Vegetable Garden Design Ideas

Looking for the best garden layout to suit your needs? Check out these garden design ideas to inspire your next vegetable garden.

Traditional In-Ground Row Garden:Cheaper to create, Less start-up work (especially when your soil is ready for gardening), Requires less watering.Option: No-Work garden made popular by Ruth Stout where you would create a thick layer of mulch around your plants.

Food Forest:Growing a garden Mother Nature’s way, food forests are made up of several levels of edible trees, shrubs and edible perennials and annuals.A key concept in permaculture, food forests mimic the natural beneficial relationships between plants and animals.

Raised Bed

-around 4-6 inches tall and 2-4 feet wide,-ability to control the soil,-needs watered more frequently,-no foot traffic,-Better pest control.

Hugelkultur

-No-dig raised beds built by putting dirt over logs, leaves, straw or compost. -Slow decay of the logs allow for a steady stream of nutrients. -Compost keeps ground warm meaning a longer growing season.

Straw Bale Gardens

-Great for areas with bad soil, straw bales act as a container for your plants.-It can be difficult to condition the bales correctly.

:http://www.saferbrand.com/blog/beginners-guide-to-straw-bale-gardening/

Square Foot Design

-Mel Bartholomew’s method called Square Foot Gardening is a popular raised bed garden design since it requires little weeding and a large harvest. -Raised beds about 6 inches deep are topped with Mel’s Mix, which consists of 1 part compost, one part peat moss and one part vermiculite.-Raised bed is split into 1 foot squares.

Keyhole Design

-Created to help third world countries grow food, the keyhole garden is filled with wood, cardboard and other compostable materials before topping with dirt and planting. At the center is an active compost pile to continually add nutrients to the garden.-Best option for locations with poor soil and not ideal garden weather. -Easy to water and add compost to.

Triolife Plant Pyramid

-Perfect for a rooftop or deck, this vertical garden allows you to plant a lot of veggies even when you don’t have a lot of space.-Preferable for growing smaller plants like strawberries, herbs or a salad garden.-Use wood or cinder blocks to create a pyramid garden

Step Garden

-Layered garden steps add an aesthetic appeal to your yard-Difficult for deer to eat-Takes more work to build and maintain

Curved Beds

-Keeping a curved edge to your raised bed makes mowing easier-Curved beds give your landscape a more relaxing feel

Container Gardening

-If you live in an apartment or townhome, consider planting your veggies in pots or buckets.-Easy vegetables to grow in a container: broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, radishes, and lettuce.Learn more about the easiest vegetables to grow at http://www.saferbrand.com/blog/easiest-vegetables-to-grow/

Hanging Gardens

-Right-side up or upside down, hanging gardens in bags, containers or bottles are a great way to add flair and save space in your backyard.-Tomatoes grow best in upside down containers.-Lettuce, herbs, and some types of peppers grow well in right-side up hanging gardens.

Vertical Vegetable Garden

-Often underused, the vertical space against your home or fence can be the perfect space to plant a garden.-Upcycle an old window frame or pallet to grow herbs, zucchini, beans and other small plants.

Teepee Trellis

-Use a teepee trellis to easily grow beans, peas, tomatoes, and other vine crops.-Ads a more formal yet fun style to your garden layout.

Hydroponics

-Grow plants without traditional dirt. -Perfect for small indoor spaces.-Usually more expensive to get started than a traditional garden.-Less pest issues.

Planting by Color

-A unique approach to vegetable gardening is planting a rainbow-colored garden.Red: tomatoes, red chard, red bell peppersOrange: pumpkins, orange bell peppers, butternut squashYellow: yellow squash, tomatoes, yellow bell peppersBlue and Purple: eggplants, red-leaf lettuce, purple beans, beets, radicchioWhite: cauliflower, white scalloped squash

Mix n Match

Most likely, your garden will be a mix of these designs. Incorporating your vegetable garden with your landscaping can create a rewarding experience for both your mind and body.Here’s a few of our favorite vegetable garden design mash-ups.

Things to consider when planning your vegetable garden:-Number of plants--10’x10’ (100 square feet) 9-15 plants--100 square feet per person you want to feed-Which areas get the most sun or shade-Water accessibility--drip irrigation, hose, sprinkler irrigation, furrow irrigation-Companion planting-Ease of harvesting and weeding-Materials--rot-resistant woods like cedar or redwood are great for creating raised beds. You can also use composite or bricks.

Get creative and enjoy planning your vegetable garden layout! Visit our blog Saferbrand.com/blog for more great tips on growing your vegetable garden!