Learn how to design your own vegetable garden before you start planting seeds. The first step is deciding where to locate the garden. Where does your yard get the most hours of sunshine? That is the best location for your garden. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
- 1
Choose vegetables that you know your family loves to eat. Then choose one vegetable you've never tried before. Figure out how much of each vegetable you want to grow. The back of your seed packet will tell you how many vegetables per plant you can expect. Fresh vegetables are great at harvest time, but you may want to freeze some for the winter. Make sure that the seeds you choose will grow well in your planting zone (see Resources).
2Map out your vegetable garden design on a piece of graph paper. Locate the north end of your garden. This is the best location for plants that will grow taller. Grown in the north area, your tall plants will not shade the other, shorter vegetable plants in your garden. Plant pole beans, corn and peas here. For the best sun exposure, form your rows to go from north to south, with taller plants at the north end of each row.
3Place the lowest growing vegetables at the south end of your garden, where they will get the best sun exposure. Vegetables that are appropriate for the south end of your garden include carrots, radishes, onions, lettuce and beets.
4Locate medium-growth vegetables in the center of your rows, including plants such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes and squash.
5Protect your vegetable garden area. If you have household pets or small children, make sure to plan for adequate fencing to keep them out of the area.
