🪴 Garden Bed Layouts (2026 Season)

This page contains all garden bed layouts for the 2026 growing season in Sanford, NC (Zone 7b/8a). Each bed includes spacing, varieties, and ASCII diagrams that render cleanly inside DokuWiki.

Use this as your baseline each year and add notes on what worked best.

• Tomato Bed A — Indeterminate
• Tomato Bed B — Determinates
• Pepper Bed — 12 Plants
• Onion Bed — Red Creole & Granex Yellow
• Odds & Ends Bed — Broccoli → Okra
• Squash Bed — Zucchini + Yellow Squash
• Cucumber Trellis (Bed Edges)

(Varieties: Mountain Magic ×2, Tropic ×2, Roma VF ×4, + Optional: Mortgage Lifter, Independence Day)

```text

BED A — 4×8 — Indeterminate / Vertical Rope System

            ← North (Back Row)

 +------------------------- 8 ft -------------------------+
 |                                                         |
 | [Roma VF] [Roma VF] [Roma VF] [Roma VF] [MortgageL]    |
 |                                                         |
 |---------------------------------------------------------|
 |                                                         |
 | [Mountain Magic] [Mountain Magic] [Tropic] [Tropic]     |
 | [Independence Day]* (optional early plant)              |
 |                                                         |
 +---------------------------------------------------------+

* Independence Day can be added at the corner or grown in a container.

Spacing

  24" between plants
  18" between rows

Trellising

  Full-length 8 ft top bar
  1 vertical string per plant
  Weekly figure-8 wrapping
  Prune indeterminates normally; prune Roma lightly

(Varieties: Mountain Fresh Plus ×2, Amelia ×2, Mountain Merit ×4)

BED B — 4×8 — Determinate Slicers (NC Winners)

            ← North (Back Row)

 +------------------------- 8 ft -------------------------+
 |                                                         |
 | [Mountain Merit] [Mountain Merit] [Mountain Merit]     |
 | [Mountain Merit]                                       |
 |                                                         |
 |---------------------------------------------------------|
 |                                                         |
 | [Mountain Fresh+] [Mountain Fresh+] [Amelia F1]        |
 | [Amelia F1]                                             |
 |                                                         |
 +---------------------------------------------------------+

Spacing 20–24“ between plants 18” between rows

Support 3–4 horizontal twine levels Shorter vertical strings

Total Plants: 12 (2 rows × 6 plants)

Optionally add Big Red if you want a 13th bonus plant in a container or corner.

PEPPER BED — 4×8 — Sweet Bells & Jalapeños (12 plants)

            ← North (Back Row)

 +------------------------- 8 ft -------------------------+
 |                                                         |
 | [Red Knight] [Red Knight] [King Arthur] [King Arthur]   |
 | [Big Bertha] [Big Bertha]                               |
 |                                                         |
 |---------------------------------------------------------|
 |                                                         |
 | [Sweet Banana] [Sweet Banana] [Cal. Wonder 300]         |
 | [Cal. Wonder] [Jalafuego] [Jalafuego]                   |
 |                                                         |
 +---------------------------------------------------------+

Spacing 18“ between plants 24” between rows

Notes Stake peppers early Banana + Big Bertha grow large → strong support needed Big Red can replace any bell variety if desired

(Varieties: Red Creole × ~50–60, Granex Yellow × ~50–60)

ONION BED — 4×8 — Red Creole & Granex Yellow

            ← North (Back Row)

 +------------------------- 8 ft -------------------------+
 | [RedCreole] [RedCreole] [RedCreole] [RedCreole]        |
 | [RedCreole] [RedCreole] [RedCreole] [RedCreole]        |
 |                                                         |
 |---------------------------------------------------------|
 |                                                         |
 | [Granex] [Granex] [Granex] [Granex] [Granex] [Granex]  |
 | [Granex] [Granex] [Granex] [Granex] [Granex] [Granex]  |
 |                                                         |
 +---------------------------------------------------------+

Spacing 4–6“ between onions 12–18” between rows

Notes Start indoors in January Transplant outdoors Feb 20–Mar 15 Trim greens lightly to encourage bulb size

(Spring crop: Broccoli transplants from nursery) (Summer crop: Okra direct-sown or nursery plants)

ODDS & ENDS BED — 4×8 — Broccoli → Okra Successions

            ← North (Back Row)

SPRING (March–May)

 +------------------------- 8 ft -------------------------+
 | [Broccoli] [Broccoli] [Broccoli] [Broccoli]            |
 | [Broccoli] [Broccoli] [Broccoli] [Broccoli]            |
 |                                                         |
 +---------------------------------------------------------+

SUMMER (June–October)

 +------------------------- 8 ft -------------------------+
 | [Okra] [Okra] [Okra] [Okra] [Okra] [Okra]              |
 | (Space ~12–18" apart; grows tall)                      |
 |                                                         |
 +---------------------------------------------------------+

Notes

  Broccoli: plant March 10–25 (cool season)

  Remove broccoli in late May → replace with okra

  Okra thrives in heavy NC summer rain & heat

  Option: bush beans may replace broccoli if okra not desired

ZUCCHINI & YELLOW SQUASH — 4×8 BED

 +------------------------- 8 ft -------------------------+
 |                                                         |
 | [Dunja Zucchini]      [Dunja Zucchini]                 |
 |                                                         |
 |---------------------------------------------------------|
 |                                                         |
 | [Multipik Yellow]     [Multipik Yellow]                |
 |                                                         |
 +---------------------------------------------------------+

Spacing 36–40“ between plants

Training Vertical trellis once 12–18” tall

CUCUMBERS — Ramp Trellis (2 Bed Edges)

Round 1 — April 20 – May 10

1. Diva × 2
2. County Fair Improved × 2
3. Long Green Improved × 1 (new)

Round 2 — July 10 – 20

1. Replant Diva × 2
2. Replant County Fair × 2
3. Optional: Long Green Improved × 1

Notes

  Depth: ½–¾"
  Train onto ramp trellis immediately
  Keep lower 8–10" pruned for airflow