIP, and your bed size, and the planner fills the bed: plant counts, layout, sow dates, and what to do with the harvest. Free for your first plan.

The numbers come from a tested timing engine covering over 130 crops and every US ZIP code; AI only writes the plain-English steps. Start with what the free planner includes.

Why a goal-first raised bed plan wins

Most raised bed planner apps are drawing tools: you drag beds and plants around a grid, then hope the result feeds anyone. PlotToTable flips the order. You say “salads and salsa for a family of 4 in one 4x8 bed” and it computes the plants, the soil, the spacing, the sow dates, and the preserving plan. A raised bed rewards this: with no wasted walking rows inside it, intensive spacing fits far more food than you would guess.

Try it freePlanning a bigger garden? →

Raised bed planning questions

What size should a raised garden bed be?+

Keep beds no wider than 4 feet so you can reach the middle from either side without stepping on the soil; 3 feet if you can only reach one side. Length is up to your space. Depth of 10 to 12 inches suits most vegetables, and 18 inches or more for long roots like carrots and potatoes. Leave a 2-foot path between beds.

How much soil do I need to fill a raised bed?+

Multiply length by width by depth in feet to get cubic feet. A 4x8 bed filled 12 inches deep needs about 32 cubic feet, roughly 1.2 cubic yards. The free soil mix calculator does the math and gives you a compost-to-topsoil-to-aeration blend so you buy the right amount once.

How many plants fit in a raised bed?+

More than you think. Square-foot and intensive spacing fit 2 to 3 times more plants than traditional rows, because a raised bed has no wasted walking rows inside it. A 4x8 bed holds a serious amount of food: the planner sizes each crop to the bed and tells you exactly how many plants fit.

Is the PlotToTable raised bed planner free?+

Yes. Build your whole plan free with no credit card: your goal, crop list, bed layout, and your first 3 crops in full detail with the sow timeline and weekly checklist. Premium adds unlimited crop detail, calendar reminders, and the printable field guide.

What should I plant in a raised bed?+

Start from what you actually eat, then match crops to the bed depth and your frost dates. Shallow beds favor lettuce, greens, bush beans, and peppers; deeper beds add carrots, potatoes, and tomatoes. Put tall crops on the north edge so they do not shade the rest.