Vegetable garden layout for best use of the available area

Vegetable garden layout influences how effectively you can make use of the open garden area at hand. The shape of the garden, direction of rows and whether or not to hill the beds are just some of the things to consider.

Perhaps the most important thing is the direction the planting rows run. If you are gardening on a slope, it is usually best to orient planting rows across the slop - parallel with contour lines. However, on more level ground a north-south orientation is preferred. This way plants shade each other less and so the rows can be a bit closer together, making better use of the available space.

Another important consideration for vegetable garden layout is the dimensions of the beds - especially the width. Again this relates to better utilization of space. The aim is to reduce the number of walkways through the garden.

The size of beds is especially important with raised beds, so you can easily reach across without having to climb all over them.

In general, if you stand at the end of the bed, it should be no more than one full arm-spread wide. That is, the distance from fingertip to fingertip with your arms outstretched. This way, you should have no trouble reaching the middle of the bed without bending and stooping.

A vegetable garden layout using raised beds also has the advantage of making the process of crop rotation much easier, as you can easily organize yourself to have one crop type per bed at any one time.

Of course, this is even easier if you also give some thought to the length of the beds. After all, you are growing to supply your own family - not farming commercially - so you will only want to plant just so much of any one crop. Again, a general rule of thumb is that double rows (one arm-spread width should be enough for three or even four rows of many vegetable types) of 6 to 8 meters (roughly 20 to 30 feet) is usually enough to supply for the needs (for one vegetable) of a family of five.

Actually, the biggest problem with vegetable garden layout is including all the tips and tricks that gardens have developed over the years. By far the best source of information I have found is a book called Fresh Food from Small Spaces: The Square-Inch Gardener's Guide to Year-Round Growing, Fermenting, and Sprouting. This is ideal for both beginners and experienced gardeners who are trying to make the most of limited space. It is one of those references you will find you keep coming back to year after year.