Whether you are a beginner or an experienced hobby gardener: When creating a vegetable garden, you have to consider many points so that you can look forward to a rich harvest as soon as possible. The following article provides instructions as well as many tips and tricks from large self-sufficient to small potted gardens.

When creating a vegetable garden, it is advisable to keep crop rotation in mind

Table of Contents

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  1. the essentials in brief
  2. Creating a vegetable garden for beginners
  3. Create vegetable beds - examples and ideas
  4. frequently asked Questions
  5. When is planting time for vegetables?
  6. Which vegetables and herbs can be cultivated on the balcony?
  7. Which vegetables are suitable for children?
  8. Which plants keep pests away?

    9. the essentials in brief

    • Vegetables need sun to thrive; sunny to semi-sunny locations are therefore ideal
    • You should calculate half an hour of gardening per week per 10 square meters
    • the soil should be loose and rich in nutrients
    • a planting plan is important in order to observe mixed cultivation and crop rotation

    You don't need an ominous "green thumb" to garden successfully. Enthusiasm, affection and attention are enough.

    Creating a vegetable garden for beginners

    Unfortunately, it is not enough to simply dig up a piece of garden and plant vegetables on it; regardless of whether you just want to create a vegetable patch or a large kitchen garden. In order for courgettes, tomatoes and the like to grow well and produce lots of delicious fruit, they need the right conditions for their growth. You can do this by carefully planning your future vegetable garden and choosing the best location. The following chapters will show you how this works and what you need to take into account.

    The following short video also provides great tips for easy creation and planting of vegetable beds:

    youtube

    location

    The gardener primarily understands the term “location” to mean the prevailing light conditions in the space provided for the vegetable patch. A rough distinction is made between:

    • full sun: the sun shines unhindered on the bed for at least six hours a day
    • Sunny: Sunshine duration at least four hours a day
    • sundry: bright, but not directly sunny
    • partial shade: Sunshine duration up to four hours a day, mainly in the morning or in the evening
    • light shady: Bed is temporarily shaded
    • full shade: Beet is permanently in the shade

    Locations that are partially shaded to sunny are ideal for a kitchen garden. Beds in full sun are only suitable for vegetables that need a lot of warmth, such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc., and there is also a risk that the plants in them will dry out quickly, especially on hot days.

    Vegetables need a lot of sun to thrive

    On the other hand, sunny to partially shaded locations offer the best conditions for most vegetables and herbs, especially if the beds are shaded during the hot midday. Light and shady beds, on the other hand, are only suitable for a few useful plants, since the light intensity required for fruit development and ripening is often not achieved here. For this reason, you should never create vegetable beds under trees or similar places.

    Which plants for which location?

    The table below gives you a handy overview of the optimal location for some of the most popular vegetable crops.

    Sunny Half shade to light shade
    eggplants Asian salads (pak choi, mizuna)
    beans Leaf lettuce, pick and cut lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli
    chili Lamb's lettuce
    cucumbers garden cress, kale
    potatoes Garlic, kohlrabi, leek
    melons, carrots Swiss chard and other petiole vegetables (e.g. turnip greens), parsnips
    paprika Sorrel, Spinach
    radish Radish, rhubarb, beetroot, Brussels sprouts rocket
    tomatoes White cabbage and other types of cabbage
    Zucchini, snow peas onions

    size and time requirements

    This point is particularly important and worth considering for garden novices, because the daily workload of a large vegetable garden is often greatly underestimated. Keep in mind that such a garden requires a lot of planning, maintenance and physical effort - and that you accordingly need to have both the necessary fitness and the time for it. Digging up vegetable beds is exhausting, and planting and weeding can quickly make your back ache.

    Therefore, consider

    • What to do with your vegetable garden: Are you planning a self-sufficient garden because you no longer want to buy vegetables from the supermarket or do you just want to grow a few special species? Or even start your own breeding of old vegetable varieties?
    • How much time you can spare: You should plan about half an hour of work per week for every ten square meters of garden. For a kitchen garden of around 400 square meters, this results in a total effort of around 20 hours - which also extends to almost every day of the week, including the weekend.
    • How is your physical fitness: A vegetable garden not only takes time, but also physical effort. If you have problems with your back and/or knees, we recommend raised beds instead of the classic garden beds.

    digression

    How big does a self-sufficient garden have to be?

    If you want to provide your family with fresh vegetables from your own garden, plan at least 20 square meters for each person eating with you. For a family of four, such a kitchen garden should be 80 square meters, not counting the area for fruit trees. If you also want to harvest apples and berries, another 20 square meters of space are required.

    soil condition

    Most plants prefer loose, nutrient-rich soil

    Most crops have medium to high nutrient requirements and therefore prefer humus-rich, nutrient-rich soil. This should also be loose and deep, so that roots and underground vegetables have enough space to grow. Firm, loamy soils, on the other hand, tend to become waterlogged and are therefore less suitable. However, just like lean soil, they can be upgraded with appropriate measures. This includes, for example, creating a drainage system and introducing compost or good topsoil.

    Creating a vegetable garden in the new development area

    Such soil upgrading is of great importance, especially in new development areas, after all, the soil here is heavily compacted by the use of heavy machinery and must be loosened. Sometimes it can also be necessary to remove the upper layers of soil and fill it up with fresh topsoil - the remains of various building materials, especially calcareous ones, are quickly deposited in the soil and disturb the acid-base balance there. Basically, the soil in a vegetable garden should have a pH value that is as neutral to slightly alkaline as possible so that the plants can optimally absorb nutrients and moisture. Also note that some plants do not tolerate lime and only a few species feel comfortable in acidic soil.

    Create beds and paths

    Vegetable plants grow in specially created beds, which are usually rectangular. Narrow paths run between the beds, which ensure access to the overgrown areas - after all, the plants must be cared for and cared for so that you can later look forward to a plentiful harvest. With regard to the size and length of the beds, there are certain guidelines that should make it easier for you to work the areas:

    • Vegetable beds should not be wider than 120 centimeters
    • this makes it easier to take care of and harvest the areas, since you can get anywhere without any problems
    • small people should reduce the bed width again
    • the length of the beds, on the other hand, is entirely up to your own wishes and the available space
    • however, a uniform size for all vegetable beds makes sense
    • this also makes planting planning easier in later years
    • a good bed size is six square meters (1.20 meters wide x 5 meters long)
    • 25 such beds plus paths fit into a 150 square meter vegetable garden

    The paths divide the bed areas evenly into segments, with the side paths remaining quite narrow at around 60 centimeters wide. The main paths should be planned and paved a little wider at around one meter so that you can walk them comfortably with a wheelbarrow, for example.

    tips

    Never plant the vegetables directly against a hedge, because they will not grow well here anyway due to the shadow cast and the competition for water and nutrients. Instead, create a path between the bed and the hedge, also because you have to be able to reach the hedge easily for trimming anyway.

    create a compost bin

    Compost is indispensable for every vegetable garden, after all the plants need a lot of nutrients for their growth and the development of their fruit. With your own compost heap, you provide valuable, biological fertilizer and at the same time feed organic waste back into the natural cycle. A win-win situation for both you and nature. When planning the composting area, the following pointers are useful:

    • not too small: Space for at least three sufficiently large compost bins is necessary
    • easily accessible: Composting place should be easily accessible from the main path
    • shady: it is best to place the composting area in the shade of a large tree so that it does not dry out too quickly during the hot summer months
    • a bit away from the vegetable beds: place the compost on the north side of the kitchen garden so that the containers do not cast shadows on the beds

    Do not seal the bottom of the composting area as earthworms and other soil creatures are essential for breaking down the material and turning it into humus. These penetrate through the soil into the compost.

    irrigation

    Drip irrigation saves labor and water

    Irrigation is essential for the vegetable garden because without an adequate supply of water all plants die. Insufficient irrigation also ensures that the fruits remain small and the harvest is correspondingly meager. If you do not want to constantly carry heavy watering cans, you can lay special irrigation systems in the garden. These are usually connected to the water main (if there is one) and run underground alongside the main pathways. It is best to create the selected system with the beds and paths at the same time to save yourself multiple work.

    Create a planting plan

    In order to make optimal use of the existing bed area throughout the season, you should draw all beds and paths in a plan and determine when and where which vegetables are to be planted or sown. The following tips will help you with this:

    • mixed culture: Do not plant monocultures in the garden, but combine different vegetable plants in one bed. This serves the health of the plants, because pests and pathogens have little chance of spreading. Note, however, that not all plant species get along. Mixed culture tables give you a good overview of who goes together and who doesn't.
    • subsequent culture: The different types of vegetables sometimes grow at very different times. While some ripen at the beginning of the year, others can only be planted in the summer. With a so-called follow-up crop, you can use the vegetable patch all year round, for example by planting spinach and radishes in the spring and then zucchini in the summer. But the same applies here: some plant species do not get along, which is why vegetables from the same plant family must not follow each other.
    • nutritional needs: Divide your beds into three sections in which you cultivate heavy feeders, medium feeders and weak feeders separately and change the beds for each growing season. In this way, the soil does not deplete excessively, but can recover from time to time.

    A practical example of a successful mixed and subsequent culture with Phacelia as green manure can be found in this illustration:

    Creating a vegetable garden - examples and ideas

    No question: Simple, rectangular vegetable beds with side paths and a well-paved main path are easy to plant and care for. This traditional form has proven itself for a long time and is still used today - it is particularly pretty when the individual beds are surrounded by low box hedges, as has always been done in classic cottage gardens. But herbs and low perennials (e.g. lavender, marigolds, marigolds, etc.) are also very suitable for an enclosure.

    If that is too boring for you, you can also create the vegetable beds in a round, oval, triangular or other shape, or use systems such as hill beds, straw beds or layered beds. Modern raised beds or lower box beds, for example, are good and practical, especially for small gardens. Vegetable beds can also be placed in tractor tires and other more unusual enclosures.

    Kitchen garden or mixed beds?

    Nasturtiums, marigolds, marigolds, lavender and other flowers not only look pretty, but also provide the vegetable plants in the kitchen garden with valuable protection: lavender, for example, reliably keeps aphids away, and nasturtium also drives away various common garden pests - and is also a valuable snail attractant. The voracious reptiles like to feast on the bushy growing nasturtium and leave your vegetable plants alone. Also marigolds - the marigold - is an effective distraction food and at the same time keeps flies and even voles away. Therefore, put not only useful plants in your vegetable garden, but also various (supposed) ornamental plants.

    frequently asked Questions

    When is planting time for vegetables?

    If you want to harvest early, you should prefer cold-sensitive plants to warm weather

    When the different types of vegetables are planted or sown depends on various factors. One of the most important is the plants' natural resistance to cold: some plants thrive in early spring or even late autumn, while others are only allowed to go into the bed after the last late frosts. The information on the seed packets or on the labels for purchased young plants provide reliable clues for the best time to plant.

    Which vegetables and herbs can be cultivated on the balcony?

    If you only own a small garden or even just a balcony or a terrace, you still don't have to do without your own garden. Almost all vegetables and herbs can be grown in tubs, pots, boxes and other containers, but they require a lot of attention. Regular watering and fertilizing is immensely important because the plants cannot take care of themselves. Difficult - but not impossible - can therefore be the cultivation of water-intensive and very large vegetables such as zucchini.

    Which vegetables are suitable for children?

    All fast-growing sweet vegetables such as radishes, carrots, mangetout, etc. are very suitable for children, as the little ones have quick success with them and can eat the harvested vegetables right on the spot.

    Which plants keep pests away?

    Not only some flowers such as marigolds, nasturtiums and co. keep pests away from the vegetable patch, allium plants such as onions, garlic and leeks also have a deterrent effect on uninvited visitors and many pathogens. Note, however, that onions and garlic do not harmonize with some other vegetables and should therefore not be planted together.

    tips

    From the start, write down which types of vegetables you planted in which bed and when. In this way, you will have a better overview and will be able to plan the crop rotation more easily in the years to come.

Category:

Vegetable garden