Even if your vegetable garden is on the small side, you still can maximize its benefits and yield. Small spaces do present some limitations, but with proper design and some creativity, you can work around this. Be sure to chose an area that provides enough sunlight, and is easily accessible for routine maintenance and watering. Does this Spark an idea?
Planning
Plan ahead. Make a list of all the vegetables you would like to grow. Do a little preliminary research online or check the seed package or plant tag to find out the spacing requirements for the plants on your list. Vegetables like zucchini and squash take up a quite a bit of ground, but yield a lot with only one plant. Others plants, like tomatoes or cucumbers, don't have to take up as much ground space because they're staked to grow vertically.
Try the less-is-more approach, and focus on specific plants, rather than trying to grow too many types. For example, instead of trying to grow 10 vegetables, go with two or maybe three plants of five different vegetables. Be sure to choose vegetables wisely, and don't pick something no one in your family will eat. Also, try specializing in one vegetable. Plant a few varieties of tomatoes or lettuce, for example.
Small Garden Layout
Find out the dimensions of the space you have to work with, and mark off the area. The rectangular garden is most popular, but it's not a requirement. Vary the garden's shape for maximum yield. Unless the garden is narrower than 4 feet, walkways are a must in order to maintain, weed and harvest the vegetables. A good pathway should be no less than 1-foot wide. Choose the pathway's location so you can reach each section of the garden easily.
Consider putting in raised beds if the garden's soil is less than optimal, or if part of the yard is on a hill or slope. A raised bed provides a workable, flat surface for growing where there wasn't one naturally. It's simple to create a raised bed, and many gardeners find it easier to work in an area that is up off the ground.
Square Foot Gardening
Another option for small gardens is to plant according to the Square Foot Gardening method (see Resources). Developed by Mel Bartholomew, Square Foot Gardening amps up the soil in a small garden in order to grow more vegetables closer together. Each type of vegetable you want to grow will literally takes up 1 square foot of space, meaning a 4-by-4 foot garden can have 16 types of plants. Be careful to follow his guidelines, however, as overcrowding leads to poor air circulation, which can cause plant diseases and fungi.
Containers
If you haven't used them before, consider container gardening as a way to expand a small garden space. Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and even zucchini can be grown successfully in containers, leaving more room in the garden for other vegetables that prefer to be in the ground.
