Planning A Vegetable Garden Nursery Landscaping Guide

Planning A Vegetable Garden For Your Own Fresh Produce

By Pixie Matthews

Planning a vegetable garden for your garden fresh produce to enrich your meals, requires research and an idea of the end result.

If you want vegetables all year round, then you should have a plant nursery, for your plants to continue growing and giving you produce, even though it is cold and windy outside. Growing your plants in pots on a plant stand, helps keep the pests away from your vegetable plants. Especially, if you wish to avoid using chemical pesticides on your fruit and vegetables.

You can grow a variety of fruit, vegetables and herbs in your vegetable garden, depending on the growing season. You can plan your garden around the periods when your favourite plants are in season, so you will have garden fresh produce from your garden almost all year round.

Miniature Fruit Trees

You can also place miniature fruit trees in your garden area, to provide fruit for your salads. You can grow miniature lemon, orange and pear trees. These are small fruit trees that do not take much room in the garden and do not create large shadows over your garden.

Start with one or two mini fruit trees, far apart, and see if there is any adverse effects to your vegetable plants. Ensure you leave some space around the mini fruit trees and do not place any vegetable plants directly underneath the mini fruit trees. There should not be any problems, as long as you give trees and plants enough room to grow.

Garden Fresh Fruit And Vegetables Taste Better

Garden grown vegetables are superior to grocery store produce by anyone’s standard, both in freshness and flavor. You can go out to the garden and pick your vegetables just before mealtime, at the peak of ripeness.

You’ll save money and your family (and lucky neighbors) will love the results. Here’s a quick primer on the basics of planning a vegetable garden. If you’ve never grown your own vegetables, give it a try!

Start With A Small Garden

Start small. It’s easy to let your enthusiasm run wild, wanting to plant all of your favorites. The problem arises when you find yourself overwhelmed by the time required to maintain a giant garden.

Get one growing season under your belt to get a good idea of the tasks involved and the time you need to nurture your babies. A good size for the first-timer is about 4’ x 8’. A patio or balcony garden is easily managed, even when filled to capacity.

When planning a vegetable garden, your first decisions are location, layout and type of bed. Most vegetables require a southern exposure with at least eight hours of sunlight, so plan accordingly. Raised beds are easy to work and drain well. Lining the bottom of the frame with wire mesh provides protection from burrowing critters.

Best Soil Is For Better Drainage

You have a little more initial expense in constructing the frame and filling the bed, but in the long run, you’ll have less work and better results. If you choose to dig the ground directly, double-digging to a depth of 24 inches is recommended for the most friable soil and best drainage. If you’re growing in pots, use oak half-barrels or similar sized containers. Consult your nursery worker for veggie varieties that grow well in pots.

Prepare your soil thoroughly. You should be able to gently squeeze a big handful and have it just barely hold its form, then easily crumble as you sift it through your hands. Get a soil test kit and make any adjustments to correct for too acid or alkaline soil.

Interplanting In Your Vegetable Garden For Maximum Yield

Planning a vegetable garden for maximum yield includes considering interplanting, a technique that allows you to grow two crops in sequence in the same space. For example, carrots and radishes may be planted with a row of lettuce. The carrots and radishes will be ready by the time the lettuce fills out the space.

Knowledge of companion planting is also useful when planning a vegetable garden. Some vegetables grow more vigorously when planted with another particular plant.

For example, tomatoes and basil are good companions, producing better tomatoes, tastier basil and provide natural protection from pests. You also want to know what not to plant in proximity. Gladiolas shouldn’t be planted anywhere near tomatoes! Your tomatoes will not thrive!

Growing And Harvesting Your Fruit And Vegetables

Planning a vegetable garden is almost as much fun as growing and harvesting the delectable fruits. Start small, do your research, apply compost or organic fertilizer generously and watch your garden grow!

You may want to avoid applying any chemical pesticides, chemical fertiliser or chemical weed killers, by using organic methods to keep pests at bay and still grow plenty of garden fresh produce for your meals.

For nutrition to your soil, you can purchase a compost bin from the nursery and create your own organic compost. You can place the compost on top of the soil to feed plants in your garden.

To protect against weeds, you can place mulch around the plants in your vegetable garden, to prevents weeds rising to the surface.

By applying these methods, you will have garden fresh produce for your meals just by planning a vegetable garden.

About the Author:
Pixie Matthews has written a number of articles on gardening and landscaping including Organic Vegetable Gardening, Organic Vegetable Gardening Products, Organic Vegetable Gardening Products.
Keep a lookout for more of her articles on this website.

Little Known Gardening Facts....

I live in an apartment. What kinds of container gardens would work for me?
Do you have a balcony or does your building allow window boxes? Do you have an area exposed to sunlight for several hours each day?

These are questions you have to answer in order to determine what types of plants will suit your environment best. Herb gardens and plants always work well whereas vegetables can be difficult if you do not have a balcony or your apartment is not exposed to sunlight often.

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