There is nothing as wonderful as a vegetable garden. Of course, flowering plants smell great, but can you eat your roses or lilies? Only when you plant vegetables can you eat the results of your labors.
Vegetables don’t always look pretty and are a LOT more work than flowers, herbs or a well-landscaped yard, but the results are always worth it. Being able to put fresh leafy greens, cabbages, lettuce, carrots, turnips and tomatoes on your table can give you such a rewarding feeling, so it’s definitely worth the investment of time–and money-that goes into growing your own vegetable garden.
By the time you reach the end of this article, you will have chosen from the epic vegetable garden ideas and you will be well on your way to growing your own plants. Good luck and happy planting!
How to Build a Vegetable Garden
As with anything else, it takes time, planning and preparation to build your vegetable garden. It will not grow overnight, and even before you start planting, you need to prepare the garden for growth. How can you do that?
Step 1: Design the Garden-What will your garden look like? Will you use rows, patterns, cages or trellises? Think about the type of vegetables you want to grow and design your garden accordingly.
Step 2: Lift the beds — Before planting, you need to lift the beds. It is a practice that has been used for thousands of years, which will improve drainage, increase heat absorption and promote faster plant growth. You want to raise the floor beds no less than 6 inches above the level of your footpath. You can even raise the beds up to 18 inches if you wish! Bonus: The higher the beds, the less you have to bend down to pull out the weeds!
Step 3: Use the right soil-Make sure you have chosen the right soil for planting your vegetables. Vegetables need soil that is both rich in organic matter and rich in moisture and drainage. The soil should be loose, not too heavy, provide good drainage and have a lot of NPK (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium). Make sure that the soil pH is between 6 and 7.
While root vegetables (carrots and turnips) or leafy vegetables (cabbage, spinach, etc. to stay at ground level, the vegetables listed above need space to climb and stretch their stems in order to grow. The addition of supports will give climbing plants space to grow properly.
Not only will adding supports help reduce the amount of floor space occupied by plants, but you will also reduce the peril of plants contracting ailments. Supports can also give your gardens a nice visual appeal, as you will have a lot of colorful flowering plants crawling along the side of trellises, canes and other supports. Definitely a wonderful look for your garden!
5 Good Vegetable Garden Ideas
Most people plant their gardens in the classic square or rectangular shape, but why not get creative and plant a circular garden, an octagonal garden or even a garden planted in the shape of a triangle? This will help make your garden more decorative, especially if you plant colorful vegetables.
Most people think that a vegetable garden is a large area with row after row of cabbage, lettuce and other ground plants. But why not fill your garden with trellises, bamboo teepees, canes and other supports? You will find that they will help your plants grow and become strong, and you will use much less floor space. Your small plot of land can produce A LOT of tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables grown on climbing plants. Plus, harvesting your vegetables is SO MUCH easier because you don’t have to bend over!
Framed Garden
Don’t just plant vegetables in your soil and stop there, but use special materials to frame the different parts of your garden. Red clay bricks form a colorful border for gardens and can help reduce soil runoff when the rainy season arrives. You can use wood (cedar is especially resistant to rotting) as a border around the garden. The stones will also give the gardens a fierce natural look. As an added bonus, using a frame around your garden will give you a place to sit while you weed or plant.
Paved Garden
If you don’t want to spend a fortune on materials to frame the flower beds, why not use paving stones to clearly mark the walking path? Paving stones will help you avoid getting muddy when the soil is wet, but they also make the garden look much more elegant. You can also use concrete to clearly delimit the trail, or just use simple slabs.
These are just a few awesome vegetable garden ideas, but there are so many more to consider (container garden, aquaponic garden, hydroponic garden, portable garden, etc.). Think about what type of garden is best for your property and plant accordingly!
