Vegetable Garden Lay Outs

Vegetable garden lay outs can vary depending on what you want to grow, the space you have available and whether you are interested in companion planting. Here are some tips on how to lay out your vegetable garden for beauty and success.

Plant a Vegetable Garden

Planning a Vegetable Garden

Before you decide anything about lay out, you need to know what you are going to plant and where you would like to plant it. Ask yourself the following questions:

• How much space do I have?
• How much light does it get?
• Is the drainage good?
• What amendments will I need to add to the soil?
• What would I like to plant?
• Is there enough room? If not, what can I cut?

Decide whether you want a single plant of each type of food such as tomatoes and squash, or whether you would like to grow several varieties. Do some research to find out how far apart plants should be spaced and what kind of soil and light requirements they have.

Writing a plant wish list and learning about the needs of different plants compared to the availability and quality of space in your garden will already give you some ideas about what to plant where. Peppers, for instance, will want a lot of light, while spinach might last longer if you plant it in a spot that gets some shade.

Sample Vegetable Garden Lay Outs

There are three main ways that vegetable gardens can be laid out: rows, beds and a "potager" style.

The row style of garden is the one most people are familiar with. It involves planting seeds or plants in straight rows, either using one row per type of plant or adding different plants to fill out the row.

Using beds is similar to row planting, but on a smaller scale. The garden is designed so that beds can be reached from outside the garden or while standing or crouching on a path instead of being worked from inside the bed.

This is helpful because it means you won't be stepping in the beds, which compacts the soil and requires more digging in the fall or spring to aerate the soil again. Beds allow production of a lot of food in a small space, and you can even use raised beds to make gardening even easier.

The potager style is more decorative than other vegetable garden lay outs. Traditionally, a potager is a French kitchen garden, but it is laid out in geometric patterns, usually circles or other patterns with paths between the different sections. Similar colors or types food might be grouped together in this design that is beautiful as well as useful.

Companion Planting

Another thing you might want to consider when looking at vegetable garden lay outs is companion planting. This is a concept by which plants that are thought to help each other are planted near each other for pest control or other purposes.

The classic example of companion planting is what is known as the three sisters—beans, corn and squash—which were planted together by the Native Americans. The corn provides the beans a place to climb, while the beans provide nutrients to the soil and the squash shades the roots of the other plants, providing weed control and helping to conserve water.

There are many other companions in the vegetable world, as well as floral companions. One good example of flowers helping plants is nasturtium and cabbages.

The nasturtiums attract caterpillars, which will keep them away from your green leafy vegetables. In the same way, marigolds can keep aphids and other pests away from your tomatoes, peppers, squashes and other plants. Some gardeners recommend planting marigolds in every spare space in your garden because they are so helpful.

Onions can also keep away slugs, aphids and other pests. Tomatoes are said to grow better alongside carrots, but they may stunt the growth of carrots. Basil is said to make tomatoes taste better (and not just on your plate). Planting horseradish with potatoes makes the spuds more disease resistant.

If you want to learn more about companion planting check out this site from Golden Harvest Organics.

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