Turn any garden idea into a workable raised bed plan in minutes.

Yes — JoeBees is completely free to use. No account, no subscription, and no credit card required.

Yes. The planner lets you create, rename, duplicate, switch between, and delete as many beds as you like, so you can plan a whole yard one bed at a time.

Keep width at or under 4 feet so you can reach the center without stepping in. The most popular size is 4x8 ft (32 sq ft), which Mel Bartholomew recommends as a starter size in Square Foot Gardening. For tight spaces, a 4x4 (16 sq ft) works well. Add length, not width, as you expand.

Square-foot gardening divides a raised bed into 12-inch squares. Each square holds a specific number of plants based on mature spacing — 16 radishes in one square, 1 tomato across a 2×2 block. The method was developed by Mel Bartholomew and eliminates traditional row spacing, reducing water use and weeding.

Yes. Every plant in the database carries good-neighbor and bad-neighbor lists sourced from university extension references. The planner flags conflicts as you place plants, and JoeBee keeps incompatible plants separated when designing a layout for you.

You can print a take-outside garden sheet, download a backup of any bed (or all of them), share a bed with a link, and use the recap page for plant shopping and raised-bed materials.