Planning your vegetable garden - Overview

Advance planning for your vegetable garden is a must as there are many factors that can affect the success and manageability of your vegetable garden as well as your enjoyment of it.

The traditional method of vegetable garden design was to plant long, orderly rows. Most home gardeners now opt for planting in beds rather than rows. This method allows you to concentrate your compost on the area where the plants are growing rather than wasting it on the paths between the rows. Walking between the rows also ruins the soil structure, so beds are really a better way to go. The beds do need to be small enough so that you can easily reach in to weed and harvest all the plants without stepping on the bed itself. Also, if you raise your beds about 8 to 12 inches, you will have improved drainage and the soil will stay warmer in colder weather, such as early spring.

Another popular style is potager, which mixes flowers in together with herbs and vegetables in an ornamental fashion so that the garden is both functional and ascetically pleasing. Many vegetables also thrive in containers, so you don’t even need a garden in order to get those garden-fresh veggies.

Location is another consideration when planning your garden. Many people tend to want to hide the vegetable garden away in a dark corner and save spotlight for the flowers. Vegetable gardens, however, need sunny, open spaces in order to thrive, so you won’t reap a bounty if you are not willing to devote some real estate. Also, think about location when planting. You can economize space by planting vegetables next to each other that mature at different times. This way, you have already harvested one when it’s neighbor is becoming mature, so both have plenty of space and sun when they need it most.

An excerpt of an article from the helpful gardener