How to Design a Vegetable Garden

A well-designed vegetable garden isn't just better looking, it's also easier to maintain. Poorly planned beds tend to become overcrowded, creating a breeding ground for disease and insects. Crowded gardens are more difficult to weed and it's harder to reach the plants for routine maintenance and harvest. Laying out the bed properly allows plants to access the amount of light they need as well as preventing over-competition for water and nutrients in the soil. Does this Spark an idea?

Instructions

1

Find the garden location before designing the bed so you know what space you have to work with. Locate the bed in an area that receives at least eight hours of sunlight in the summer months. Most vegetable plants require full sunlight to grow their best. Choose an area that drains well and isn't prone to standing water.

2

Make the bed only as wide as you can work comfortably. If the bed is accessible from both sides, make it up to twice the width you can reach easily. Length depends on the available space and how many plants you plan to grow.

3

Place tall plants or plants requiring trellising along the north or west side of the bed so they do not shade out lower growing plants. Place medium-height plants in the center rows of the plan and low-growing plants along the side that receives the most sunlight.

4

Plan enough room to space plants at the intervals recommended on the plant labels. Design the bed so rows are spaced 18 to 24 inches apart. This spacing allows you to weed between the plants as well as leaves a pathway for you to walk into the bed.

5

Choose one area of the bed for perennial vegetables, such as asparagus and rhubarb. Annual vegetables must be tilled under each year so a separate area for perennial vegetables ensures they are not in the way of the annual tilling.