Easy 4 x 4 Summer Garden

Use this summer garden plan for a 4 x 4 bed and harvest fresh homegrown produce all summer. The garden plan includes your favorite summer vegetables and herbs.

Plant the best flavors of summer in one garden.

This simple 4 x 4-foot summer garden plan can supply you with a bountiful harvest of herbs and summer veggies. You may be surprised how much a small, but well-tended space can yield. This little template for a manageable bed gives you enough room for the pleasure of a summer garden without too much work or expense. Designed for easy maintenance, a 4 x 4-foot bed lets you reach the center from any side.

For excellent results, do these 3 things: First, fill your bed with premium quality raised bed soil, such as Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Raised Bed Mix, which is just the right weight and texture for raised bed growing. Second, feed plants with Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Raised Bed Plant Nutrition Granules to ensure they get all the nutrition they need. And third, be sure to choose Bonnie Plants® for your Easy Summer Garden. Bonnie has been around for over 100 years, so you know you're getting strong young plants of the highest quality.

If you want more room, place two 4 x 4-foot units symmetrically on either side of a 3- or 4-foot path, wide enough for you and your tools, remembering that some of these plants will trail over the edge and into the path. If you get really ambitious, add two more to make a group of four with a path like a plus sign in the middle.

Planting the 4 x 4-foot Bed

Take inspiration from these planting options. Consider your family recipes and food preferences. Notice that each is divided into 4 planting areas. These plants are pictured small to make the illustration simpler, but your bed will be spilling over as the plants grow! Follow spacing on the plant labels, adding a few more plants than we have pictured if the spacing allows.

planting plan for 4 x 4 summer garden

Area 1: Low Growing Herbs

Choose any 3 of these low growing herbs

  • parsley
  • thyme
  • sage
  • mint (in a sunken pot)
  • Spicy Globe or Boxwood basil
  • sweet marjoram
  • oregano
  • onion chives

Area 2: Tall Herbs

Choose any 3 of these tall herbs

  • basil
  • rosemary
  • dill
  • stevia
  • sage
  • tarragon, French or Mexican

Area 3: Salad Items

Choose from these salad items

  • 2 cucumbers (to trail over the edge)
  • 8 lettuce or arugula (for cool climate gardens)

Area 4: Tomato or Pepper

Pick two plants, caged or staked

  • any peppers
  • any tomatoes
This plan gives options for what to plant in each area of a 4 x 4 summer garden.