You top criteria should be sun exposure. How many hours of sun does the trampoline get?

Well the trampoline is not growing very well. But it gets pretty much full sun. I think about 1/4 of the right side got a little early afternoon shade.
tammy

Then that's probably the optimum location. You don't want to go to all the trouble of creating a garden with a fence and arbor to find out that things won't grow properly because it doesn't get enough sun.

I have one bed in my potager that gets much less sun than the other five. So I've had to adjust the way I use it. No way could I grow tomatoes (in it) or anything that requires 6-8 hours of full sun.

Don't leave out the option to grow a living fence, although it takes a lot of years to establsh. You can take the metal fence down and use for something else like a pet rabbit. Seeds are cheap and the hedges have been very reliable. The formal look might please the hubby more than a wire fence.

{{gwi:1151741}}

scarletdaisies, that is a beautiful pic, but I dont see hubby trimming anything extensive. he is complaining he is going to pull out our 4-5 front shrubs because he hates trimming them.
tammy

Sorry to make the page so big. I hate that and it throws the rest of the posts off. I would have put a smaller one if I had known.

I'm doing a potager thing that my family would like to see get a lot smaller. I'm doing 40x40 this year, but no permanent spot, even though it's in the same spot.

I want to grow hedges, and have permission from the house to do it. They think it will look neat. I think the trick is to buy one that doesn't grow taller than 8 feet. It will block sunlight from some of the garden though.

Your pretty front beds made in cinderblock would make a nice potager. Maybe you can do the same on top by edging the yard in a long potager instead of a square potager in teh middle of the yard. Potagers can grow close to a house, but not next to wood because it will invite termites.

You can also do a the wheel potager. Those are popular and are the same shape as the trampoline, so it wouldn't change the look too much.

You have a nice big yard, maybe moving the swing over? It's probably permanently fixed, so maybe not.

I initally planned one about 29 feet long, with four 4x8 beds, but I compromised with my husband on a smaller one with only 3 of these and the perimeter beds.I am afraid with everything being on a hill, the hedges would block a lot of light.
I did think about putting tomatoes in that tiered bed, buts it's too awkward getting in there. That bed borders my back yard. We grated the yard back from the house and levels things out more, to give us more usable space back there. The dirst did come right up on the house and everything went uphill from there.
Tammy

Tammy- Do you have a picture of your new plan? It might help to envision how it will look in your space. Was the old plan going to be in the same spot?

I think an arbor and fence would look very nice. I'm just wondering if your dimensions are right...three 4' x 8' beds with a perimeter bed...in 14' x 15'? Are your paths still 3' wide?

You have a beautiful yard and I think the potager will make it look even nicer :)

lavender_lass, I have fibromyalgia and cant count on my calculations of anything,lol. I figured out I had made a big mistake in size about a week later. I am planning three 4x8 beds, facing the back of the house with an inside perimeter bed around three sides. The side facing the house will have an arbor. The old plan I had posted was the same spot, them my husband talked me into making it smaller and tried to convince me to move it next to the woods, but I think we have ended almost back to where I started.

I have had fibro since 95, and it really effects my thinking sometimes, not to mention pain and fatigue. I tried to buy a bag of ice last summer and the clerk said it was "whatever amount", and I counted out soem change and handed it to her, and she said it wasnt right. I tried that 2 more times, and finally had to just hand her the change and say "here you figure it out". Talk about feeling stupid! And I was a nurse who graduated among the top of my class, A's and B's in math in high school. So I really used to be intelligent,lol.
Tammy

The trampoline spot would be lovely. You can make it an extension of your landscape by having a path lead to it. If anything, it will be an enhancement to your lovely yard as it will lead the eye even further out. Plant some low maintenance perennials around the fence and it will look fabulous.

With your fibro, I would say that it would be a big plus to have irrigation in place too since you are at the installation phase. I feel your pain on the placement. The placement of mine has done a complete 360 degree arc around the house and is now going to be right back where we had started. We have fence posts in (and those will not be moving), the arbor is up but we are still very much negotiating the design of the beds inside. Good luck!

Tammy- No worries, I just thought maybe you left out a bed when you were counting out the squares...I've done that before! Sorry to hear about your fibromyalgia but I'm glad it doesn't interfere too much with your gardening, at least I hope not.

You have a beautiful plan for your potager...I love the four beds, but three will look nice too. The arch is going to be beautiful. Are you still going to put morning glories? I'm going to put some on an arbor over a little seating area, but I might put some clematis over the entry gate. The more I look at my beds, I think some perennials like asparagus in one bed and maybe strawberries in another might be easier. I do need to keep at least one big bed for tomatoes :)

I am planning on morning glory. I think i have some heavenly blue. i also have a pink clematis I got bareroot from walmart. The fibro does interfere with a lot of things. I just have to take it day by day. I think thats what frustrates my husband somewhat. I have big ideas, but have trouble keeping up with them, and he freq has to pick up the slack. Like right now my terraced bed it desperately needing its spring clean up and a major weeding.My 21 yo daughter actually volunteered today to help on her day off. She is into plants too.
I was planning on 3 feet walks, but by trying to bring down the size, I may end up with 2.5. I am goignt o work on that more this weekend.
Tammy

Hooray! We finally got started today on the beds. I have them moved out to where the trampoline was. It is the three beds with a 2 foot wide bed around 3 sides. I didnt want to bring it down any closer to the house than that. We have the 3 beds framed, and 4 posts set. Trying to level as we go. It wont be perfect. I will post some pics soon.
Tammy

Congratulations! I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures. You've spent so much time planning everything, I'm sure you're going to be very happy with your potager :)

Yay! Can't wait to see pics! I am sure it's going to be yet another beautiful dimension in your lovely landscape.

I dont know how to add a pic here that was posted in my blog, but below is the link to updated pics. We have finally gotten started. Not much to look at yet. Its probably something that will keep evolving.
tammy

Here is a link that might be useful: My potager