Hi everyone!
I’m planning this year's vegetable garden and would love some feedback on my layout. Last year was my first year growing my own veggies and it went way better than expected, but I made a lot of mistakes, namely planting a cardoon in the middle that ended up becoming a freaking tree (see pic 3). I’m located in Southern Sweden (coastal area, warmest part of Sweden) with very sandy soil.
Dimensions: 4.1m x 3.6m (approx. 13.5ft x 11.8ft).
Sun: The bottom and left sides get the most sun (had lots of dill, peppers and strawberries on this side last year), while the top and right sides get more shade (but still sunny, and things like carrots, sweet peas, beans and potatoes grew great on this side last year).
Soil: Very sandy, but will continue to amend. I use nettle water for fertilizer and mulch with grass clippings.
Some thoughts behind the layout:
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I’ve placed beans and spinach in the shadiest spot, and cucamelons in the sunniest spot.
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I've grouped brussels sprouts and broccoli to help manage pests. The planning tool shows companion plants and spacing, so I have tried to follow some of those tips, and hopefully I will be able to walk between the rows (40 cm).
I also have a separate sandy patch for potatoes and a small raised bed for rhubarb/overflow, but I have a massive deer/slug problem and the fence + metal edge seems to be the only reliable way for things to not get eaten.
Thanks in advance for any tips or critiques!
by fluorescent-adolscnt
6 Comments
That seems to be a good plan.Some suggestions from my end. If you have slug problem plant strawberries in containers, I have struggled in the past. Potatoes do well in containers too. Also beans grow best in sun so probably moving to sunnier set might help.
App name please?
Jag bor nog i samma zon som dig btw.
Do you absolutely love swiss chard? You will get a ton of it. Also, spinach will bolt before midsommar so plan to stick something else in that bed after. Consider adding some herbs perhaps? They are expensive in the shops.
My big concern seeing your plan is not giving yourself enough space to maneuver especially when things begin to get big and the fact you’ll only have access to it from one side due to the fence.
There doesn’t seem to be any kind of walkway. ..Imo 40 cm is too tight. 50 cm is the absolute min and pushing it.
You need to fix your physical layout before you worry about what seed goes where. Looking at that third picture those stepping stones are just dropped onto loose sand and your growing zones have zero definition. You cannot just walk anywhere or you will compact the dirt and crush roots. Define your walking paths with a thick layer of wood chips and build up your actual planting beds with massive amounts of compost since that coastal sand drains nutrients instantly. Your layout sketch shows a giant solid block of onions, chard, and carrots but you left absolutely no room to step in there to weed or harvest without trampling your crop.
Get those blueberries out of the vegetable patch immediately. Blueberries demand highly acidic soil while your Brussels sprouts and broccoli want sweet alkaline dirt so someone is going to suffer if they share a bed. Put the berries in their own dedicated spot outside the fence where you can amend the soil with pine needles and sulfur. Moving the cucamelons to the outside of the fence on the sunniest side is a smart move because they are aggressive climbers and will use your wire as a free trellis without crowding your interior beds. Keep the dill in planters unless you want to spend the next five years pulling stray dill out of your strawberries.
Your sun mapping is actually pretty decent since you kept the tall climbing peas and beans on the far side where they will not cast shadows on the short stuff. Instead of chopping the rest of the garden into chaotic little blocks try planting in long continuous rows separated by real walking lanes. This gives the garden visual rhythm and airflow while making your drip irrigation much easier to manage. Structure your space so function and beauty work together by creating clear intentional paths rather than scattering plants around like a polka dot shirt.
Awesome plan, just dropping this info if you did not know:
Always plant blueberries in a pot with specifically acidic soil, they apparently die anywhere else