A no-conflict 3x6 beginner bed

Most starter-bed advice tells you what not to plant next to what. This one sidesteps the question: every crop in it is free of listed conflicts with every other crop in it, so there's nothing to check before you plant.

It's smaller than the standard beginner 4x4 above on purpose, three feet wide is an easy reach from either side without a path down the middle, useful if this is going against a fence or a wall rather than freestanding.

The layout

North is the top row. Each square is one foot.

Open this plan in the Garden Designer →

It opens with the bed already laid out. Free, no account, nothing to install. Change anything you like: the designer will flag bad neighbours as you move plants and work out sowing dates for your own zone.

What's in it

• Marigold4 per square foot · 50 days to bloom · zones 2–11
• Bush Beans9 per square foot · 55 days to harvest · zones 3–11
• Swiss Chard4 per square foot · 55 days to harvest · zones 3–10
• Basil4 per square foot · 60 days to harvest · zones 3–11
• Lettuce4 per square foot · 45 days to harvest · zones 2–10
• Radish16 per square foot · 25 days to harvest · zones 2–10
• Carrot16 per square foot · 70 days to harvest · zones 2–10

Why these sit next to each other

• Swiss Chard and Bush Beans: Beans fix nitrogen chard uses heavily.
• Lettuce and Carrot: Shallow lettuce roots don't compete with deep carrot roots.
• Lettuce and Radish: Radish matures fast and breaks up soil for lettuce.

Companion planting is a mix of well-evidenced effects and garden tradition. We say which is which on each plant profile rather than presenting all of it as settled.

How to work this bed

• Marigolds along the back aren't just for looks. They're the classic tomato companion for root-knot nematodes, so this row earns its place even without a tomato in this particular bed.
• Beans fix their own nitrogen and feed the bed rather than draining it, one of the few crops that leaves soil richer than it found it.
• Radishes are done in under a month. Pull them and use the open squares for a second round of lettuce or beans once the first planting is established.

Timing it for where you live

Nothing above says when, because that depends entirely on your hardiness zone. Open the plan in the designer and it produces a week-by-week schedule for your own zone, or look the crops up individually on the planting calendar.

Other ready-made plans

• A beginner's 4x4 square-foot garden
• A 4x8 salsa garden
• A kids' first garden
• A cut-and-come-again salad bed
• A high-yield 4x8 bed for a small urban plot

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Eighteen squares of crops with zero listed antagonists against each other, so a first-time gardener can plant this exactly as laid out without checking a companion chart.

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