[music] whether you're starting a new vegetable garden or improving an established one, using dedicated beds to grow your vegetables in can help you to maximise your productivity. a simple bed system will allow you to plan, tend, and harvest your crops with ease, yielding you results to be proud of. in this video we investigate how to laybeds out within a garden, and the best ways of deciding what togrow where. growing vegetables in allocated beds has many advantages. narrow beds ensure growing areas canbe tended from surrounding paths,
eliminating the need to step on beds andavoiding soil compaction. this promotes a healthier root zone for your plants, which in turn boosts productivity. soil amendments such as manures can be applied exactly where they're needed on the beds rather than over the entireplot. as well as creating a pleasing order toyour vegetable garden, a bed system will make protection ofdifferent crop families easier. for example, if you plant all yourcabbage family crops together its easy to net them to preventbutterflies from laying their eggs on the leaves.
beds make the plot easier to plan and will break your plot down into more manageable chunks. beds can be laid out at soil level, or raised. soil level beds are verystraightforward to mark out. define the edges with string tiedbetween pegs, then prepare the ground within. the soil level in beds will rise over time through the addition of organic matter andthe compaction of surrounding paths. edging beds offers a more permanentsolution as it clearly defines the beds, physically separating the growing area from the paths.
raising beds so the growing surface isabove ground level will help to improve drainage andencourage the soil to warm up earlier in spring. if kids play in your garden it makes the paths obvious and helpskeep balls away from seedlings. however you'll need to consider the initial cost and effort involved to construct all these raised beds. it should be possible to reach thecenter of each bed without over stretching. aim for a bed width of 3-4 feet (90-120cm), dependent on your reach. having beds of equal width will allow youto customize row covers and cloches so that they can be moved from bed tobed as needed,
and a narrow bed enables you to easily grow plants inblocks rather than rows, keeping weeds down and maximizing thenumber of plants you can grow in that space. the length of your bed should take intoaccount how far you are willing to walk to get around to the other side. for most people, a maximum length of 10 feet (3m) is about right. you can arrange beds in formal parallel rows to help with your planning. alternatively, layout beds in patterns or different shapes to create a more relaxed, potager-style effect. site beds in the sunniest part of the garden, away from frost pockets. be aware of which direction the mid-day sun is in, and consider how tall plants might shade others.
you can use our garden planner to help you plan the layout of your beds. mark them out using therectangle tool, or change to garden objects to select a particular style of raised bed. beds can be resized, copied and moved as required until you have perfected your plan. adding a compass to your plan will help youto layout the beds to maximize sunlight. beds are separated by the access paths. these should be a minimum of 2 feet (60cm) wide to allow for comfortable access forweeding and harvesting. leave paths to grass if they can beeasily mowed,
or alternatively, for a low-maintenancesolution, spread a mulch of wood chips over cardboard, or pour a loose material such as gravel over weed-suppressing membrane. or choose a permanent path surface such as brick or pavers. the garden planner includes a number of path types which can be selected and dropped into place to give your plan a more realistic finish. irregular shapes can be created byselecting a texture and then adding filled shapes. careful positioning of what you growwill optimize your results.
the garden planner will help you toplan the position of your various fruits and vegetables. start by choosing a crop from the plantselection bar. click once to pick it up, move the cursorto where you want it, then click to place. use the corner handles to extend the row, or expand it out into a block. as you expand, the software automatically calculates how many plants can be grown within that area, helping you to avoid overcrowding yourplants and achieve the highest yields. tender plants, such as tomatoes and peppers, generally require the warmest, sunniest part of the plot, so position these first.
next, considersprawling plants such as squash. position these to the edge of beds so theydon't smother their neighbors tall-growing climbers such as beans andpeas will need to be located where they won't shade lower-growing vegetables. site them furthest away from the sun so they can't cast a shadow. you may actually want to take advantage ofpotential shade to grow cool-season crops such aslettuce and spinach, especially in hot climates. plants that are regularly harvested and which don't need to be included in crop rotation, for example herbs and salad leaves,
should be positioned in beds closest tothe kitchen. consider pollination requirements. corn for example needs to be grown inblocks rather than rows, as these plants are wind-pollinated. incorporating plenty of companion plants such as calendula can help boost pollination of fruit- or pod-bearing crops such as beans as well as attracting beneficial insectsto your garden. thirsty plants such as salad leaves mayneed regular watering. group these plants together in a damperpart of the garden
or where irrigation can easily be supplied. a well laid out bed system makes growing easier and better organized. crucially, it also means bigger harvests! please share your tips for growing in beds by dropping us a comment below, and if this video has whetted yourappetite for further growing advice be sure to subscribe for more greatgardening videos.
