If you dock only to the sides where the edges are, the controls will always stay docked to them and will not change size.
If you set up colliding docking (to parallel sides), the controls will overlap. If you set everything up so that the controls that are not at the edges stretch, only they will be large. Anchor on all sides can also be set on the outer controls.
I do not know what happens when you have several controls of different sizes on one side and turn on Anchor from the other side.
Another option is to use one of the built-in layout managers:
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TableLayoutPanel– The most sophisticated one, it creates a table on the form layout in which it can merge columns/rows and thus create various areas, exactly as you need. -
SplitContainer– Splits the space into 2 areas whose boundary can be moved, which also changes the size of the controls. The advantage is that it is set in percentages, so in the case of -
FlowLayoutPanel– Controls are placed into it one after another, either horizontally or vertically. -
Panel– An ordinary panel, most often used for disabling a larger number of controls.