Raised Beds-Is Length Important

whistech · September 1, 2012

Good Afternoon, I'm new here at Tomatoville and I am hoping some of more experienced raised bed gardeners can give some input. I live in Spring, Texas and will be building raised beds with-in the next 3 weeks. I have read where the raised beds should be no wider than 4 feet and I understand why. My question is this: Is the length of each raised bed critical? What I mean is the raised beds I have seen in the pictures here are normally between 8 and 12 feet long and I'm wondering if the reason is for good looks or if there is a reason not to make my beds between 32 and 40 feet long? I look forward to growing a garden next spring and want to avoid a rookie mistake building my raised beds.

TightenUp · September 2, 2012

the longer it is the more tomatoes you can grow. mine is 4x16. i bought the raised bed and this was the largest one i could fit in my garden area. if i had more room i would have a bigger(longer) one. i put 12 plants in a zig-zag pattern and it got tight.

fyi- the 4 foot width is still tough to get to certain parts of plants. i would personally like 5 foot width with some support beams to walk on. i understand this is not the norm but the extra foot would give the plants so much more room

TightenUp · September 2, 2012

one other thing. a 40 foot raised bed requires so much dirt or whatever you choose to fill it with. keep that in mind. do you know what you will be filling it with?

davidstcldfl · September 2, 2012

One disadvantage to one long bed, rather then two shorter ones....if your in the middle on one side, and say you see a tomato hornworm or something else on the other side...it's a long walk to get there before it disappears.

amideutch · September 2, 2012

Check out this thread that shows the growing bed setup one of our members who lives down in your neck of the woods in Elgin. A lot depends on how many plants you are going to grow, do you plan on pruning them, what type of watering system you are going to use and plant spacing. I have a raised bed at work that is 18' x 3' and plant only 6 plants in it because I do not trim them. Ami

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=5688

TightenUp · September 2, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by amideutch

Check out this thread that shows the growing bed setup one of our members who lives down in your neck of the woods in Elgin. A lot depends on how many plants you are going to grow, do you plan on pruning them, what type of watering system you are going to use and plant spacing. I have a raised bed at work that is 18' x 3' and plant only 6 plants in it because I do not trim them. Ami

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=5688

Never seen this thread. fantastic! thanks for sharing Ami

halleone · September 2, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidstcldfl

One disadvantage to one long bed, rather then two shorter ones....if your in the middle on one side, and say you see a tomato hornworm or something else on the other side...it's a long walk to get there before it disappears.

The walking around a looong bed got old, so the my longest bank of beds is 11 feet, the others are between 6 and 10 feet. Works just fine for me, and next year I will start some vertical growing to make all of them more space efficient.

ddsack · September 2, 2012

I suspect the 8' and 12' lengths are just convenient because they are common board lengths that don't usually require much re-cutting or waste of materials. As someone mentioned, when the plants are all up and growing, you may not be able to easily step across to grab something on the far side from you, and it will get old marching around the long way. Personally, I would not want them longer than 16' at most. I like my 12 footers best, but I have 8 footers in an irregular sloping area to better fit into the terrain.

saltmarsh · September 2, 2012

Mine are 90 feet long X 4 feet wide with 28 inches between beds. Earth bermed beds have worked well for me. No lumber to rot, no mortar to crack, and if you don't like it, it's fairly easy to change. Claud

ScottinAtlanta · September 2, 2012

Mine are 3 x 25 and I love them. I wish they were longer.

TightenUp · September 2, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Mine are 3 x 25 and I love them. I wish they were longer.

do you plant in a single row or 2 rows?

b54red · September 2, 2012

I have different bed lengths from 45 feet down to 14 ft. with all of them 4 ft wide. My garden is triangular shaped. I much prefer the longer beds for tomatoes, broccoli, onions, beans etc. but would like smaller more narrow beds for things like spinach, lettuce and carrots just so it would be easier to reach the plants for thinning and such. I like the 4 ft width for erecting my trellises for my tomatoes because it allows me to have two rows of plants down the bed and when I connect the two trellises they are much sturdier. Another advantage of a long bed is that you have fewer ends to deal with and the beds tend to dry out faster on the ends also. The biggest disadvantage is walking around the longer beds to get to something on the other side. Whatever you do allow a bit more room between the beds for wheel barrows and such than you might think you need. I wish every day that I had left at least 3 ft between my beds.

Father'sDaughter · September 2, 2012

I have two beds that are 4' by 24' with 4' between them and a 4' pathway all the way around between the beds and the fence. The only thing I'd change if I could, is I would add a bit more space between the beds. Once the plant fill out, it gets a little crowded in the center aisle!

ScottinAtlanta · September 3, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by TightenUp

do you plant in a single row or 2 rows?

Staggered two rows.

whistech · September 3, 2012

Good afternoon, I want to express my sincere thanks to all that replied to my question. Right now, I'm thinking I will go with 4X16 feet beds. I may change my mind once I start laying out the beds in my back yard. I believe I will have room for six beds. I should have the beds completed before the end of September and will post some pictures when complete. What a great forum!

September 1, 2012	#1
whistech Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Between The Woodlands and Spring, Texas Posts: 553	Raised Beds-Is Length Important Good Afternoon, I'm new here at Tomatoville and I am hoping some of more experienced raised bed gardeners can give some input. I live in Spring, Texas and will be building raised beds with-in the next 3 weeks. I have read where the raised beds should be no wider than 4 feet and I understand why. My question is this: Is the length of each raised bed critical? What I mean is the raised beds I have seen in the pictures here are normally between 8 and 12 feet long and I'm wondering if the reason is for good looks or if there is a reason not to make my beds between 32 and 40 feet long? I look forward to growing a garden next spring and want to avoid a rookie mistake building my raised beds.

September 2, 2012	#2
TightenUp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Jersey Posts: 1,183	the longer it is the more tomatoes you can grow. mine is 4x16. i bought the raised bed and this was the largest one i could fit in my garden area. if i had more room i would have a bigger(longer) one. i put 12 plants in a zig-zag pattern and it got tight. fyi- the 4 foot width is still tough to get to certain parts of plants. i would personally like 5 foot width with some support beams to walk on. i understand this is not the norm but the extra foot would give the plants so much more room __________________

September 2, 2012	#3
TightenUp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Jersey Posts: 1,183	one other thing. a 40 foot raised bed requires so much dirt or whatever you choose to fill it with. keep that in mind. do you know what you will be filling it with? __________________

September 2, 2012	#8
ddsack Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Northern Minnesota - zone 3 Posts: 3,231	I suspect the 8' and 12' lengths are just convenient because they are common board lengths that don't usually require much re-cutting or waste of materials. As someone mentioned, when the plants are all up and growing, you may not be able to easily step across to grab something on the far side from you, and it will get old marching around the long way. Personally, I would not want them longer than 16' at most. I like my 12 footers best, but I have 8 footers in an irregular sloping area to better fit into the terrain. __________________ Dee **************

September 2, 2012	#4
davidstcldfl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Central FL zone 9b Posts: 96	One disadvantage to one long bed, rather then two shorter ones....if your in the middle on one side, and say you see a tomato hornworm or something else on the other side...it's a long walk to get there before it disappears.

September 2, 2012	#10
ScottinAtlanta Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Atlanta, Georgia Posts: 2,593	Mine are 3 x 25 and I love them. I wish they were longer.

September 2, 2012	#12
b54red Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Alabama Posts: 7,068	I have different bed lengths from 45 feet down to 14 ft. with all of them 4 ft wide. My garden is triangular shaped. I much prefer the longer beds for tomatoes, broccoli, onions, beans etc. but would like smaller more narrow beds for things like spinach, lettuce and carrots just so it would be easier to reach the plants for thinning and such. I like the 4 ft width for erecting my trellises for my tomatoes because it allows me to have two rows of plants down the bed and when I connect the two trellises they are much sturdier. Another advantage of a long bed is that you have fewer ends to deal with and the beds tend to dry out faster on the ends also. The biggest disadvantage is walking around the longer beds to get to something on the other side. Whatever you do allow a bit more room between the beds for wheel barrows and such than you might think you need. I wish every day that I had left at least 3 ft between my beds.

September 2, 2012	#13
Father'sDaughter Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: MA/NH Border Posts: 4,919	I have two beds that are 4' by 24' with 4' between them and a 4' pathway all the way around between the beds and the fence. The only thing I'd change if I could, is I would add a bit more space between the beds. Once the plant fill out, it gets a little crowded in the center aisle!

September 3, 2012	#15
whistech Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Between The Woodlands and Spring, Texas Posts: 553	Good afternoon, I want to express my sincere thanks to all that replied to my question. Right now, I'm thinking I will go with 4X16 feet beds. I may change my mind once I start laying out the beds in my back yard. I believe I will have room for six beds. I should have the beds completed before the end of September and will post some pictures when complete. What a great forum!