How Wide Do I Plant My Garden Rows?

Tomatoes, Peppers and Peas

• Tomatoes, peppers and peas are all vegetables that need some sort of support to grow properly. Many gardeners use cages to give these vegetables support. Depending on what type of cages you are using, they can take up quite a bit of space. Allow extra space between rows of caged vegetables. A good amount is about two-and-a-half feet. This gives you plenty of room to move around and keeps any loose clothing from getting caught on the cages.

Squash and Pumpkins

• Squash, pumpkins and melons may be plants that you want to add to your garden. These types of plants grow on vines. Because they are vining plants, that means that you need to give them more space to sprawl out. Fencing helps to keep them corralled a bit and encourages them to grow upward instead of outward. Allow at least 18 inches of space between the rows of vining vegetables and the next row. If you notice one vine sprawling out of its space, lift it gently up and lay it on top of the other vines within the row.

Carrots, Onions and Lettuce

• Carrots, onions and lettuce do not spread out at all in your garden. This allows you to leave even less space for the width between the rows. For the smaller vegetables, it is only necessary to leave about one foot of space between the rows. You really only need just enough room to walk through to allow you to tend the vegetables.

Beans and Other Bushes

• Beans come in both pole and bush varieties. While the pole beans need the support of a trellis or cage, bush beans do not. You can also find some bush varieties of other vegetables such as determinate tomatoes, which do not need staking, and even cucumbers, which grow on vines. Since these bushes are smaller in size they do not need as much space as the varieties that need more support. When planting these type of garden vegetables, allow one to two feet between the rows, depending on the size of the bush.