Planning a Veg Garden. Help needed.

[Glutton4...]

I have been asked if I would be interested in designing a veg garden.

The site is virtually rectangular longest sides on E and W. There are trees bordering three sides S (short) W (long) and N (short). The E boundary is open, but there is a tree boundary the other side of the garden, so there is a slight wind threat from the east. In the summer there is shade from the W tree boundary from mid afternoon, but most of the plot gets a lot of sun.

They have ordered a Greenhouse, and I was wondering which would be the best situation and orientation for it; NW corner/SE corner/Central? Ridge running N/S or E/W? THis will help greatly with cutting down my planning time.

Any other advice from those of you that have done it; must do/must not do, would be gratefully received. There will be electricity and water on site.

Cheers Peeps!

[VirginVegGrower]

Get a subscription for Suttons Garden Planner. Free for two months. Then draw out the area you have. Set your compass points accordingly on your plan. I'd go for potager raised beds. Any walls to work with for fruit trees. Do they want a herb bed? Bees? Compost bins? Raised beds or flat?

[mothhawk]

You don't say how big the area is, but if I had a large space for a vegetable garden, I would put the greenhouse in the centre, because then it will be equidistant from all corners of the garden for carrying GH raised cuttings to plant out, water (if you put butts to catch rain from the roof), for returning stuff to overwinter under cover, plus it will not be shaded by anything but will provide a shaded and sheltered side for hardening off plants. An attractive greenhouse makes a pretty focal point and helps in dividing an ornamental veg patch into separate areas.

[veggiechicken]

I'd put the GH on the North side with the ridge running W/E, so that the long south side gets the sun. Leave some space behind it for some fruit trees ? peach that will be sheltered from the winds by the trees and GH.

[Glutton4...]

No there are no walls, VVG. The site runs almost exactly N/S and there's a Chicken run to the northern boundary, under the trees, and a tennis court provides the boundary to the east. The area is the size of a competition tennis court HOOOOOGE! They want a herb garden, and raised veg beds.

I had already considered a centrally placed Greenhouse, Mothhawk, as it'll probably be a fab one, so may as well make it a focal point, and the leeward side will be as useful as the sunny side. I'm just never sure if the ridge is best N/S or E/W. VC, my Dad's is E/W and he has Figs in buried pots between the northern side and the boundary hedge/fence, where it is quite sheltered.

My only concern with siting the Greenhouse in full sun, is that it is so easy to cook everything, and I'm not going to be there every day. I'm not sure how much effort they are willing to put into the growing and maintenance whilst also running a business, and taxiing two teenage boys about.

I realise a lot of what I'm asking is bit 'how long's a piece of string' but I don't want them to waste their money by my getting it wrong and the garden not functioning as it should.

[Two_Sheds]

My only concern with siting the Greenhouse in full sun, is that it is so easy to cook everything, and I'm not going to be there every day

It must have shading, and the best shading is on the outside, so the glass doesn't even get hot (paint shading on the inside still lets the glass get hot). Auto vents for ventilation too, if someone can't be there every day.

Watering? Daily for a greenhouse, in anything except cold weather.

I'm not sure how much effort they are willing to put into the growing and maintenance

So put in low-maintenance, bombproof crops, at least to start with.
Too fiddly, too complicated and they're just liable to give up.

I did a garden today, from scratch, putting in spuds (lots of spuds) and pumpkins, to provide ground cover. Neither need any staking, tieing in or fiddling.

Dwarf beans, lots of them ~ although lower yielding than climbers, they don't need supports. Keep it simple.

Onions, lettuce, carrots, chard, beetroot: dead easy and quick.


As they get more in the swing of it, we can add more complicated things like brassicas (which need netting & picking over for caterpillars).

[Glutton4...]

Thanks TS! I guess a lot of it is obvious if you're an experienced grower, but there's such a lot to think about when you're not.

I would imagine most people that have planned a garden from scratch, will turn round and say they wish they had done something different, or included something or left out something that they now don't use.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

[shepp726]

a greenhouse was always known as a hothouse, so as long as it gets some sun throughout the day i would place it appropriately.
am sure the intention was only to keep it hotter/humid during the daylight hours to grow exotic flowers/veg, and provide heating, i.e. paraffin heaters hot water pipes at night time.