Select “Beds” in the left navigation. Then click “Create new bed” at the top right. A dialogue for the new bed opens. The same dialogue is used later to edit an existing bed.
Bed type
Choose the type of your bed. Each bed type comes with a short description and sometimes a link to further information.
The bed type determines whether you want to place plantings freely on the bed or use a row companion planting system.
You cannot change the bed type later. If you change your mind, delete the bed and create a new one.
Basic bed data
Give your bed a unique name.
For free beds you simply enter Length and Width.
For row companion planting beds you enter Head width and Row length instead. The head is the side from which the rows run into the bed. The row length is the depth of your bed, i.e. how long the individual rows are. More on this on the page Row companion planting display.
If your bed is in a Greenhouse, this affects the planting times. grove uses these times for filters, sowing, harvest and task planning.
Free beds
With free beds the outline is normally rectangular. But you can adapt it to special shapes, for example if your bed is round or follows a corner. Under Bed shape you choose between Rectangular, Round and Free form.
With Round your bed automatically becomes a circle, or an oval if the measurements differ.
With Free form you open a separate dialogue via “Edit shape”. There you drag the points of the outline to wherever you want them. The plus symbol in the middle of an edge adds another point, a double click on a point removes it again. Drag inside the area and you move the whole shape.
To get started you will find several templates at the top, such as L-shape, U-shape, Semicircle or Quarter circle. With the buttons next to them you rotate or mirror the shape. If the result didn’t turn out well, “Reset to rectangle” takes you back to the starting point.
The length and width of your bed remain the decisive data. The shape is mainly a visual representation. You can still place plantings beyond the outline. But the automatic size of a new planting and the Garden Fairy follow the shape you drew.
Gertrud Franck and the Langerhorst family
Both companion planting systems use a fixed row spacing, usually between 40 and 50 cm. You enter this as an additional measurement.
Once you enter the Head width, grove automatically calculates the rows (A, B and C rows). If you change something later, the layout adjusts immediately.
Advanced settings: start row & offset
You can change the start row if your bed dimensions don’t fit neatly into the usual sequence (C-A-C-B). This prevents two A-rows ending up directly next to each other after the year change.
You need the Start row offset when transferring an existing bed into grove that you already manage using this system. The first row might need to start offset by 25 cm to make everything line up.
Delete all plantings
When you open the dialogue for an existing bed again, the Delete all plantings button appears. It deletes all previous plantings of the bed.
Important
Many of your bed settings cannot be changed afterwards. So take your time and think through what you need.