Creating a high-yield vegetable bed yourself is a worthwhile project for the garden and balcony. After reading this guide, the novice will be familiar with the correct procedure. Tips on the ideal location, the best soil, perfect dimensions and imaginative ideas result in a step-by-step guide. How to properly create your own vegetable patch.

A vegetable patch should be planned sensibly

Table of Contents

Show all
  1. the essentials in brief
  2. Which location?
  3. Which earth?
  4. Shape and dimension tips
  5. Ideas for the first vegetable patch
  6. Step-by-step instructions
  7. What fits together?
  8. When to create?
  9. Create a vegetable bed on the balcony
  10. frequently asked Questions

    11. the essentials in brief

    • the vegetable bed is prepared in autumn, the soil is loosened and compost is worked in
    • When planting in spring, it is essential to ensure the right mixed culture, for example tomatoes and potatoes do not get along
    • A vegetable patch can also be laid out on the balcony, lettuce and strawberries in particular can be grown well in the bucket

    Create a new vegetable patch - which location?

    The sunniest spot in the garden is reserved for the vegetable patch. Many popular plants are among the sun worshipers, such as tomatoes, potatoes or lettuce. Do you only have a spot in the semi-shade? That's no reason to throw in the towel. A colorful array of delicious vegetable plants thrives vigorously and productively in a partially shaded location. Spinach, cauliflower, broccoli or peas are satisfied with a modest 3 hours of daily sunshine.

    tips

    It is advisable to spatially separate fruit and vegetable beds in the garden. Many decades of cultivation experience have proven that vegetables grow poorly under fruit trees and give poor harvests. This does not contradict if berry bushes make themselves useful as a fence, as is traditional in the cottage garden.

    Which soil is suitable? - Soil quality tips

    The secret of success for a productive vegetable patch is the right soil. Rich in nutrients, fresh and moist, well drained and full of life are important criteria. A pH between 6 and 7 is ideal. The perfect potting soil for vegetables consists of these three components:

    • 50 to 70 percent topsoil
    • Compost at 20 to 40 percent
    • Soil additives at 10 to 20 percent

    If there is a lack of topsoil on a new building plot, you can buy the valuable soil from gardening companies or in the recycling center. Ideally, compost comes from your own production. If you are creating a new vegetable bed, you can buy ready-packaged compost soil at a garden center at a reasonable price. The need for soil additives depends on local conditions. Loosen up heavy soil with sand or fine-grained gravel. Sandy soil gets the quality of a vegetable bed from deposited horse manure, bark humus or organically pre-fertilized coconut soil.

    Bed shape tips - length, width, paths

    With the help of strips, vegetable beds can be marked out and laid out straight

    Beginners strive to create a simple vegetable patch in the garden based on tried and tested experience. The focus is on convenient accessibility for effortless planting and care work. For this purpose, we recommend that you, as a garden novice, use a textbook bed shape. Note the following framework conditions for the plan:

    • shape: rectangular
    • length: maximum 500 cm
    • broad: 120 cm
    • vegetable growing: straight lanes in parallel rows
    • path width: main path 60-80 cm, side paths 30-40 cm
    • route: Walkways arranged at right angles to the bed

    With a width of 120 centimetres, you can easily work on your vegetable patch from both sides. Experience has shown that with a length of more than 5 meters many gardeners cannot resist the temptation to climb over the vegetable patch. Young plants under the soles of gardeners' shoes pay for the short cut with their floral life. The different widths for paths are based on the premise that you can maneuver the wheelbarrow at least on the main path.

    If you create a vegetable patch on a slope, please make sure it is diagonally aligned to the mountain so that rainwater and irrigation water do not run off too quickly. For a garden on a steep hillside, it has proven useful in practice to lay out the individual beds as terraced levels. This saves you daring climbs for maintenance work.

    Ideas for the first vegetable patch

    A vegetable bed in Naschgarten quality succeeds in the smallest of spaces. If the space in the garden is not ideal, simply create a small vegetable patch. Radishes, lettuce, peas and strawberries also look great in the mini bed. The following examples and ideas may inspire you to create a tailor-made vegetable patch yourself:

    • round vegetable patch: create in the lawn as a decorative eye-catcher, framed with stones or boxwood
    • modern vegetable patch: use trendy gabions as a raised bed in the front yard
    • Mini vegetable patch: lay out stylishly in a vat on the balcony and terrace or as a highlight in the front garden on the south side

    The organic vegetable patch calls for ideas that emphasize the natural character. A border made of wooden palisades or wicker fence embeds the vegetable patch harmoniously in the natural garden design and at the same time keeps costs low. High-quality natural stone slabs and gravel are suitable as a surface for the paths. The paths can be secured with bark mulch.

    youtube

    Creating a vegetable patch - step-by-step instructions

    Autumn is the best season for soil preparation. Vegetable plants only benefit from mature compost after hard-working soil creatures have taken care of processing it into humus. This process takes several months. It makes sense to create a new vegetable patch in two phases. If you devote yourself to the vegetable patch in September or October, the perfect soil will receive the seeds or young plants in spring. How to proceed correctly step by step:

    First stage - soil preparation in the fall

    Planning and preparation begins in the previous year

    1. Mark the area according to the plan drawing with stretched cords or chalk
    2. Cut off the sod to a depth of 10-15 cm
    3. Dig the soil spade-deep, removing stones and old roots
    4. alternatively, loosen the soil with a digging fork to a depth of 20 cm
    5. Work in 15 to 20 liters of compost per square meter
    6. improve the soil quality with sand, humus or coconut fibers if necessary
    7. Smooth the surface with a rake or rake

    After preparing the soil, devote yourself to the border of the bed. Fall is the best time to plant a small boxwood hedge, an alternative to boxwood or perennials for a border.

    Second stage - sowing and planting in the spring

    1. From April onwards, rake, weed and level the thawed soil with a rake
    2. Lay out wooden grates or Euro pallets (€29.99) as stepping aids
    3. If necessary, install climbing aids and plant stakes in the vegetable patch
    4. Draw strings as a guide for the correct spacing for sowing and planting
    5. Turn the handle of the digging fork or sow tooth and draw rows of seeds

    See the packaging for the sowing dates for the selected types of vegetables. The correct distance within the seed row can also be read here. When purchasing young plants, please ask for the relevant data. The height at which you cover sown vegetable seeds with soil depends on whether they germinate in the light or in the dark. The rule of thumb for potted young plants is: unpot and plant as deep as before in the seed pot. Water the bed with a fine spray. Finally, cover the area with a protective net.

    tips

    If you plant a new vegetable patch in the garden, do not throw away the cut sod. Heaped up in a small heap in a sheltered garden alcove, the former grass cover is transformed into valuable compost within a few months. Cover the small mound with a breathable compost fleece. Occasional turning provides the necessary air supply so that busy compost worms do not run out of breath.

    What fits together? - Advice on mixed culture

    A good mixed culture reduces the risk of disease and pest infestation

    Mixed culture is the trump card in a private vegetable patch. The question arises what really fits together? Vegetable plants also have sympathies and antipathies. They get along better with some of their own kind than with others. You can take advantage of this fact when you create the plan for a vegetable patch. The following table gives examples of good and bad neighborhoods:

    vegetables good neighbors bad neighbors
    cauliflower French beans, celery, tomatoes Potatoes, cabbage, onions
    bush beans Dill, cucumber, radish, lettuce, tomato Fennel, Runner Beans, Onions
    potatoes Cabbage, Horseradish, Broad Beans, Spinach Chinese cabbage, garlic
    salad Beans, strawberries, cucumbers, cabbage Potatoes, nasturtium, parsley
    tomatoes Parsley, onions, spinach, radishes Potatoes, fennel, peppers
    cabbage Borage, dill, lettuce, celery Garlic, Onions, Chinese Cabbage
    strawberries Borage, carrots, leeks, kohlrabi, chamomile cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes
    onions Cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, savory Leek, radishes, chives

    Peas and cucumbers are an example of an unbeatable dream team in the vegetable patch, because peas are useful as a natural windbreak. The Mayas already associated corn, pumpkin and beans because the plants complement each other perfectly. Corn plants act as climbing aids for beans. These in turn optimize the nitrogen content in the soil for maize and pumpkin. Pumpkin plants serve as ground cover to keep the soil from drying out and to suppress pesky weeds. Familiarize yourself with the simple basic principles of intercropping if you want to create a vegetable patch properly.

    Wildflowers and herbs are included

    Insects are very welcome in the organic vegetable patch and pesticides are frowned upon. Insect-friendly wildflowers are indispensable components in the planting plan. Bright examples are columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) and daisies (Bellis perennis), which attract busy bees, bumblebees and butterflies as a blooming nectar buffet. Dabbed marigolds serve as a natural pest deterrent.

    A small vegetable patch becomes a miniature kitchen garden when you create a combination of herb and vegetable patches. Incorporate small herb species into the plan, such as bob basil (Ocimum basilicum var Minimum), cushion thyme (Thymus praecox var. pseudolanuginosus) or 'Little Lottie' lavender (Lavandula angustifolia). Parsley and chives are recommended as a decorative bed border because they bloom beautifully.

    digression

    Create a vegetable bed without digging

    Digging turns into a sweaty feat of strength when you create a vegetable patch in the lawn or in a meadow. You can save yourself the laborious task of removing and digging up a deeply rooted turf. Instead, cover the floor with thick, unprinted cardboard, secured at the corners with wooden pegs. Spread a 15 centimeter thick layer of compost on the cardboard. The grass will die off within a few weeks. Soil creatures do not miss this opportunity, devour the remains including the soggy cardboard and settle in the compost soil. Permaculture enthusiasts favor this gentle form of soil preparation when starting a new vegetable patch.

    When is the best time of year?

    In the fall, the soil is prepared

    Autumn is the best time of year for soil work if you are starting a new vegetable patch. By the time the sowing and planting season begins in spring, the soil has settled and compost has done its job as a soil conditioner. From April, the first vegetable seeds can be planted in the ground, provided the ground has thawed. By mid-May, the danger of late night frosts is over, so you can plant out early young plants.

    If you don't want to leave your vegetable patch lying fallow in winter, you can plant winter vegetables rich in vitamins in summer and autumn. Green cabbage planted in June enriches the winter menu with healthy vegetables. August and September is the time to plant savoy cabbage, spinach or radishes. Fast-growing lamb's lettuce thrives quickly under the warm autumn sun and provides aromatic leaves until the first frost.

    Balcony gardeners create a mini vegetable patch in May and June. At this time of year, the shelves in the garden center are full to the brim, so that the right young plants are available for every planting plan.

    Create a vegetable bed on the balcony - this is how it works

    Balcony gardeners can create a mini vegetable bed in any standard flower box (€16.99) or large tub. The following instructions explain step-by-step how a large vat can be transformed into a miniature organic vegetable patch:

    Shopping List

    • 1 tub with bottom opening and 70 liter capacity
    • 20-25 liters expanded clay (19.73€) (alternatively potsherds)
    • 70 liters of organic vegetable soil
    • round piece of garden fleece (to suit the shape of the soil)

    Create a vegetable bed in the vat - instructions

    1. Set up the planter in a sunny to partially shaded location
    2. Cover the ground with expanded clay or pottery shards for drainage
    3. Cut garden fleece and place over the drainage
    4. Fill in the substrate up to 2 cm below the edge
    5. Plant seedlings in rows spaced appropriately for the species
    6. Press down the soil lightly and water

    If, as a beginner, you create a vegetable bed on the balcony, your focus is on easy-care species that are good-naturedly forgiving of one or two mistakes. Make a note of this starting lineup for the planting plan: radishes, lettuce, carrots, mini cucumbers, cocktail tomatoes, mangetout and strawberries. The balcony railing or a wall trellis serves as a climbing aid.

    A vegetable garden can also be created on the balcony

    The biggest enemy of healthy quality in the vegetable patch is haste in the form of pesticides and fertilizers.

    frequently asked Questions

    We would like to create a vegetable patch for beginners. Are there types of vegetables with guaranteed success that cost little?

    The first vegetable bed becomes a cost trap if the plants do not grow and die. Include easy-care, vigorous species in the planting plan if you create a vegetable bed for beginners. These include: radishes, lettuce, zucchini, beetroot, garlic, carrots and most herbs. Investing in seeds or young plants hardly makes a difference. Care is limited to watering when it is dry and fertilizing with compost.

    What do we have to pay attention to when we create a vegetable patch in the kindergarten?

    Fast-growing, easy-care plants with a short ripening period are the focus when you create a vegetable bed with children. Ideally, the little gardeners should be able to harvest themselves and eat the fruit right away. Radishes, carrots, cucumbers and mangetout are highly recommended. Our tip: As a special motivation, apply as a kindergarten to participate in the “Vegetable beds for kids” project at the Edeka Foundation. Since 2008, the foundation has been helping preschool children grow vegetables in a self-cultivated raised bed.

    Creating a vegetable bed in permaculture. How does it work?

    The perfect permaculture aims for an uninterrupted crop rotation. Using natural resources and resources, perennial vegetable plants are socialized for a permanent cycle of growth, harvest and propagation. The supporting pillars are a planting plan in mixed culture and the complete avoidance of pesticides. A combination of shallow and deep rooters, strong and weak feeders, including typical autumn and winter vegetables reigns supreme. In short, all the rules for an organic vegetable patch also flow into permaculture.

    tips

    Growing vegetables in raised beds promises back-friendly gardening at table height. Obi's online configurator provides excellent support for planning and implementation. Comprehensible instructions explain how to build a raised bed yourself, fill it correctly and plant it professionally. Special advantage: You always have an overview of the costs incurred.

Category:

Vegetable garden