Growing Space in a 4ft. x 4ft. Raised Bed

The answer to the question "How much can you grow in a 4ft. x 4ft. raised garden bed?" is...

(Are you ready for it?)

A lot more than you might think!

I'll justify my answer in a bit. But first, let's get into the nitty gritty of just how much room each plant takes up.

You can typically grow 6 to 12 small plants like lettuce and carrots per square foot.

You can grow 4 to 6 medium plants like basil or zinnias per square foot.

You can grow just 1 large plant like kale or bell peppers per square foot

Each large fruiting plant like a cherry tomato will cost you 1.5 square feet.

A 4ft. x 4ft. raised garden bed gives you 16 square feet of growing space (more if you add some trellises for vertical space).

That means you can grow around 10 to 11 indeterminate, or vining, tomato plants in one raised bed—if you really love cherry tomatoes, that is.

The chart below will help you get an idea of just how many plants you could grow in a 4ft. x 4ft. raised bed.

4ft. x 4ft. Raised Garden Bed Layout

Mixing small, medium, and large plants allows you to maximize your production in a raised bed.

When you're planning out a square garden bed, it's best to plant the small and short plants on the outside of your bed, then the medium plants in the middle and the large plants in the very center. That way, a taller plant on the edge doesn't block sunlight and airflow from a smaller guy.

We also recommend obelisk trellises to add height and visual interest to the middle of a square garden bed. These trellises can provide a great deal of extra room for planting small and medium plants around their bases, but know that things might get a little crowded at the top of a triangular-shaped obelisk near the end of a growing season.

4ft. x 4ft. Raised Garden Bed Plans

Unless you want to grow one and only one thing in your raised beds (no judgement if you do; I fill my 4ft. x 4ft. raised bed with lettuce mixes all the time), you're probably looking for ways to get creative and fit as many of your favorite plants as possible inside your bed.

Let's look at planting plans that will work for a 4ft. x 4ft. raised bed for each growing season in the garden.

What can you grow in a 4ft. x 4ft. raised bed during the cold season?

cold season planting plan #1

This cold season planting plan prioritizes 8 heads of cabbage as the large plants for the center of the bed. Around the heads of frost-hardy cabbage, you can plant garlic that will overwinter in your bed. I typically space each garlic clove about 6 inches apart when planting in anticipation of a full garlic bulb after almost a year of growth underground.

This plan adds 4 red violas in the corners of the bed for bright, beautiful pops of color that can withstand some frost.

cold season planting plan #2

Remember how each carrot only needs about 1/16 of a square foot? Growing carrots is so magical you may want to skip having a large plant in your garden when the temps are below freezing and instead just focus on growing as many of these delicious roots as possible.

This planting plan also includes some thyme in the corners and violas around the edges for beauty.

What can you grow in a 4ft. x 4ft. raised bed during the cool season?

cool season planting plan #1

The cool season is my favorite growing season. Even though we're still getting occasional frosts, this is our opportunity to grow many of our favorite root crops and leafy greens.

This planting plan gives pride of place in the middle of the bed to 3 large kale plants. The kale is surrounded by 28 buttercrunch lettuce plants, 16 green onions, 20 radishes, 8 chives, and a pansy in each corner of the raised bed.

Think of all the greens you could be harvesting from this bed. If tended properly, those kale plants will grow and grow, giving you leaf after leaf. You can begin harvesting the older, outer leaves from the lettuce plants after 45 days or so in the garden, and if you buy chives as starter plants from the store, you can start snipping from them immediately. You can even be enjoying radish greens while you're waiting on perfect radish roots to form underground.

Don't forget to cut some pansy blooms and toss them into your salad for some additional color.

cool season planting plan #2

Sugar snap peas need some kind of trellis to support their delicate little tendrils, so the two black circles in this planting plan represent obelisk trellises. You can plant 8 to 9 sugar snap peas around each trellis and train the plants upwards to save precious growing space at the base of these trellises.

You can grow 30 beets around the base of the sugar snap peas, where they'll still get plenty of sunlight to form juicy roots for you. Arugula plants are small and can be squeezed around the edges of the bed. Make sure to harvest the outer leaves frequently to ensure each plant has sufficient airflow to prevent mold and mildew. These arugula plants can survive through your hot season and will just keep on producing for you.

This plan also includes 8 pink dianthus plants and 4 cool-weather-loving dill. If dill's not your thing, swap it out for its cousins, cilantro or parsley.

What can you grow in a 4ft. x 4ft. raised bed during the warm season?

warm season planting plan #1

This plan includes 13 pole cucumbers growing up 3 obelisk trellises. Thanks to the trellises holding cucumbers in place for easy tending and harvesting, you can plant cucumbers both on the outer edges and in the middle of the support structure. Trellises are great for giving pollinators easy access to your cucumber flowers when your plants need a little pollination assistance.

Around the cucumbers, you can grow 6 shishito peppers, 8 zinnias, 28 purple mizuna plants, and 4 trailing rosemary plants, which will drape elegantly over the corners of your raised bed. (You could alternate some of the rosemary for thyme.) Plant brightly colored zinnias to attract pollinators to your garden for the cucumbers.

warm season planting plan #2

This planting plan is for those of you who love cherry tomatoes as much as I do. If you have 4 obelisk trellises, you can train a total of 10 cherry tomatoes around the edges to grow upwards. Growing indeterminate, or vining, tomatoes on the outside of your support structure makes for much easier tending and harvesting of delicious fruits.

Around the tomatoes, you can grow 30 purple bush beans, which (as the name implies) grow out like a bush and don't require a trellis for support. Add 8 basil plants and 8 zinnias (or marigolds) around the corners of your beds. Both the basil and the zinnia will continue thriving into your hot season, if you have one, and will help draw the good bugs to your garden.

What can you grow in a 4ft. x 4ft. raised bed during the hot season?

hot season planting plan #1

These planting plans are for those of you who have months where the low temperature is consistently above 85 degrees. There are plenty of things you can still grow and enjoy in a hot-season garden.

If you have obelisk trellises, you can turn them over to 6 eggplants once your warm-season cucumbers or tomatoes slow their production in the heat. (Otherwise, you can stake eggplants to lend them support.)

What better peppers to grow in the heat than some jalapeños? Surround them with 8 basil plants, 8 zinnias, and 4 chives.

hot season planting plan #2

Instead of eggplants, your large plant focus could be tomatillos, cousins to tomatoes. Tomatillos love long, hot days under the blazing sun, but make sure to plant at least 2 for pollination. A raised bed of 16 square feet of growing space gives you enough room to grow 8 tomatillos around 3 obelisk trellises. Again, planting the tomatillos on the outside of the structure will make for easier tending and harvesting.

Around your tomatillos, you can grow 28 lima bean plants. Make sure to look for bush varieties so that your beans won't need vertical space on the trellises. It's best to grow numerous bean plants to produce enough for your family.

Add 4 African blue basil plants and 4 zinnias around the edges and in the corners of your raised beds.

How much soil will you need for a 4ft. x 4ft. raised bed?

The bed pictured above is 4 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 1 foot tall, for 16 total cubic feet. Learn how to calculate how much soil you'd need to fill this bed (or one 2 feet tall) by using our simple soil calculator.

The Answer = A Lot!

I hope these planting plans make it clear that you can grow a lot in just 16 square feet of space.

Remember, you can customize each of these planting plans based on your plant priorities. Make a list of your favorite plants for each season and note whether they're small, medium, or large. This will help you determine how much space you'll need to give them in the garden and how many plants you'll be able to grow.

Gardenary is here to help you take the guesswork out of gardening. Whatever you're growing in your raised beds, we've got tons of resources to help you find success.

Thanks for being here and helping us bring back the kitchen garden!