planting plan help

[gardendancer]

Hi all


Well we're now safely in the new house and starting to plan next years fruit and veg.

At the bottom of the garden I've found after some serious hacking back 2 lovely 11x11 foot raised beds, with a foot wide railway sleeper edging around, to the east and west there are 2 low fences and they are 6 feet away from a 6 foot high fence which is at the very south of the garden (i've included a little diagram (i'd put in pictures, but i have no idea where the camera has gone)

---------------------------------fence (south)

border
-----------------------------------
path
i-------------i i--------------i
i i i i
i i i i
i border i path i border i
i i i i
i i i i
i-------------i i--------------i

there are a couple of trees in neighboring garden that mades this very light shade (at least at this time of year)

i thought that these would make a very good start to the nev fruit and veg garden, and i would really appreciate some advice on how to plant it up efficiently.

I'm planning on expanding further to have more space too, that will be sunnier and arranged in more traditional 4 foot wide borders.

finally the plants i ultimately want to grow are (the ones that are * i already have in pots)
permanent
redcurrant*
blackcurrant
gooseberry
rhubarb
raspberries * autumn bliss x 4 canes
blueberries* 3
strawberries
artichokes*
asparagus
blackberries*
horseradish*
herbs - chives, sage, marjoram, thyme, rosemary,

rotating ( based on what I grew this year)
hrebs basl,dill, parsley, coriander, borage
potatoes
carrots
beetroots
cabbage
butternut squash
courgette
french beans peas and broad beans
leeks
onions
garlic
celery
sweetcorn
fennel
kale
tomatoes
cucumbers

I think i would also like to grow some comfrey for the compost.

So after all of that info, I'd be very grateful for some of the amazing amount of wisdom that exists here on this site, I might not post very much as I still feel like such a beginner, but I read alot.

[solway cropper]

I think there's a tendency when starting out to try and grow as many different things as possible and I'm sure we've all done it. Personally I'd rather grow decent amounts of what the family like with the odd 'trial' veg just to sample a different taste. You'll struggle to get much of a crop from 4 rasp canes, I'd recommend 10. For a decent asparagus bed you'd ideally want at least 8x4 foot and fruit bushes can take up a lot of space, plus your potatoes will fill one of the beds. I hope you see what I'm getting at here. Where space is limited you need to think carefully about how best to utilize it. Block planting small amounts with successional sowings (aka square foot gardening) is a good way to overcome a lack of space and it has been very successful for me this year. Whatever you choose to do I wish you all the best.

[gardendancer]

Thanks,

Just to clarify - I wasn't planning on growing everything in those 2 beds, we'll set up a few more soon, it'll just be a few months until we can get around to the digging of those.

I think i'm mainly baffled about how to plant these 2 up so I can get decent access to everything to pick/weed and think about sunsine and how different plants would shade eachother.

[solway cropper]

Do the neighbour's trees overhang your garden? If so you could ask if they'd allow you lop a few branches to improve light. The lower half of my main plot is slightly shaded and it just means that plants grown there don't get as big as those in full sun. With the 11x11 beds I'd divide them up. With a cross shaped path down the centre of each you'd have 8 beds at 5x5. It doesn't sound much but I can get 9 good sized onions in a square foot and some people go for 16 but smaller. You should also be able to reach with reasonable ease from all sides.

[gardendancer]

The only tree that actually overhangs our garden is an elm, and since there are so few left in Britain I think that it should be left intact, as pruning leaves it more prone to dutch elm disease apparently. I will have beds that will be in full sun too.

I like the idea of a cross shaped path,
since i posted last night I had been thinking of 2 L-shaped borders 3foot wide each, and a square of 3x3 foot at the middle-south corners. so that I could have a long run of fruit with supports but I was wondering if that lost a lot of space to paths.

[jackie j]

The bluberries need to be different varieties and need eracious ( sp ) soil. I have two and one has glorious red leaves now its autumn.

[gardendancer]

thanks jackie
they are
I have 3 different varieties, and like yours one is a beautiful red right now, they are in pots by the back door.

i was thinking of either keeping them in their pots and just placing htem in their new location, or my other half said he'll build me a raised bed for them.

[Croila]

thanks jackie
they are
I have 3 different varieties, and like yours one is a beautiful red right now, they are in pots by the back door.

i was thinking of either keeping them in their pots and just placing htem in their new location, or my other half said he'll build me a raised bed for them.

Hello, I wonder if you could possibly tell me the sizes of pots you're using, and also how big/old your blueberry plants are, please?

I've just received three (different varieties) of blueberry plants, I got them on offer at Suttons. I've never grown fruit before and am wondering what size of pots to put them in? I know they need ericacious compost, is all! My three blueberry plants are all between 1.5 and 2 feet high ...

Any advice would be hugely appreciated, thank you