My childhood was vainly sheltered. My understanding of the world included; Mum &amp; Dad sharing a double bed, sisters in pink singles and us boys in anything that could be shaped into a car, fort, tent…whatever didn’t resemble a bed.

So it was a fair paradigm shift when I met my first married couple who slept in…singles! Singles? What person, other than a kid, slept in singles?

Nearly 20 years of marriage later and I’m starting to understand how good a single bed might be. It’s not that I don’t like sharing – dealt with that one in Kindy – but some space, and less partner interruption, could go a long way to a good night’s sleep.

It’s no surprise that my garden reflects my upbringing. Garden beds that once dominated the landscape have now been tamed to reflect how I like to garden. Small. Embracing. Productive.

The perpetual myth that “big is best” need not apply to garden beds. When we, as gardeners, consider how we like to access our plants, vegetables and fruit trees smaller beds are much easier to manage. They allow us to; till the soil without having to tread it, confine soil-borne diseases and harvest the rewards of our labour with minimal “partner” disruption.

So, would a king-size garden bed offer any benefits?

Possibly.

For every permaculturalist who wants nature to define their gardening spaces there’s a garden enthusiast who loves to plant in rows. And king-size garden beds revel in this schematic. It may border on OCD but gardening is no judge of personalities.

A king-size garden bed can offer efficiencies of space that a single won’t. It’s sheer size allows the possibility of better companion planting and the efficient use of resources; irrigation, bed framing, potential harvest yields etcetera, etcetera.

One size doesn’t fit all but as we grow in our gardening journey we come to understand why we garden the way we do – and why others prefer different options.

Are you a king-size bedder? Or a single?