What exactly is a border plant? (I'm assuming it's just planted on the boarder of a raised bed so it doesn't technically take up a square of space).

And what plants can be used as border plants? (Onions, garlic, potatoes, lettuce?)

Would lettuce and/or spinach work with something such as broccoli and cauliflower? I got a suggestion to 'checkboard' these...so wouldn't that allow enough room at the border?

Horticulture.

a. a long, narrow bed planted with flowers, shrubs, or trees.
b. a strip of ground in which plants are grown, enclosing an area in a garden or running along the edge of a walk or driveway.
c. the plants growing in such a strip: a border of tulips along the path.

Dan

I know what a border bed is, my husband is a landscaper and I help him out a lot. So yes, we have border beds along our driveway and I also boarder my flower beds in the front of the house with smaller flowers and/or ground cover.

But I meant in terms of gardening. I'm looking around and I see that things like lettuce "can be planter on the border" or that planting marigolds or seom herbs such as dill around the border of the cucumbers works well. So I was just curious to find out exactly what plants take up a small enough space that they can be used around a border of a raised bed. Hopefully that makes more sense...

Here are a couple of ideas for you but of course, all of this will depend on the spacing of what is behind it:

1. Chamomile.
2. Boxwood basil (or spicy globe basil). These are quite compact but to my tastes do not taste as good as other basils.
3. Radishes.
4. Green onions.
5. Bull's blood beets.
6. Lettuces.
7. Marigold's (pest protection and pretty).
8. Nasturtiums (again, pest protection and pretty).

Some other hints would be to look for compact forms of some veggies, such as cabbage, etc. When picking plants to transplant, consider what your goal is for that border plant. Do you hope to harvest it before something behind it matures fully or do you hope that it will be there until frost.