How to Design a Vegetable Garden
Why Design a Vegetable Garden? A home vegetable garden is a wonderful way to save money on groceries, while creating a beautiful organic space for your whole family to enjoy.
From crisp lettuce to ruby red beets, any homegrown vegetable will rival even the best store bought produce in flavor and texture. Learn in the next few pages how with a little effort and planning, you can create your very own vegetable garden without having to spend hours caring for it.
Decide What to Plant The first thing to do is decide on what to plant in your garden. With hundreds of produce varieties, it’s important to consider how much your family can realistically eat during a harvest. Many novice gardeners tend to overestimate how much they can consume, resulting in wasted vegetables. Produce like peppers and tomatoes produce fruit throughout the year, so you may not need as many plants. While carrots and corn only grow once a season.
Picking the Perfect Spot After you decide on what vegetables you would like to plant, it’s time to plan the space. Most vegetables need to have at least 6-8 hours of full sunlight a day, in moist, well-irrigated soil, and that’s close to a water source. If you have poor soil or drainage, consider using raised beds. Avoid planting your garden too close to a tree or bush, which may steal nutrients from your plants. If you have limited outdoor space, plant your garden in containers or planters that can be placed outside your home.
Draw a Plot Plan Before you begin planting, it’s important to map out the space in order to determine any foreseeable issues with watering, sunlight, and vermin. In your plan, determine whether or not your space allots for row cropping or intensive cropping. Row cropping is what typically comes to mind for a garden. Seeds are planted in single file rows with a walking path in between. Row cropping makes it easier to use machines in your garden, but limits the amount of vegetables you can produce. Intensive cropping means planting crops in wide bands that reduces the amount of space you need for paths, but requires you to do the majority of the work by hand. Intensive cropping is good for smaller spaces, or if you want to incorporate more design elements into your garden.
Integrating Structure in Your Garden Integrating an open garden structure, like a pergola or wood arbor, can add a refined element of design to your garden, while giving vining vegetables, such as tomatoes, pole beans, and peas, a place to grow. These structures provide support for growing vegetables and easy access for you when they are ready to be harvested. Additionally, keeping vining vegetables off the ground will help prevent disease from spoiling your produce, and add lush foliage to your yard.
Consider a Greenhouse If you live in an area with unstable weather, cooler climates, or have a pest problem, consider installing a greenhouse in your yard. From the heat to the humidity, to the amount of water your plants receive, a greenhouse will give you the ability to control all aspects of your vegetable’s environment. Greenhouses work by trapping in the heat from the sunlight, giving your plants a consistent source of energy and the ability to continue growing overnight. Most greenhouses also feature a window that can be opened if the room becomes too warm. Monitors and fans can also be installed to track the temperature and moisture level.
Adding a Greenhouse Many gardeners are hesitant to install a greenhouse due to the initial costs when purchasing a kit.
However, most will agree, once a greenhouse is installed, it requires little to no maintenance. If you are on a limited budget, or have limited space, consider installing a smaller greenhouse in addition to your outdoor garden. The smaller greenhouse can be reserved for sensitive, frost prone vegetables like eggplants or cucumbers, while your outdoor garden can be used to grow hardier vegetables like broccoli, kale, and brussel sprouts.
Making It More than a Vegetable Garden With some careful planning and experimentation, any vegetable garden can be as vibrant and breathtaking as any flowerbed. By incorporating stone paths, greenhouses and other structures, your vegetable garden will not only represent your dedication to your family’s well-being, but a reflection of your environment’s natural beauty.
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