Find Out How Much Depth Your Plant Roots Need to Thrive

It's sometimes hard to know how much space you should give your plants so they have room to grow, but not so much room that you're wasting space.

Root depth is a topic that isn’t often considered when we think about growing in containers, building raised beds, or planning an irrigation system for our garden.

We tend to visualize our plants growing up or out, but before we transplant that first seedling, we need to know how deep they’ll go beneath the surface as well.

Why does root depth and soil depth matter?

Most plants will grow within the space you allow them. They’ll survive with a minimum of soil depth, but they’ll thrive if you give them as much room as possible for their roots to branch out and breathe.

Knowing the root depth of vegetables can help you plan your garden better

If you’re getting a garden bed ready for planting, knowing the root depth of the plants you want to grow can help you determine how extensively to prepare the soil.

Root depth can help determine the best height for raised garden beds

If you install raised garden beds over concrete or gravel, you’ll want to know the root depth of the vegetables going in, since they will guide how high you need to build the sides of your beds.

Gardeners in dry climates can use root depth to help with hydrozoning

Hydrozoning is the practice of grouping plants with similar water needs together in order to conserve moisture and irrigate more efficiently.

It’s not just how deep, but how wide

While we usually think of roots as growing downward, it’s important to remember that roots grow laterally as well, and to account for that in our garden beds and containers.

Swipe up to learn more.