How to Grow a Salad Garden in Raised Beds

Raised beds are more popular than ever before, and it’s easy to see why. They’re available in many dimensions, and you can put them wherever you want, including on a balcony or patio. They also offer complete control over soil structure, lengthen your growing season, and make pest control simple.

While you can grow most garden plants in raised beds, sometimes it’s fun and convenient to pick a theme, such as a salad garden. You can cultivate everything you need for a top-notch salad in one raised bed.

But where to begin? Whether you’re brand new to gardening and love the idea of a nutritious home-grown salad or just new to raised beds, we’ve got you covered. We’ll guide you along each step of the way.

Lettuce

Buttercrunch Butterhead Lettuce

Cherry Tomato

Sun Gold Pole Cherry Tomato Seeds

Cucumber

Spacemaster 80 Cucumber Seeds

Step 1: Choose a Sunny Location

If you want a salad garden to be truly prosperous, it’s vital that you plant it in the right location. Plants that produce the most common components of a good salad—like lettuces, tomatoes, and cucumbers—all need, or at least prefer full sun exposure.

So, what exactly does “full sun” mean? This translates to at least six hours of direct, unfiltered sun per day. If you commit to a raised bed in a location that does not get this much light (or just barely gets six hours), you’re setting yourself up for a weak harvest.

If you simply do not have a location with this much exposure, your plant choices and harvests, will be limited. Keep this in mind when choosing seeds; you will need to look for those that accept “partial shade.” Baby greens are still a great option.

You’re probably already familiar with the amount of light different areas around your home receive. If not, make a point to record it for a few days, taking notes. It may seem silly, but you will regret it if you set up a salad garden bed in a location that’s too shady.

When keeping track of sunlight, a crucial factor to keep in mind is the time of year. In the Northern Hemisphere, days are longest in summer. If you’re planning in March, consider that the days are getting longer each day. 

Conversely, if it’s already June or July, and you’re thinking about a new bed for next season, remember that spring and fall days will get less light than what you’re currently experiencing. If the spot you’re hoping to use is on the border of full sun/partial shade, this could make a significant difference.

Step 2: Prepare a Raised Bed

Now that you know exactly where your new salad garden will go, it’s time to prepare a raised bed. You can build one yourself, but these days, there are durable and easy-to-assemble beds that you can simply order online.

For example, these Birdies Metal Raised Garden Beds are convenient and modular, giving you more control over their dimensions. They’re 15 inches tall, which is enough soil depth for most garden plants, but you can get their taller beds, too. The beds are available in three colors: slate grey, mist green, and light clay.

You can also opt for Cedar Raised Beds, which have a more natural look and are designed for easy assembly. There are even elevated raised beds, like this Cedar Elevated Planter, that allow you to garden without bending over. They’re also great for sunny balconies.

When choosing the size and dimensions of your bed, think about how many plants you want to grow. Are you aiming for a giant salad garden to share with family and friends? Or are you thinking more along the lines of a small plot of greens with a single tomato plant for occasional harvesting?

Regardless of surface area, you should also consider depth. Anything less than a foot deep is not going to be enough for most plants’ roots. If you’re planning to get an elevated bed, this is more important. There’s no way that plants in elevated gardens can make their way into the earth below, so they benefit from an additional foot of soil.

Assemble (or build) your raised bed according to the instructions, move it to your chosen location, and you’re ready for the next step.

Step 3: Fill With Soil

Filling your raised bed with a high-quality soil blend will get your plants off to the right start. Over time, you will want to cultivate healthy soil structure and a balanced soil microbiome, so you will only have to top off your bed with some compost each year.

Since we’re starting from scratch with a new salad garden raised bed, you will have to pursue new soil. The easiest method is to buy raised bed garden soil from a reputable company. There are many on the market that should meet your needs.

However, note that higher quality blends are going to cost more money, which can really add up if you’re filling a large bed. There are more affordable pre-bagged raised bed soils out there, but the quality will be noticeably lower. This is not something you want to skimp on.

You could also go the DIY route, preparing your own soil. A good rule of thumb is to include about 40 percent compost, 30 percent topsoil, and 20 percent aerating amendments such as perlite, leaving roughly about 10 percent for whatever else corresponds to your needs.

For example, if you live in a hot, dry area, you may want that last 10 percent to be moisture-retaining amendments, like peat moss. Or, you may want to ramp up the nutrient content of your bed by adding worm castings.

You could also try your hand at the hugelkultur method, which is a German technique. You start with a layer of logs, then you tightly pack organic material like straw and wood chips around the logs. Next, you apply a layer of smaller branches. Finally, you add compost on top. This video shows how the “lasagna” method works:

Step 4: Select Plants and Seeds

Now that you have a raised bed in a sunny spot filled with well-balanced soil, it’s time to decide what you’re going to grow. First, envision the raised bed salad garden of your dreams, keeping all your favorite veggies in mind, and then sift through an online seed catalog.

You’re probably thinking about the basics: a lot of lettuces and similar greens, herbs, cherry or grape tomatoes, perhaps a cucumber plant, and maybe even radishes. The good news is that all of these plants can thrive in raised beds.

For lettuces, consider classics like ‘Buttercrunch’ lettuce, ‘Marvel of Four Seasons’ red romaine, or a convenient blend like the ‘Gourmet Baby Greens’ mix, which contains a variety of colors and textures. ‘Matador’ spinach, arugula, and ‘Red Russian’ kale are also great ideas.

If you want to grow tomatoes for your salads, you can’t go wrong with ‘Italian Roma’ or ‘Sun Gold’ cherries, just don’t forget to stake them for support. Indeterminate varieties will keep growing until frost, and even a determinate variety could get knocked over in a summer storm.

Similarly, if you wish to grow cucumbers, you will need to add a simple trellis to your bed. This can add some fun, visual interest, in addition to much-needed structure for a cultivar like ‘Spacemaster 80.’

Lastly, don’t skip on herbs like ‘Flat Leaf’ parsley and garnishes. You’ll want a lot of ‘Italian Genovese’ basil to make caprese salads with your tomatoes. Lastly, consider planting some radishes, such as ‘Cherry Belle.’

Radishes are very rewarding, especially for new gardeners, because they grow extremely fast. ‘Cherry Belle’ radishes are ready in as early as 24 days.

Step 5: Sow Seeds

Now that you have all your seeds picked out, it’s time to sow them. While some gardeners like to embrace chaos gardening, others prefer more rigid, organized planting. The method you use is really up to you.

When you’re growing tomatoes or cucumbers, you need to plan a little bit since they need stakes and trellises. Plus, you need to place them in such a way that they won’t shade out your lettuce. Pay attention to the direction of the sun, and plant these larger veggies towards the “back” of the bed, according to the way the sun faces.

Otherwise, you don’t have to be too picky when it comes to direct sowing greens. You could even sprinkle the seeds somewhat at random across the soil, creating your own salad blend. Or, you could measure things out, planting seeds about one inch apart.

Either way, once the seeds germinate and you have a bunch of tiny seedlings, you will want to thin them to about six inches apart. If you want bigger leaves, the plants will need the space. If you intend to pick the leaves at “baby” sizes, you can leave the plants more densely packed.

When direct sowing, there’s a general rule that states you should plant seeds at a depth that is twice their width. But since lettuce and many other greens have teeny, tiny seeds, all you really need to do is sprinkle them over moist soil, covering them extremely lighty.

If you cover these minuscule seeds with too much soil, they may not germinate. Water all your freshly sown seeds gently, without displacing them, and keep the soil moist over the next few days until they germinate.

Step 6: Start a Watering Routine

Now that all of your tiny salad plants are growing, it’s time to establish a watering routine. It could not be more important that these plants receive consistent, adequate water. 

Think about it: Lettuce is composed almost entirely of water. How do you think these plants will react if they’re suddenly deprived of it? Especially when they are young, they need a light amount of water every day.

A lot of greens (lettuce in particular) have very shallow roots. If the sun evaporates the water in the first few inches of soil, lettuce seedlings will not be able to reach the water in the lower soil. This is why the top layer needs to be frequently moistened.

Watering every day, especially when your plants are young with these shallow roots, will most likely be needed to keep the soil moist. As plants get bigger, their roots will have access to more water. 

You may be able to skip watering on days when it rains. The use of a moisture meter will tell you with confidence whether your soil is dry or not below the surface. Sometimes the soil is drier or more wet than you expect.

If watering every day sounds like too much of a commitment for you, consider installing drip tape irrigation in your bed. You can attach this to a timer on your hose, and suddenly the entire process is automatic.

Step 7: Mulch Around Plants

Once you’ve thinned your plants and they have a bit of height to them, consider mulch. First and foremost, mulch helps the soil retain water, which can save you a lot of time, hassle, and water, as described in the previous step.

Without mulch, the sun’s harsh rays cascade onto your soil, causing any moisture on the top to evaporate. Mulch acts as a protective layer, keeping the moisture in the soil. You can even mulch with straw, which actually reflects the rays.

Mulch does much more than that, too, such as suppressing weeds. You may be thinking that your freshly purchased or prepared soil doesn’t have any weed seeds, but it’s only a matter of time before dandelions, crabgrass, and other weeds make their way in.

Various types of mulch, like straw, leaf mold, and rice hulls, also break down over time and add nutrients to the soil. This way, you won’t have to fertilize as much and as often. This decaying matter contributes to a healthy soil microbiome, which benefits the plants.

Mulch can even deter some plant diseases from spreading. Though your brand new bed is probably not in much danger, the soil may attract various pathogens over the following seasons, both bacterial and fungal.

Research shows that diseases like anthracnose can spread when water splashes infected soil and plants. A mulch barrier in between the plants and soil can protect your precious leaves. This method of disease spread can affect tomatoes and other plants as well.

Step 8: Protect From Pests

Pests may be just as excited about your bounty as you are. Nothing is more heartbreaking than stepping outside to water your plants in the morning only to discover something has chewed them up, so you may want to take preventative steps.

Not only are your lettuce and tomatoes going to be subject to insect pests, but also, small mammals will definitely appreciate what you have growing. Thankfully, the construction of raised beds makes protecting your garden easy.

You can buy all sorts of physical barriers that fit the dimensions of your raised bed. From something as simple as netting that you loosely drape over the bed to something a bit more complicated, like a hinged hoop house, you have options. As for insects, diatomaceous earth can repel aphids, thrips, snails, and slugs.

Especially when plants are young and small, you won’t regret tossing an elevated mesh covering over them for protection. As they get bigger, you may discover that running chicken wire around the exterior gets the job done.

This step is not 100 percent essential. Depending on where your raised bed is located, you might not have a lot of issues. If you’re unsure, ask your neighbors if they have problems with deer, squirrels or similar critters eating their plants.

If you decide to forgo pest protection and end up regretting it, that’s okay. Make note of which creature or insect you suspect did the damage, and next year, you’ll know what to do for preventative treatment. Sometimes, it’s hard to predict the future when you’re just starting with a raised bed.

Step 9: Harvest

Now it’s time for the most exciting part: harvesting from your raised bed salad garden. Some varieties of lettuce and greens can be ready to harvest in as little as a month.

With lettuce, kale, spinach, and other greens, you can opt for the “cut and come again” method, which is when you harvest just the outer leaves of a plant. This allows the host plant to keep growing and producing new leaves.

Use a pair of sharp, clean pruners to sever your desired leaves. Be careful not to tug on the plant, which can damage the roots. Always sanitize your tools between harvests to avoid the spread of plant diseases.

This method works especially when you’re harvesting leaves at a baby size. Whenever you’re ready to prepare a freshly-picked salad from your raised beds, simply step out to the garden, harvest a bunch of exterior leaves, rinse them off, and you’re good to go.

You can also wait for lettuces to form “heads” of lettuce before harvesting. If this is your preference, use a sharp knife or similar tool to slice below the head horizontally, close to the ground.