CHESTER, Vt. – Don’t let a rainy day get you down; plan a garden. Good vegetable garden designs maximize space and accessibility. Traditional planting in rows is probably the most familiar garden design and works quite well. Prepare your beds, follow the instructions on the seed packet for sowing, and you’re good to go.
Take care to learn which vegetables are best grown away from each other and which ones make good companions, and rotate the vegetables from one season to the next to avoid nutrient depletion. Common companions are marigolds planted near tomatoes or kale, for example, which assist in pest control. You might include “cutting” flowers in the vegetable garden too. Zinnias are a favorite in the Chester Community Garden, adding a profusion of fiesta-like colors that make easy arrangements. Sunflowers, another favorite, attract pollinators like bees and butterflies, and can provide protection from intense afternoon sun for shade-loving crops like lettuce, spinach, and basil in hot weather. Plus, flowers are just good for the soul.
The Three Sisters way of gardening is another method used in the Chester Community Garden. It is original to indigenous peoples in the northeast and is very specific. It consists of corn, pole beans, and squash. The corn is planted first, providing the “pole” for the beans to climb, and squash is planted around the outer edge. The large squash leaves shade the ground, help retain moisture, and cut down on weed growth.
The square-foot gardening method, developed by Mel Bartholomew, is designed to maximize yields in minimal space while minimizing labor. It’s a highly efficient, intensive planting method that divides 4-by-4-foot raised beds into 1-by-1-foot squares for optimized yields. The design spells out how many plants or seeds go in each square for best results. If planning multiple beds close to each other, it’s good to create a path between the beds. Stone or salvaged brick are aesthetically pleasing options, or you can just use straw. Avoid using hay in paths, as it’s loaded with weed seeds. Square-foot gardening is a great garden design if your space is limited.
Vertical gardening utilizes A-frame trellises built with bamboo poles and string or sheep fencing to form a hoop arbor. Vining crops like pole beans, cucumbers, and squash grow upward, freeing ground space and improving air circulation. A trellis is great for connecting two plots; they not only create easy access to harvest vegetables as they ripen, but their height creates an eye-catching feature in the garden.
Raised beds allow for perfect soil control and easy access. Ideal designs often use 4-foot-wide beds built of wood. But container-type raised beds can be all shapes and sizes, made of wood or metal enclosures that hold the soil. You may have seen round strawberry beds created in tiers like a wedding cake. Raised wooden structures can allow for standing access, or can be U-shaped for wheelchair accessibility in the center of the U. Raised beds are not always planted inside of a structure; they can be created by just elevating rows of soil. Raised plots or rows are a good design option if your garden area is particularly wet.
Find a spot in your garden for a small, leafy fruit tree. Tall sunflowers can provide shade on a hot day for the gardener. Put out a couple of bistro chairs and a small table for when you need a lunch break or a visit with another gardener. Make a tepee out of small branches for pole beans, and the kiddos have a fun shady hiding place, too. The Chester Community Garden has a few plots available for anyone who lives or works in the community. They also have raised-bed options for standing or wheelchair access. For more information, visit www.chestercommunitygreenhouseandgardens.org, and happy garden planning.