- 1). Choose a location for the garden. An ideal spot faces south and receives at least 8 hours of sunlight each day. It should have easy access to a water supply and be reasonably close to the home for convenience of bringing in the harvest.
- 2). Determine the garden size. Size is based on the space you have available and the purpose of your garden. If you are gardening for the first time, a 4-foot-by-4-foot garden is large enough to produce several crops, yet small enough to fit in a cramped backyard. If you plan to feed your family exclusively with garden crops, plan on 100 square feet per person.
- 3). Draw the garden perimeter. Based on the appropriate square footage for your needs, draw a square or rectangular garden on graph paper.
- 4). Plan for work space. Walkways between garden rows should be about 18 inches wide to allow space for working. Keep this in mind as you sketch. A smaller garden will not need paths, as long as you can reach the center from all sides. Wide rows combine several rows as one, reducing the number of paths in the garden.
- 5). Establish rows. Draw rows that run east to west for the most even sun exposure. Draw paths between rows in accordance with the row width you chose.
- 6). Decide what vegetables will be planted in which locations of the garden. In general, place tall vegetables, such as corn and sunflowers, at the north side of the garden so they do not shade shorter vegetables. As you draw each vegetable's location, include a scale representation of the required space they need between plants.
- 7). Plant your seeds and transplants according to your sketch.
- Advertisement -
- Advertisement -