A wicking bed waters plants from below. A water reservoir sits under the soil, and moisture rises through the soil by capillary action, so the surface stays drier and water loss drops. This free planner takes your bed size, reservoir depth, and soil depth. It works out bed area, reservoir litres, and soil litres, so you can size the build before you buy materials.
What this tool does
This free wicking bed planner runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to a server, and nothing is stored online. You open the page, enter your own measurements, and the plan appears at once, with a simple drawing of the layout below the result. You can try again as often as you like, which makes it easy to test a bigger or smaller layout before you buy soil, pots, or timber. A short plan like this beats guessing, because a garden built on guesses often wastes space, water, and plants in the first season.
How to use it
Start by measuring the real space you have, not a rough guess: length, width, and height in the same units. Enter those numbers in order, then press the calculate button and read every result line, not just the total. If a line looks wrong, change one input at a time and run the tool again, so you can see exactly which input moved the result. Check the drawing too, because it shows whether the layout fits the space you measured. Save or copy the final numbers before you shop, while they are fresh.
Reading your result
The result lines break the plan into parts, so you can check each part against your space and your budget. A total alone rarely tells the full story, but a total built from visible parts does. If a result surprises you, trust the maths first and check your inputs second: most garden surprises come from a mistyped number, mixed units, or a measurement taken from the wrong side of a bed or sill. Fix the input, not the plan, and run it again.
Worked example
Try a bed 2 metres long and 1 metre wide, with a 15 cm reservoir and 30 cm of soil. The area is 2 square metres. Reservoir water is 2 times 0.15 times 1000, which is 300 litres. Soil volume is 2 times 0.30 times 1000, which is 600 litres. A full reservoir therefore holds about two weeks of steady use for thirsty summer crops.
Why this matters for a gardener
Bottom watering suits steady crops and busy growers. Soil stays evenly moist, leaves stay dry, and many fungal problems drop, because wet leaves spread disease fast. A sized reservoir also means fewer watering trips in summer, which is when beds need water most. Planning litres first stops two errors: a reservoir too small to help, and a soil layer too shallow for roots.
Gardening tips
Keep the soil depth at least 30 cm for most vegetables, and check the water level through the fill pipe weekly. Use a soil mix that wicks well, not pure sand or heavy clay. Add an overflow hole at reservoir height, so heavy rain cannot flood the soil. In winter, drain the reservoir if hard frosts are expected.
Common questions
Is this tool really free? Yes. It runs in your browser, needs no account, and has no sign-up step. You can use it as often as you like, for as many garden plans as you like.
Is the result exact for my garden? No. It is a planning estimate from the numbers you enter. Sun, wind, drainage, and local frost dates also affect real results, so check those on site before you build or plant.
Who is it made for? Home gardeners, balcony growers, and small-space growers who want a clear plan before they spend money on soil, pots, or timber.
Spanish version: Planificador de Bancal con Riego por Mecha Con Tablas Sencillas