Raised Beds: Soil Depth Requirements - Eartheasy Guides & Articles

Height of Popular Vegetables at Maturity

Arrange Your Crops So Taller Plants Don’t Block Shorter Plants from the Sun

When laying out a raised bed garden, the beds should be oriented to gain the maximum benefit from sun exposure. Beds should face south, and we suggest they be arranged horizontally facing south. This optimizes sun exposure from side to side across the bed, and keeps adjacent plants from shading each other as the sun moves east to west during the day.

Some gardeners prefer to layout their raised beds vertically to the sun (north to south), reasoning that this arrangement minimizes plants shading each other. This may make sense if you plan to grow a variety of crops in a single bed, and want to locate the taller plants at the rear (north) of the bed to prevent them from shading the shorter plants. However, we find it simpler to grow only one crop per raised bed because. Since the crop matures at the same time, the bed can be cleared after harvest and planted in a ‘green manure’ crop to restore nutrients in preparation for subsequent crops.

Note the height at maturity for each plant that you want to grow and organize your plantings with this in mind.

Regardless of how your garden beds are arranged, it is important to know how tall each of your planted crops will grow when mature. This is because you don’t want some of your plants blocking others from the available sunlight. Shorter plants like lettuce and radishes should be planted on the south side of the beds, with mid-size plants behind, and the tallest plants to the rear (north) of the planted area. Plants such as pole beans and peas, which are planted against a trellis, will block a lot of light. Locate trellises with this in mind.

Wind is another factor to consider. Taller plants are more vulnerable to wind damage, so they may need to be staked, secured to a trellis, or located against a windbreak. Plants get much heavier once they begin to put out fruit, so trellises need to be well secured. The chart below gives the approximate heights at maturity for popular vegetables. This will help determine planting location and distance between plants when planting seed or setting out transplants.

Heights at Maturity for Popular Garden Vegetables

Vegetable	Size at Maturity	Vegetable	Size at Maturity
Artichoke	4' - 5'	Kohlrabi	9" - 12"
Arugula	8" - 10"	Leeks	12" - 24"
Asparagus	4' - 6'	Lettuce	6" - 12"
Beans, bush	24" - 30"	Okra	2' - 8'
Beans, lima (bush)	24" - 36"	Onions	8" - 24"
Beans, pole	8' - 12'	Parsnips	6" - 18"
Beets	4" - 12"	Peas	2' - 6'
Broccoli	18" - 24"	Peppers, hot	12" - 48"
Brussel sprouts	24" - 36"	Peppers, bell	24" - 36"
Cabbage	12" - 18"	Potatoes	12" - 30"
Carrots	6" - 15"	Pumpkin	12" - 24"
Cauliflower	12" - 30"	Radishes	2" - 6"
Celery	18" - 24"	Spinach	6" - 15"
Chard	12" - 30"	Rutabaga	12" - 18"
Chinese cabbage	12" - 24"	Spinach	6" - 15"
Corn	4' - 8'	Squash, summer	12" - 24"
Cucumber	1' - 5'	Squash, winter	12" - 24"
Eggplant	1' - 3'	Sweet potato	12" - 30"
Endive	6" - 9"	Tomatoes	2' - 8'
Garlic	12" - 24"	Turnips	6" - 12"
Kale	12" - 24"	Watermelon	12" - 36"