LSU AgCenter's Weekly Message

Should You Have Several Small Beds or One Large Garden?

A while back, someone suggested that I write an article comparing the attributes of multiple small vegetable beds and one large garden. I welcome suggestions and, as some of you may be preparing to plant a fall garden, I decided to address the topic now.

Small gardens are often raised bed gardens or even container gardens. The structure of these can help keep weeds out of the garden and avoid soil compaction. If raised beds are narrow enough that people can reach the centers from the sides, people rarely need to step in them. Furthermore, if people have mobility issues, the raised nature of these can be helpful.

Small garden plots can also simplify crop rotation. Rotating where we plant vegetables susceptible to the same pathogens is an important part of managing many diseases. If we have multiple small beds, it’s easy to keep track of what vegetable was planted in what plot and when. If we plant tomatoes in bed 1 in 2024, then with some basic notes, we can remember not to plant tomatoes in that bed for another three to four years. (With crop rotation, longer is generally better. Some disease-causing organisms will be gone within a year or two, while some can survive for many years. Even with those that survive for many years, the population will generally decrease over time.) Since the beds are physically separated, there is likely to be less of a chance that pathogens in the soil will move from one bed to another than that they would move from one row to another within the same bed. You’ll still need to be careful about cleaning tools between beds, though, as many pathogens can move from one place to another on equipment.

Raised beds are helpful where the ground tends to be too wet for an in-ground garden. While people often form raised rows in in-ground gardens, if the area tends to stay wet, it can still be difficult to get water to drain well enough from between rows.

Large gardens are generally in-ground gardens. These don’t require structural materials like the cinderblocks, wood, or other materials that we would use around raised beds, thereby eliminating that expense. While compost or another amendment might be purchased to spread in a thin layer on the garden and till into the soil to add organic matter, in-ground gardens likely won’t require as much expense as bringing in a soil-based or soilless substate for raised beds.

In large gardens, you can use a walk-behind tiller or implements pulled by a tractor (disc harrow, rototiller, etc.) to prepare the soil. If you have access to this type of equipment, this can make your work much easier. Raised beds will typically need to be worked with hand tools like shovels and hoes. (At the same time, working raised beds with shovels and hoes is likely to be easier than working an in-ground garden with the same equipment.)

Compared to multiple small beds that make up the same total growing area, one large garden will have fewer edges and less edge length around which to manage encroachment of grasses and other weeds. Even though you’d likely have cinderblocks, wood, or some other material around the smaller beds, which would help keep weeds out, you would still need to use a string trimmer or appropriate herbicide to maintain vegetation around them.

Irrigation is likely to be simpler in one large garden, whether you’re using a drip irrigation system or one or more sprinklers. (For disease management purposes, water early in the morning if you use sprinklers.)

In summary, the best option for a person or group of people will depend on several factors, such as how much total garden space they want, what supplies and equipment they have access to, any mobility limitations, and how well-drained the site is.

Let me know if you have questions.

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Dr. Mary Helen Ferguson is an Extension Agent with the LSU AgCenter, with horticulture responsibilities in Washington and Tangipahoa Parishes. Contact Mary Helen at mhferguson@agcenter.lsu.edu or 985-277-1850 (Hammond) or 985-839-7855 (Franklinton).