Tomato Lover's Bed
Eight tomato varieties from San Marzano to Green Zebra in one 8×4 bed, with basil underplanting and allium pest patrol.
About This Template
For the gardener who flips straight to the tomato pages of every seed catalog: eight varieties spanning the full spectrum of what a tomato can be. The lineup runs from sauce royalty (San Marzano) through the giant slicers (Beefsteak, Brandywine) to the show-offs — indigo-black Cherry, striped Green Zebra, Yellow Pear, and the massive heart-shaped Oxheart. All eight line the north edge in a single staked row for easy pruning, watering, and comparison tasting. Below them runs the classic underplanting: a full row of basil (the pairing works in the bed as well as the bowl), borage for the bumblebees that buzz-pollinate tomatoes, plus garlic, onions, and chives whose scent confuses aphids. Marigolds close the corners because tradition is usually right.
Benefits
- 1Eight varieties reveal which tomatoes actually earn space in YOUR garden
- 2Covers every kitchen use: sauce, slicing, salad, snacking, and preserving
- 3Borage brings the bumblebees that buzz-pollinate for heavier fruit set
- 4Alliums and marigolds run scent-based pest defense the organic way
- 5A single staked north row makes pruning and comparison effortless
Growing Tips
- 1Stake or cage at planting — heirlooms like Oxheart get heavier than they look
- 2Water at the roots, never the leaves, and mulch thickly against blight splash
- 3Prune side shoots weekly on the big slicers; let the cherry types bush out
- 4Label everything twice — August-you will not remember which was which
Included Plants (16)
San Marzano Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Beefsteak Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Spacing: 75 cm · 30 in
Brandywine Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Spacing: 75 cm · 30 in
Cherry Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme
Spacing: 45 cm · 18 in
Green Zebra Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Yellow Pear Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Indigo Rose Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Spacing: 60 cm · 24 in
Oxheart Tomato
Solanum lycopersicum
Spacing: 70 cm · 28 in
Basil×4
Ocimum basilicum
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Genovese Basil×2
Ocimum basilicum 'Genovese'
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Borage
Borago officinalis
Spacing: 30 cm · 12 in
Marigold×3
Tagetes patula
Spacing: 25 cm · 10 in
Chives×2
Allium schoenoprasum
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Garlic×4
Allium sativum
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Onion×4
Allium cepa
Spacing: 15 cm · 6 in
Parsley×2
Petroselinum crispum
Spacing: 20 cm · 8 in
Ready to Start Growing?
Use this template as a starting point and customize it in the garden editor.
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