Starter Bed Plans
Proven companion beds, already laid out — tallest at the back, everything spaced to fit. Filter to what you want to grow, then open a plan in the Bed Designer and adjust it for your yard.
Salsa Garden
Good matchTomatoes, jalapeños, basil and cilantro in one bed — everything for the bowl, with marigolds and nasturtiums tucked in to keep pests off.
6 × 3 ft17 plantsTomatoJalapeñoBasilCilantroMarigoldNasturtiumKitchen Herb & Tomato Bed
Good matchA compact cook's bed: tomato with its two best herb partners, edged with calendula and borage to draw pollinators and keep hornworms off.
4.5 × 3 ft14 plantsTomatoBasilParsleyCalendulaBorageSpring Greens Patch
Good matchCool-season greens, turnips and strawberries that share soil and schedule — sown early, picked before summer heat, with calendula and borage standing guard.
6 × 3 ft30 plantsSpinachTurnipsMâcheStrawberryCalendulaBorageFree accountAll-Summer Cutting Bed
ThrivingZinnias, cosmos, dahlias and sunflowers for a vase every week from midsummer to frost.
6 × 4.5 ft17 plantsZinniaCosmosDahliaSunflowerBasilShade Border
Good matchA quiet woodland-edge bed — hellebores and bleeding hearts open the year, hosta and native astilbe carry the shade through summer, rhododendron and foxglove add structure.
12 × 9 ft26 plantsHelleboreBleeding HeartAstilbe BiternataHosta SieboldianaRhododendronSiberian BuglossFoxgloveFree accountSuccession Vegetable Bed
Good matchA high-density mix of quick roots, cut-and-come-again greens and scallions — resow the harvested rows from spring through fall for a continuous crop. Nasturtiums along the edge trap aphids before they reach the greens.
6 × 4.5 ft59 plantsRadiant Radish MixCarrotBrilliant Beet BlendMetta Lettuce MixSpinachArugulaBunching Onion / ScallionNasturtiumFree accountThree-Season Succession Garden
Good matchSuccession sow from late winter through first frost and you'll be set for the season. Garden digest plan will remind you when to resow.
9 × 6 ft110 plantsRadiant Radish MixGarden PeaMetta Lettuce MixCarrotBrilliant Beet BlendSpinachBlack Turtle BeanTomatoSummer SquashBasilArugulaTurnipsMâcheMarigoldCalendulaNasturtiumParsleyFree accountFour-Season Native Border
Good matchAmsonia opens the year in spring, bee balm and coneflower carry a long pollinator summer, and garden phlox into New England aster close it out — an all-native bed with something in bloom every season. Enter your zip and any role with a local native swaps in automatically.
7.5 × 4.5 ft9 plantsAmsoniaBee BalmConeflowerGarden PhloxNew England AsterAll native Free accountXeriscape Low-Water Bed
ThrivingA structural low-water bed — agave, prickly pear and yucca that shrug off drought once established. Regional native swaps by zip code coming soon; this mix spans several dry-climate natives.
9 × 9 ft5 plantsAgave AmericanaEastern Prickly PearAdam's NeedleSoapweed YuccaRed YuccaFree accountBlueberry and Acidic Lovers
Good matchBlueberry anchored by every true acid-obligate companion in the catalog — sweet fern, winterberry, azalea, and rhododendron — sharing one amended, low-pH bed instead of five separate ones.
12 × 9 ft4 plantsHighbush BlueberrySweet FernWinterberryAzaleaRhododendronFree accountMosquito & Pest Repellent Garden
Good matchScent-based deterrents planted together — lemon thyme, lemongrass, lemon verbena and marigold pack the citronellal and limonene compounds that confuse mosquitoes and garden pests, with chocolate mint filling in low.
6 × 4.5 ft13 plantsLemon ThymeChocolate MintLemon VerbenaLemongrassMarigoldFree accountMilkweed Bed for Lanternfly Defense
ThrivingCommon milkweed, butterfly weed, swamp milkweed and goldenrod — a milkweed guild for monarchs that doubles as early-stage defense against the spotted lanternfly, whose nymphs die at high rates after feeding on milkweed's cardiac glycosides. Enter your zip and the milkweed species swap to your state's own native.
7.5 × 4.5 ft11 plantsCommon MilkweedButterfly WeedSwamp MilkweedGoldenrodAll native Free accountMediterranean Gravel Garden
ThrivingAn olive tree anchoring silver-and-purple drifts of lavender, Russian sage and Verbena 'Bampton', with yarrow, stonecrop and Mexican feather grass filling in low and airy — the dry-garden look of gravel paths and sculptural evergreens, all on lean, well-drained soil.
9 × 6 ft13 plantsEnglish LavenderRussian SageVerbena 'Bampton'YarrowStonecropMexican Feather GrassFree accountSilver Mound Gravel Drift
ThrivingRepeating mounds of santolina and bush germander with Mexican feather grass threaded through, topped by a haze of tall Verbena bonariensis — the low, silver-and-purple drift-planting look and feel.
9 × 4.5 ft10 plantsSantolinaBush GermanderMexican Feather GrassVerbenaFree accountFire Flame Tulips & Feather Grass
ThrivingTulipa acuminata's twisted red-and-yellow flame petals rising through a haze of fine-textured Mexican feather grass — a species-tulip drift with none of the stiffness of a hybrid tulip bed.
4.5 × 3 ft6 plantsFire Flame TulipMexican Feather GrassFree accountSalvia, Westringia & Feather Grass Drift
ThrivingUpright salvia spikes and airy gaura and verbena weaving through mounds of coast rosemary and drifts of Mexican feather grass, with Japanese silver grass anchoring the back of the bed for late-summer plumes.
12 × 6 ft16 plantsAutumn SageCoast RosemaryMexican Feather GrassVerbenaWhirling ButterfliesScarlet GauraJapanese Silver GrassFree accountCrabapple, Tulips & Forget-Me-Nots
ThrivingA flowering prairie crabapple underplanted with Apricot Beauty tulips and a haze of forget-me-nots — the classic spring-ephemeral look, blooming together for a few weeks before the tulip foliage dies back and the tree's own canopy takes over the show.
9 × 9 ft16 plantsPrairie CrabappleApricot Beauty TulipForget-Me-NotFree accountDelphiniums, Poppies Border
ThrivingA proven combination: delphiniums, poppies.
9 × 6 ft16 plantsDelphiniumBreadseed PoppyFree accountNarcissus, Tulipa, Crocus & More Border
ThrivingA proven combination: narcissus, tulipa, crocus, muscari, hyacinthus, galanthus.
9 × 6 ft36 plantsDaffodilApricot Beauty TulipCrocusGrape HyacinthHyacinthSnowdropFree accountRoses, Lavenders, Irises & More Border
ThrivingA proven combination: roses, lavenders, irises, peonies, salvias, nepeta.
9 × 6 ft13 plantsFrench LavenderBearded IrisPeonyCommon SageCatnipFree accountConeflowers, Bee Balms, Hyssops & More Border
Good matchA proven combination: coneflowers, bee balms, hyssops, phlox.
9 × 6 ft24 plantsPurple ConeflowerBee BalmAgastacheWoodland PhloxAll native Free accountBluestars, Asters, Sweetspire & More Border
ThrivingA proven combination: bluestars, asters, sweetspire, mountain mints, wild geraniums.
9 × 6 ft16 plantsAmsoniaNew England AsterVirginia SweetspireClustered Mountain MintCarolina GeraniumAll native Free accountBoneset, Joe Pye Weed, Buttonbush & More Border
ThrivingA proven combination: boneset, joe pye weed, buttonbush, lobelias, ironweeds, rose mallows.
9 × 6 ft12 plantsBonesetJoe Pye WeedButtonbushCardinal FlowerBaldwin's IronweedRose MallowAll native Free accountCalifornia Poppies, Penstemons, Buckwheats & More Border
ThrivingA proven combination: california poppies, penstemons, buckwheats, coyote mints, yarrows.
9 × 6 ft19 plantsCalifornia PoppyFirecracker PenstemonAshyleaf BuckwheatCoyote MintYarrowAll native Free accountCalifornia Lilacs, Manzanitas, Toyon & More Border
ThrivingA proven combination: california lilacs, manzanitas, toyon, monkeyflowers.
9 × 6 ft2 plantsCalifornia LilacBigberry ManzanitaSticky MonkeyflowerAll native Free accountDesert Marigolds, Globemallows, Chuparosas & More Border
ThrivingA proven combination: desert marigolds, globemallows, chuparosas, brittlebushes.
9 × 6 ft11 plantsDesert MarigoldDesert GlobemallowChuparosaBrittlebushAll native Free accountSpurges, Needlegrasses, Olives Border
ThrivingA proven combination: spurges, needlegrasses, olives.
9 × 6 ft11 plantsDonkey Tail SpurgeMexican Feather GrassOliveFree accountWhirling Butterflies, Needlegrasses, Yarrows Border
ThrivingA proven combination: whirling butterflies, needlegrasses, yarrows.
9 × 6 ft21 plantsScarlet GauraMexican Feather GrassFernleaf YarrowFree account
The Bed Designer is a drag-and-drop tool built for desktop — open a plan on a laptop or larger screen to plant it.