Free tool
Raised bed & spacing planner
Enter your bed size and pick a crop — we'll work out how many plants fit at the right spacing and draw a top-down plan you can follow.
The longer side of the bed.
The shorter side — the reach across the bed.
Spacing comes from typical UK growing guidance.
Lettuce plants that fit
36
4 across × 9 down · 25 cm spacing
Across the width
4
120 cm wide
Down the length
9
240 cm long
Top-down plan
Dots show roughly where plants sit — the bed holds 36 in total.
Spacing figures are typical UK guidance — a few centimetres either way is fine. Leave room to reach the middle of the bed, and edge plants can sit a little closer to the sides than the gap between rows.
🌱 Planned with Farm Simple · farmsimple.co.uk
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How to use it
Enter the length and width of your raised bed — use the toggle to switch between centimetres and metres, whichever is on your tape measure. Then choose the crop you want to grow. The planner reads that crop's recommended plant spacing and works out how many fit across the width and down the length, then draws a top-down plan with a dot for each plant. Everything updates as you type, so you can try a few crops or bed sizes before you commit. A standard UK raised bed is 2.4m × 1.2m, which is the default here.
How the calculation works
Both dimensions are converted to centimetres. Plants across the width use the crop's in-row spacing (how far apart plants sit along a row); rows down the length use its row spacing (how far apart the rows themselves sit). We divide and round down each way — plants across = bed width ÷ plant spacing, rows down = bed length ÷ row spacing — then multiply for the total. Rounding down means the plan never overcrowds the bed, so there's usually a little spare room at the edges. Close-spaced crops such as lettuce, courgettes and beans use an even grid (the same gap both ways); row crops such as carrots, onions and beetroot are sown closer within each row than the rows are set apart, which is how they're actually grown. Spacing figures are typical UK guidance and a few centimetres either way makes little difference, so treat the totals as a sensible starting point rather than a hard limit.
Frequently asked questions
- How many plants fit in a 1.2m × 2.4m raised bed?
- It depends entirely on the crop's spacing. Lettuce at 25cm gives about 4 across and 9 down — roughly 36 plants in a standard 1.2m × 2.4m bed. Onions at 10cm fit far more, while a courgette at 90cm needs most of the bed to itself. Pick the crop above and the plan updates instantly.
- Should I space plants in a grid or in rows?
- Both work, and this planner follows whichever suits the crop. Close-spaced crops like lettuce, salad and courgettes suit an even grid — the same gap in every direction — for good ground cover. Root and allium crops like carrots, onions and beetroot are sown close together within a row but need wider gaps between the rows, so the planner uses each crop's plant spacing across the width and its row spacing down the length.
- How wide should a raised bed be?
- Aim for no more than about 1.2m wide so you can reach the centre from either side without standing on the soil. Length is up to you and the space you have. Keep beds you can only reach from one side narrower — around 60–75cm.