Posted by | Posted in Garden Layout | Posted on 22-08-2011
Tags: planning a vegetable garden layout
Vegetable Garden Layout Ideas
You may find plenty of articles that help you with a vegetable garden layout if you have limited space, but what about those of us that have unlimited room for the garden what we want to have to feed the family? You can usually do whatever you want if you have a large garden area, but you can still do some things to make your garden easier to navigate and easier to care for day in and day out. No matter how much room you have, you still want to make the most of your space so that you can enjoy the fruits of your labors far into the next year.
When planning your vegetable garden layouts for larger gardens, you have to think about some of the same things that you would think about when you are laying out something in a limited space. There are some plants that have a natural sprawl. These include things like pumpkins and squash. There are other plants that have some spread, and of course the ones that stay right where they should be, like, potatoes. Some gardeners don't mind pumpkins weaving through their green beans, but you might. Consider this when planning.
Another consideration is weeding. When you have to get down on your hands and knees to pull out weeds, the vegetable garden layout you choose will make this task easy or very difficult. You want to have enough room to get down without bothering the plants in the next row. This is one advantage of having a larger garden. You can space your rows better so that you have room to walk, kneel, and weed. If you are using a mechanical weeder, you may not need as much space, but your plants will still require your steady hand for some weeding chores.
It is a lot harder to water a large garden than a smaller one. This means paying attention to areas that may not get enough rain or enough sun. Avoid planting and putting your vegetable garden layout away from your trees and put them in areas that you know do not pond water. Too much water will kill your plants as quickly as them not getting enough. These are all things you should know from caring for your lawn if you are putting a garden in a new spot on your property. Remember that anything to close to a road or driveway could be problematic as well.
Your first vegetable garden layout may not work out just the way you planned. There are two great things about this. One is that vegetables are more resilient than you think. This means your mistakes may not mean death to your garden. Also, you can always learn from what you did wrong to do a better job the next year, and the year after that. Gardening is always a learn as you go project that some take a lifetime to master, and they have a great time doing it. You don't have to be perfect - just do it.
Frequently Asked Questions
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QUESTION:
Need help planning garden layout?
I'm planning on having a vegetable garden this year, and need to know the best place to plant so each variety gets the best sun/soil combo. I plan to make raised beds, but not sure with what material yet. Cheaper is better. The garden would include herbs, veggies, and root crops, pretty much anything I eat on a regular basis. Potatoes, peppers, onions, lettuce, corn, cucumbers, green beans, pumpkins, watermelon, etc. I have a large area to plant, but tall pine trees surrounding my yard that shade the area inconsistently. I live in Eastern WA, so the summers are super hot and the winters freezing. What crops should I plant next to each other? I heard growing the corn with the beans helps them to stabilize and reduces the need for trellis or stakes. Where should the corn and beans grow? To the North, East, South or West of the main beds? Thanks!-
ANSWER:
Check out this webpage:http://www.quick-and-easy-vegetable-garden.com/planning-a-vegetable-garden.html
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QUESTION:
Can a garden be organic if lawn chemicals were previously used?
I'd like to have a vegetable/flower garden in our yard but currently don't think I want square foot gardening. (I may raise the soil below the plants, however, and will probably not use a traditional layout plan, as I'd like to be a bit more artistic.) We had crabgrass preventer and a weed/fertilizer treatment put on once or twice last year and have generally not used it more than once or twice yearly in previous years. Can our garden ever really be organic if those substances are in the soil?
Including a link to your source of information and/or explaining your expertise/background when answering will be very helpful. Thanks!-
ANSWER:
If you were to try and get your garden certified organic you would have to quit using the lawn chemicals for 3 years (as well as any other banned substances along with a soil building plan, a 4+ year crop rotation plan and many other requirements-see it all at http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop) and than your garden would be eligible for organic certification.But since you are a home gardener not going for organic certification organic can be what ever you want it to be. If you really want to be organic I suggest you read up on what organic gardening is really about and what it does for your soils, plants and local environment. http://www.rodaleinstitute.org http://www.localharvest.org http://www.organicconsumers.org all have a lot of information about what makes a garden or farm organic
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QUESTION:
Can you Read these paragraphs, noting the change of focus.?
Read these paragraphs, noting the change of focus.Preparing the soil is perhaps the hardest and most boring part of planting a garden, but it is the first and possibly the most important step. Before anything else can be done, the area to be planted must be dug up, spaded at least a foot deep, and made ready to receive the seeds. Using a pointed shovel and a spading fork, dig down a minimum of twelve inches. Turn the soil and, with your hands, pick out rocks, pieces of glass, sticks, and all other foreign matter. Work the whole area down to the proper depth, breaking down the large clods and pulling out roots and other plant parts. This is a good time to work well-rotted manure or other fertilizer, sand, and peat moss into the soil. Dig and mix all these elements in well with the soil; then rake the area smooth and level.
Now that the garden area is worked, enriched, and leveled, you may plan where you will plant the various vegetables. Plan to put the tall plants, such as corn, in a position where they will not shade the rest of the garden too much. Squash and tomato vines should be kept well away from leafy vegetables so they do not choke each other out. You can plant root vegetables fairly close. If you crowd them, however, they will become deformed. Plan the layout of your garden on a paper, or refer to plans that appear every spring in home magazines. Planting is an art; planning is the start.
The primary change is a change of: (Type the correct item from the list below.)
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