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How to incorporate a vegetable garden with prairie
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Posted by BeckyLC zone 4 (My Page) on Tue, Oct 19, 04 at 11:35
| We're in a brand new house with a completely empty yard for me to landscape. Our back yard borders on 200' of city-owned land planted with native grasses with a creek in the middle that is part of the city's stormwater drainage system. It is wonderful to see the geese and herons down there. Planting a meadow of native prairie plants seemed much better idea than the standard lawn and shrubs that the neighbors are putting in, at least for the back yard. But, I definitely need a vegetable garden, too. I was wondering if anybody on this forum has both meadow and vegetables and can share what they did, or can direct me to any books that might show pictures of yards with both. The back yard space I have to work with is 100' wide by about 45' deep. Thanks. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: How to incorporate a vegetable garden with prairie
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The key thing in a prairie backyard is to provide adequate pedestrian circulation. I.e., the turf grass lawn serves as ad hoc passage from each part of the yard to every other part. So when you plant to prairie, carve out garden rooms that will be furnished in corners, etc. and leave mowed or mulch or stone (flagstone steppers work well, then when you are wealthy, you can add more to make a flagstone path) paths from each garden room to another with a linkage to the back door. The veg garden becomes one of these garden rooms. If you are a tidy gardener, it can become a thing to look at on the way from the back door to the relaxing seating area at the back corner. If you are not tidy, you can ring it with tall prairie forbs to hide it or you can tuck it on a narrower subtpath off the main path so it is acessible, but not inviting. You are going to attract wildlife and birds with your prairie ecosystem, so you will probably want the garden fenced and gated. If it fits the house and neighborhood, a 3' to 4' white or natural picket fence looks nice, or if you want a more subtle look, a slpit rail fence with a wire mesh fence stapled (nailed) to the inside is a good look for within the prairie. If you are burning to maintain the prairie, don't forget to mow a band around the fence to keep fire away or wet the fence down thoroughly before the burn, and post a guard to smudge out any fire that gets too close to the wooden fence.
You can do one big garden, or you can segregate kinds of plants. One small plot for vining things like gourds, punpkins, another in full sun for beans, tomatoes, etc, and another in part shade for lettuces, spinach, where you can replant for continual salads. One big garden has less perimeter to fence than several small, but it can be fun to walk the path circuit and see the little gardens. Don't forget to dedicate a part of the veg garden to utility - compost, potting, and add a bench for resting or a bistro table and chairs set to read the newspaper or have a mint lemonaid. |
RE: How to incorporate a vegetable garden with prairie
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Oh, my--that sounds gorgeous! Can you recommend any books or references with pictures of such a thing? I don't think I'm creative enough to come up with a design without specific examples. I had planned to have a path somewhat through the middle of the prairie with an arbor at the edge of the city's land as the path continues down to the creek. I've already put an old bench by the creek hoping no one will notice. I'd wondered if it would be ridiculous to put the vegetable garden in the middle of the prairie (on either side of the path) so it would be somewhat hidden but easily accessible. I've already scoped out a spot for the compost piles near the house that can be hidden by bushes.
Becky in Wisconsin |
RE: How to incorporate a vegetable garden with prairie
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| Becky...sure you are creative enough! Don't sell yourself short! It's just a matter of experience! Use stuff like lettuce and kale for border plants. Use tall, indeterminate tomato plants as highlights here and there! And pole beans, too! use bush beans as mid height accents (they have lovely blooms). Use sweet corn plants as trellises for your squash plants. Interplant with native plants. That's what I do in my front yard! April |
RE: How to incorporate a vegetable garden with prairie
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| when mixing food crops with prairie plants think of "square foot gardening" instead of the rows of plants that many people envision as a garden. there is a square foot forum on this website - it has a nice faq section too. |
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