garden expansion plans - input?

10 years ago

Hello everyone,

I used Excel as graph paper to map out my back yard and where I will put the new beds, as well as close up diagrams of the beds themselves and how I plan to construct them against the back fence. My back yard, from patio to back fence, is only 16 feet, so you can see I don't have much to work with. Right now I have a 12' by 16' area (shaded on diagram) fenced off in the northwest corner where my 'potager' is currently. The beds I plan to add this year are solid green, and the rest of them, which I can hopefully add this fall and next spring, are outlined in green.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73266048@N08/12112237064/

The second picture shows close up diagrams of how I plan to construct the raised beds against the fence. The fence is in 8' sections so I want to build the 2' wide raised beds between each of the fence posts. The 4' tall corner posts that will be 2' from the fence will support the hog panels, which will go in front of the raised beds to keep the dogs out They will be cut in half to make 8' sections. Each panel will lift off when I want to access that bed.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/73266048@N08/12096639355/

There will be more hog panels attached to the existing privacy fence at the back of the raised beds to allow me to trellis my crops, and will give me a framework for suspending shade cloth, row cover, something to protect from hail - whatever the season dictates.

Hope this makes some sort of sense. I'd love any feedback that anyone might have.

Thank you,

Shelley

Here is a link that might be useful: Map of my back yard

This post was edited by canokie on Thu, Jan 23, 14 at 22:52

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Comments (5)

Shelley Smith
Original Author
10 years ago
Here is a link to the close up:

Here is a link that might be useful: Close up of raised bed design

This post was edited by canokie on Thu, Jan 23, 14 at 22:57
nerdish11
10 years ago
Your house is very VERY similar too the look of my house at least from the front view. Where the sidewalk is leading to the front door on the left between the garage and the sidewalk I have an additional garden (hedges). But that's the only difference that I see. Will post pics soon of my house I'm sure you'll agree. I found this one but it doesn't show the whole house
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Shelley Smith
Original Author
10 years ago
Wow- you are right - our houses are almost identical! (You don't live in Valencia do you lol ) Do you grow vegetables in that front bed? Our HOA doesn't allow it but I'm going to try it this year because some vegetables, especially mini peppers and dwarf okra, are as pretty as ornamentals anyway. My house faces south (looks like yours does too maybe?) so that's the best place for a garden, plus my front yard is so much bigger than my back yard, which is practically microscopic. Do you have a garden in your back yard too? Hope its bigger than mine lol! I'm determined to find a way though to grow as much as I possibly can with the house and lot that I have right now. Meanwhile, I'm dreaming about my new house in the country with a HUGE garden :D
nerdish11
10 years ago
I actually live in yukon and no I can't grow vegetables in the front yard. It is a flower bed with 4 baby black diamond crepe myrtles (2 red 2 white). The picture shows 2 Texas star hibicus on the sides and 3 black (actually purple) hybrid hibiscus flowers in front with an incredibly fragrant crinum lily centered. My backyard is microsized as well and no I can't put a garden back there because of my Old English bulldogge. He likes to uproot small trees and hunt gophers that pop holes in the yard. I would like to build a greenhouse to put back there though. I feel the same way about dreaming of a house with more land but what we have here is just right it's a 3 bedroom 2 full bath for just me and my girlfriend. As far as your plans for the expansion looks great on paper to me and I can't wait to see a finished product.
nerdish11
10 years ago
It looks so bare with the gaps in between everything but that whole setup totaled out to be around $250 which was more than I originally intended to spend. This year we are hoping to fill in some of those gaps with daylilys. I would like more attractive fragrant flowers too but I'm not sure what to get.