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Water and Drainage
On a sloping site take advantage of microclimates to place crops. Moisture loving crops such as lettuce like damper soils and a part-shaded position. The top of a slope will be both warmer and drier than the bottom, so site for thirsty plants, such as tomatoes and courgettes, lower down.
Light, sandy soils will need frequent watering and feeding as nutrients are leached by fast-draining moisture. These soils warm early in the season allowing planting to ge underway. Heavy soils will be slow to warm, and crops may fail to thrive in wet weather as they become waterlogged. Consider raised-bed gardening in these conditions.
Soil
Weeds just shows that the ground is fertile. Clear them and dig over the topsoil. A green manure can be sown over areas you are not ready for, to keep the weeds down and enrich the soil, or you let the area rest.
 Most vegetables prefer a neutral to alkaline soil. Old-time gardeners always had a bag of lime handy to dust the soil when planting and maintain the slightly alkaline soil. Fruit, however, will prefer a neutral to acid soil and any fruit is better grown together, in their own section of the vegetable garden.
Vegetables take a lot of nutrients from the soil and regular addition of compost and organic matter will replace these, as well as producing the more friable soil suitable for vegetable growing.
Garden Layout
How you lay out your garden should be considered before you start digging.
Traditional Kiwi vegetable garden Lay the garden out as one large cultivated space, with vegetables planted in rows. Vegetables can be planted in a different row space each year for crop rotation. The big advantages here are that you can easily work the garden with a rotary hoe and you can align the rows north-south for maximum sunlight.
Potager There has been a resurgence of interest in 'potager' gardening. The modern potager is decorative, generally laid out around a centre of some kind, with four beds, or a more elaborate pattern, fro the vegetables. Remember that you will need to work in your garden when planning edgings and make room for tools and wheelbarrows.
'No-dig' raised beds Produce a lot of vegetables from a small space, and reduce digging as the soil does not become compacted and does not require digging over. The soil warms earlier in the season and stays warm longer, extending the growing season. In wet climates and heavy soil, raised beds make a huge benefit in lifting plants above the sodden soil. Raised beds can dry out before a conventional garden and may need more frequent watering, although most do not as the soil contains a high proportion of humus and this helps to retain moisture.
Narrow bed gardens Similar to a traditional garden, a series of narrow beds are made permanently with gravelled or paved paths between. The beds are aligned for north-south for good exposure to the sun. The soil stays light and friable, compost can be added and the beds can be weeded from either side. Beds should not be more than 1.2m (4ft) wide; the other dimensions are a purely personal decision. Crops can be grown in rows or in blocks, but either way all weeding and cultivation can be done without walking on the garden itself.
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A narrow bed system is easy to work | |
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A sun-facing slope, courgettes at the bottom where soils are moist
Traditional
Traditional vegetable gardens use rows for ease of working the soil, some rows may be split for small plantings
Raised or Narrow Bed
Narrow bed systems can be reached across, avoiding compacting the soil. Rows and/or groups of vegetables can be planted
'Potager' style layout
Potagers are decorative, sometimes with low hedges to edge the beds and often with a centrepiece. Planting tends to be in groups or patterns |
A traditional Kiwi vegetable garden
The Potager
The Potager at Barnsley House
A potager is a French kitchen garden that provided most of the vegetable and fruit requirements of a family. Such gardens can be seen all over France, from train windows and over the walls in village streets, potagers are a common sight.
The modern interpretation of a potager is more decorative, a kitchen garden laid out with a centrepiece of some kind, with four corner beds or a more elaborate pattern.
The late Rosemary Verey's potager at Barnsley House was such garden, the narrow paths that wound between densely planted and lavender edged beds looking wonderful. It would, however, have been an absolute nightmare with a wheelbarrow. |
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