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How to plan for container Vegetable Garden Layout

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. QUESTION:
   What do I take into consideration when planning the layout of my vegetable garden?

   I think that planting some beans next to other vegetables, like squash, will harm the productivity. I remember my parents and grandparents having similar rules when planning,I just don't remember exactly.Please help...

   • ANSWER:
     First off you want to think about what you are going to plant and what space is required for them to grow properly. Also you must find out the sun requirements, water requirements, and how often you will need to feed.

     The best bet is to go to your local gardening center and speak with the out door garden associate.

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.)

   action
   step
   idea
   point of view

   • ANSWER:
     Step