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smc0904

Best location for garden

SMC0904
9 years ago

We will be building our new home in the next few months and am wondering the best location for a garden would be. We have a garden now but i would say we have a basic knowledge. Normally we grow tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, blackberries, strawberries, zucchinis and some herbs. I'm just wondering where on my new property would be best to start a garden. Please see picure for a rough idea of our lot plan. We live in zone 6 if that helps.

Comments (4)

  • NHBabs z4b-5a NH
    9 years ago

    For the plants listed you want as much sun as possible. Since I don't know what is on the south side of your property or how tall your house will be to throw a shadow, I can't tell you exactly where on your plot that will be. But watch the sun starting about now and through the fall to see the range of where the shadows fall that might make your garden less productive.

    I also find that I have tree roots traveling quite a distance to my garden, more than 15 feet from the drip line of the trees, so keep that in mind as well.

  • gardenweed_z6a
    9 years ago

    You've taken a first good step by identifying your garden's orientation with the compass & drawing in the measurements and structures. Other things to add are the locations of existing trees, shrubs, garden beds, boulders, driveway, paths/walkways, slopes, fences, if any. If none of that is relevant, you're good to go once you know the sun/shade patterns.

    Garden design books generally recommend doing a shade study on or about June 21, the summer solstice, by noting where there's sun vs. shade between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. That will tell you where your vegetable garden will get the maximum hours of sun during the growing season. In my case it let me know where to plant shade perennials vs. sun perennials and kept me from making mistakes when designing my garden beds.

    Unlike nhbabs, I give thanks there aren't any tree roots to contend with or interfere with my garden design.

  • prairiemoon2 z6b MA
    9 years ago

    I agree, you are doing great to be thinking about where to put the garden and making a map, but in my experience, the only way I was able to determine where to grow vegetables and fruit and any plant actually, was to do a study of where the sun and shade were and map that. I watched my garden for three sunny days and set the timer for every 30minutes and went out and observed which areas had full sun or full shade or dappled shade, etc. So now I know where to put plants that need the most sun, etc. It was time consuming but really worth it.

    As Gardenweed points out, sun/shade patterns are going to be different in June than they would be in April and September, so keep that in mind. Tomatoes and cucumbers need a lot of sun in June, July and August, but Lettuce will be growing in April and May and that is when you need sun for that particular crop.

  • defrost49
    9 years ago

    A tip that has worked for my herb garden. We have a south facing kitchen porch in the corner of the house. The herb bed goes around the corner so the west side of the bed gets some shade in the morning. Lovage and sorrel and salad burnet are doing great in that part of the bed. It's really nice to snip chives from the porch.

    My two vegetable beds that are beyond the dripline of a maple tree are still bothered by roots. A compost bin that was near trees became filled with roots.

    I have had very good luck growing peppers on the south side of the house. There is crushed stone under the drip edge and then a narrow bed for plants. They benefit from the extra warmth. House is white so there might be reflected light, too.

    Happy gardening!