I may be missing something. I read somewhere that I need to have a clean patch next to where I'm planting the bean, which I have, but I can't plant it at all. The only option I have is to drop it at my feet and pick it back up.
Sounds like you are clicking on a garden patch, not a tree patch. Tree patches are round, and garden patches are square. Can you post a link to the reality page for your house?
Your house only had 3 patches, and you have 3 trees already. I'm not sure if it's because you gave up on the bubble and planted something else, but if it isn't, then you'd have to get rid of one of your other trees to be able to plant the bubble one. As Fokian Fool said, tree patches are round and garden patches are square (and in neat rows).
I have that question now. I have 3 patches (and yes, I know for sure they are not the crop plots) in my backyard.
I can tend and dig the 3 patches. But the "plant" option doesn't appear even though I have tree seeds (in this case the wood tree seeds). Is there a level or a skill or an achievement I need to have before I can plant tree seeds in my backyard patches?
I only mention the dig, to show I only seem to have the two options on the patch. Of course you don't dig a patch to plant a seed. What I'd like to know is why it will not plant.