How to use the virtual garden
- Enter your bed length and width in metres. The bed on screen reshapes to match.
- Drag a plant from the palette onto the bed. On a phone or tablet, or with a keyboard, simply tap or press the plant button.
- Add more crops. The bed splits into equal sections along its length, one for each crop, and every section recalculates.
- Remove a section with its × button, or clear the bed to start again.
- Use the summary table as your shopping and sowing list.
How spacing and quantity are worked out
Each section is a rectangle: the bed length divided by the number of crops, by the full bed width. Inside it, the planner fits a square grid at the crop's spacing, keeping plants half a spacing in from every edge. Plants per section equals the number that fit along the length multiplied by the number that fit across the width.
If a section is narrower than one plant's spacing, it shows zero and a warning. That is a useful signal: a 60 cm tomato will not fit a 40 cm strip, however tempting. Either give it a wider bed or reduce the number of crops sharing it. For offset rows and a precise triangular count, take any section's measurements to the spacing calculator.
Planning strategies worth trying
Tall crops on the shady side. In the Northern Hemisphere the sun tracks across the southern sky, so place tall crops such as tomatoes and climbing beans at the northern end, where they will not shade shorter neighbours. Reverse this in the Southern Hemisphere.
Group by thirst. Keep thirsty fruiting crops together and drought-tolerant herbs together. You can then water one zone generously without drowning another. The water planner works out the litres.
Rotate by family. Moving crop families to a different bed each year helps limit soil-borne pests and diseases. Common rotation groups include brassicas (cabbage, kale), legumes (peas, beans), alliums (onions, garlic), roots (carrots, beetroot) and the tomato and potato family. Saving a copy of each year's layout makes rotation easy.
Leave room for flowers. Many gardeners tuck marigolds or other flowers between vegetables to attract pollinators and predatory insects. Evidence on specific companion pairings is mixed, so treat companion planting as a pleasant bonus rather than a guaranteed fix.
Plan succession. Fast crops such as lettuce and radish can occupy a section early in the season and then make way for a later sowing. Sketch both phases as separate plans.
Digital plan or paper sketch?
Virtual garden
- Counts update instantly
- Easy to try many layouts
- Scaled to your real bed
- Sections are equal in size
Paper sketch
- Any shape or section size
- Handy to take outside
- Slow to redraw and recount
- Easy to misjudge scale
Limitations to keep in mind
The planner assumes a rectangular bed, equal sections and a square grid. It does not know your variety, which can change spacing considerably, and it cannot see shade from trees or buildings. Real gardens are forgiving, though: a plan that is roughly right and done before planting day beats a perfect plan that never leaves the notebook.