Jacki Cammidge is a Certified Horticulturist specializing in frugal, low-input gardening and propagation, with lifelong hands-on experience and years as a wholesale nursery head propagator.

4x8 Raised Bed Planting Layout

Best Set Up For a Raised Bed

If you have raised beds, you may feel a bit baffled on how to start planting them. Here's where to start, with this 4x8' raised bed layout plan. You can adapt it to other sizes, but this is the most common dimension for your bed.

Here’s a simple raised-bed spacing chart for common vegetables and herbs.

Raised-bed spacing chart

Cool-season crops
- Lettuce
- Seed spacing: 1 inch
- Thin to: 6–12 inches
- Row spacing in raised beds: not needed; plant in blocks
- Spinach
- Seed spacing: 1–2 inches
- Thin to: 3–6 inches
- Block spacing: 4–6 inches
- Peas
- Seed spacing: 1–2 inches
- Thin to: usually not needed
- Block spacing: 2–3 inches with trellis
- Radishes
- Seed spacing: 1 inch
- Thin to: 2–3 inches
- Block spacing: 3 inches
- Carrots
- Seed spacing: 1 inch
- Thin to: 2–3 inches
- Block spacing: 2–3 inches
- Beets
- Seed spacing: 1–2 inches
- Thin to: 3–4 inches
- Block spacing: 3–4 inches
- Onions
- Seed spacing: 1 inch
- Thin to: 3–4 inches for bulbs
- Block spacing: 3–4 inches
- Kale
- Seed spacing: 2 inches
- Thin to: 12–18 inches
- Block spacing: 12–18 inches
- Broccoli
- Transplant spacing: 15–18 inches
- Block spacing: 15–18 inches
- Cabbage
- Transplant spacing: 12–18 inches
- Block spacing: 12–18 inches
- Cauliflower
- Transplant spacing: 18 inches
- Block spacing: 18 inches

Warm-season crops
- Beans, bush
- Seed spacing: 2–3 inches
- Thin to: 4–6 inches
- Block spacing: 4–6 inches
- Beans, pole
- Seed spacing: 3–4 inches
- Grow on trellis
- Corn
- Seed spacing: 4–6 inches
- Thin to: 8–12 inches
- Plant in blocks, not single rows, for pollination
- Cucumbers
- Transplant or seed spacing: 12 inches on trellis, 18 inches if sprawling
- Squash, summer
- Spacing: 18–24 inches
- Squash, winter
- Spacing: 24–36 inches
- Pumpkins
- Spacing: 36–48 inches
- Tomatoes, determinate
- Spacing: 18–24 inches
- Tomatoes, indeterminate
- Spacing: 24–30 inches with support
- Peppers
- Spacing: 12–18 inches
- Eggplant
- Spacing: 18–24 inches
- Melons
- Spacing: 24–36 inches on trellis or more if sprawling
- Okra
- Spacing: 12–18 inches

Herbs
- Basil
- Spacing: 10–12 inches
- Parsley
- Spacing: 6–8 inches
- Cilantro
- Spacing: 4–6 inches
- Dill
- Spacing: 8–12 inches

Raised-bed spacing tips
- In raised beds, use block planting instead of long rows
- Leave enough room for airflow, especially for tomatoes, peppers, and cabbage-family crops
- Trellising saves space for peas, cucumbers, pole beans, and some melons
- Large crops like pumpkins and winter squash often do better at the bed edge so vines can spill out
- Root crops need even spacing for straight, well-shaped roots
- Thinning is important for carrots, beets, lettuce, and radishes

Quick 4x8 bed examples

For a salad bed
- Lettuce: 16–32 plants depending on variety
- Spinach: 48–64 plants
- Radishes: 100+ in a short planting
- Carrots: 100+ with thinning

For a summer bed
- Tomatoes: 4–6 plants depending on type
- Peppers: 8–10 plants
- Bush beans: 40–60 plants
- Cucumbers on trellis: 4–6 plants

For large crops
- Summer squash: 2–4 plants
- Cabbage: 8–10 plants
- Broccoli: 8–10 plants
- Indeterminate tomatoes: 4 plants comfortably

---

Sign up here for all the updates;