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Raised bed orientation

 
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Location: Quitman, United States
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I will be installing a raised bed in western Arkansas at latitude 35.9242477.  The location has full, unobstructed sun all day long. I am looking for input on pros and cons for the orientation of the raised bed re, is it more advantageous for the length or the width to be facing due south?  Or is this consideration inconsequential? It will be a 4' X 8' bed. Thanks for any inputs.
 
Barney Berry
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Location: Quitman, United States
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Also, the beds will be made of concrete blocks, stacked two high, so about 16" high.
 
steward
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Barney said, "I am looking for input on pros and cons for the orientation of the raised bed re, is it more advantageous for the length or the width to be facing due south?  Or is this consideration inconsequential?



I tend to want to plant east to west.  Others on the forum suggest planting north to south.

Sometimes it is recommended to plant by height so that the taller plants offer some shade to the shorter plants or visa versa.

It will be interesting to see what the replies suggest.
 
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My raised beds tend to go east to west.   That is more accident than plan.  I suspect what you are planting may be a factor.  For example, I moved my pole beans from a EW orientation to NS. The results are not as good.
 
steward
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I think the slope may be more important than the orientation.  Running the bed across a slope may keep your water closer to where you intend it within the bed.  

If you ignore the orientation of the bed and look a particular plant, does it know which way the bed is oriented?  Likely not and it'll follow the sun however it needs.

If you want to plant half the bed with something tall though, I'd orient it E/W so that the tall stuff can be on the N side.  If you only want to plant a little tall stuff then either orientation is fine.
 
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The majority of my beds run north to south but that wasn't actually planned.  About 50% of the time I plant in short rows running east to west. Most of my trellises are on the north end of the beds.
 
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