Planning a Vegetable Garden

Planning a vegetable garden starts with deciding the layout and the types of vegetables you want to grow. The time of year, gardening zone, light and space may also dictate the types of vegetables you can grow. Vegetables that thrive in the hot summer weather may be different from vegetables to plant in late summer.

Take steps to plan a vegetable garden.

Start Planning a Vegetable Garden

To start your vegetable garden, you’ll need to pick a spot in your yard to grow the vegetables. If you don’t have a yard, you can grow some vegetables in containers on a deck or patio. The key is sunlight.

Light Requirements

Vegetables, like many flowers, need lots of sunlight to thrive and produce tasty vegetables. Most vegetables need full sunlight, which gardeners define as six or more hours of sunlight per day. This direct sunlight stimulates the plant’s cells to produce the food it needs through photosynthesis to build a strong root system and produce fruit.

Many people are confused about what type of light they have in the garden. Try this simple test. Pick a day when you’re home and can observe the garden. Take a look at the garden area you want to grow vegetables in first thing in the morning, and write down whether or not the sun is actually touching the ground. Look for full, bright sun, not dappled sunlight filtering through tree leaves. Now set a kitchen timer or alarm clock and return to your observation once an hour or once every two hours until dinnertime, marking down how much light the spot in the garden receives. Then, add up all the times you saw direct light. This will give you an idea of whether you’re working with full sun, partial sun or shade.

While you can grow some vegetables in partial sun, most will struggle. If the entire yard gets only partial sun or shade due to immovable objects like garages, homes, or trees in neighbors’ yards, look for a place that gets bright direct sunlight and grow vegetables in pots instead.

Where to Grow Vegetables

You can grow vegetables directly in the ground, in raised beds, in pots or containers. Each offers different advantages.

Planting Vegetables in the Ground

You can plant vegetables in the ground. All you need to do when planning a vegetable garden is select the area, dig it up, and plant.

Mark off a part of the garden where you want to grow your vegetables. Try not to make the vegetable beds too wide. Four feet is adequate. You want to leave at least several feet between the vegetable beds so that you can maneuver wheelbarrows and other equipment around the garden, and also so that you can easily walk among the rows for watering, weeding, and harvesting. If you make the vegetable beds too wide, it will be difficult to reach the plants in the middle. You’ll also end up trampling over the soil, which compacts it or pushes it down and makes it harder for the plants’ roots to develop.

You’ll need to turn over the soil. This means digging it up to loosen it. If you can, add compost or other amendments to the soil to add nutrients to it.

Plant your vegetable plants or seeds according to your gardening zone and planting directions.

Raised Beds

Raised bed vegetable gardens are a bit more expensive to create, but they offer several advantages. Raised bed gardens are made with wood or other materials. Each box is then filled with soil and planted with vegetables. Raised bed vegetable gardens are generally easier to plant and tend to, and it’s also easier to add and create great soil. You’ll need to purchase wood, cut it to the right sizes to make the beds, assemble them and add soil.

Be sure to leave adequate space between beds. It’s also wise to rotate vegetable crops among the beds each year so that you don’t plant the same thing year after year in the same bed. If any diseases are present, rotating crops prevents them from ruining next year’s harvest.

Container Gardening

For those who are working with little gardening light or perhaps apartment or city dwellers, container gardening offers many advantages. Many varieties of wonderful vegetables can be grown in pots. Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, herbs and even miniature varieties of melons can thrive in pots. Be sure to water pots and containers thoroughly and check them daily. They tend to dry out in the hot summer months, particularly when plants mature.

Choose Your Vegetables

As you continue planning your vegetable garden, think about the type of vegetables you want to grow. You can grow any vegetable within reason, but you may need to choose different varieties that are adapted to your climate. Local garden centers are helpful for this, since they typically stock plants near the right planting time, as well as varieties that thrive in your gardening region.

Seeds or Plants?

Many people wonder whether it’s better to start with seeds or plants. Some vegetables will only grow well from seeds. Most root vegetables, like beets, radishes and carrots are like this. They don’t like their roots disturbed, so seeding right into the garden soil is recommended. Melons also prefer to be started right in the soil. Other vegetables like tomatoes can be fussy when started from seed, and buying healthy, well tended plants gets you to delicious tomatoes faster.

Vegetable gardening continues to grow in popularity. Plan your garden by considering the amount of light you have to work with, types of gardens, and whether you want to start with seeds or plants. You can grow satisfying, delicious vegetables this year with a bit of planning and effort.

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