Your patch
UK Garden Planner
A well-planned veg patch makes better use of space, reduces pest and disease problems, and produces more food from the same area. The key decisions â what to grow where, which plants to put next to each other, how to rotate crops year on year â are much easier to make on paper or screen than by trial and error in the garden. This planner lets you lay out your plot visually before you commit to any sowing or planting.
Raised beds work best when you can reach the centre from both sides without stepping on the soil â typically no more than 1.2 metres wide. Fill each section of the grid with your chosen plants and the planner will flag any incompatible companions in real time. Group plants by their needs: tall plants like sweetcorn at the north end so they don't shade shorter neighbours, climbing beans on a trellis at the back, low-growing herbs and salads at the front.
Crop rotation â moving plant families to a different bed each year â reduces the build-up of soil-borne pests and diseases and balances nutrient use across the plot. The classic four-bed rotation groups plants by family: brassicas (cabbages, broccoli, kale), legumes (peas and beans), roots (carrots, parsnips, beetroot) and onions and potatoes. Each group moves one bed clockwise each year, so no bed grows the same family more than once every four years.
As you fill the grid, the planner checks each pair of neighbouring plants against the companion planting database and flags any incompatible combinations â so you'll know immediately if you've put onions next to beans (bad) or tomatoes next to basil (good). Use this alongside the full companion planting checker for detailed guides on friends and foes for each plant.
When your layout is ready, print it to take to the garden or allotment. Use alongside the seed to harvest timeline to plan sowing dates for every plant in your layout. See all free GrowGuide tools â