i agree with all Yard's comments :-) I would also add that an 8'x10' shed is going to make a huge presence in that small backyard - fitting in both that and a vegetable garden while still maintaining a lawn/play area for your little one is going to be tricky.

Can you also let us know where you are located and a rough compass alignment? You need a lot of sun for a successful veg garden and that will limit its placement

Great feedback Yardvaark, thank you!

The
East half of the deck is a pergola with a railing. It steps down to the West
half of the deck, which is bordered by built-in bench seating. I’ve added the
step (it’s just one step) onto this drawing, as well as the gate on the West
side of the property. There is a cement block sidewalk that comes from the
front yard and wraps around the deck, all the way to the East side where it
ends in the river rock that borders that side of the house. That is where the garden
hose connection is, but not much else.

Having
space for my daughter to play in and to grow food is my primary interest. I’m
not sure what square footage would be necessary for turf, but as much as
possible to give her and us room to run about and play. I live a couple blocks
from a great big school field, so when she gets older and wants to play a more
boisterous sport she can go there. While she’s a little child though, it would
be nice to have her play safely in the backyard.

Ornamental
landscape is a secondary concern to me, albeit an important one. The 3 tall
trees (tower poplars) and the spruce will provide reasonable privacy from my
backyard neighbours, though I would like some more plants to fill the space and
make it look flush with growth. My North neighbours are the only property I
specifically want to screen, as they look directly into my yard from their
shallow property. The East and West neighbours are respectful of my privacy,
though additional plantings to increase privacy or as ornamental additions is
welcome.

I would like at least 32 square feet of vegetable gardening space, whether that’s
in one 4x8 raised bed or two 4x4 beds. Ideally I would like two 4x8 beds (64 SF)
but I realize that’s not necessarily possible. Up to 100SF of garden would be
great.

I
used the wrong term for the wall, I’m sorry. I suppose it’s a low freestanding
wall, like you said, and I don’t like it. I agree 100% that it looks artificial
and not all that nice. The grade is higher by about 9”, though most of that is
dry dirt with no plants in it at the moment. I will be spreading mulch this
year over the ornamental part of the garden because it is SO DRY back there, as
well as to keep weeds down etc, which will raise the grade to about 1’. I would
LOVE a low mowing strip and would be happy to use those bricks or some other
ones to put one in.

Spruce
trees will inevitable get too large and bottom branches will need to be
removed. I’m ok with that. On the other hand, this one is a compact variety
with a mature spread of only 12’ and a height of 40’. What I definitely want is
evergreen, and being in a zone 3 is restrictive, as you can imagine.

The
shed is not pretty haha, but it’s not an awful eyesore. It is the same colours
as my house (white with dark brown trim), but it’s still an aluminum shed. It’s
6.5’ tall at the peak. I believe the NE corner is the best place for it, and
leaving the space for a utility/compost are etc. would be ideal. But which way
to face the doors? It is 8x10 and opens from sliding doors in the center of the
10’ side. If the doors could face
West then perhaps I could put up a trellis for vegetables on the 8’/South side
of it, which would screen the shed somewhat and add interest.

Thank
you so much for your feedback. I’m looking forward to hearing from you again!

Hi Gardengal48,

The shed is huge. I know. There's nothing I can do about it though :(

The whole yard gets full sun (8+ hours) with the exception of the deck, as it's shaded by the house quite early in the day, and the fence-line.

The backyard faces North.

Here's a link to where I am.
https://goo.gl/maps/CKMbNX4aTPA2

I agree with gardengal. Unless someone is going to live in the shed, either return it or find a way to scale it down. Is it possible to use space under the deck for some of your storage?

Hi Kiminpl,

Unfortunately the deck was given to us as a gift (brand new in the box) last year. There's no way to return it. The West side of the deck is the highest off the ground, at about 18". Storing anything underneath it could potentially be done... but we're kinda stuck with that shed so why bother?

Then sell it :-) Advertise in craigslist or ebay or whatever. Or give it away. If you don't absolutely need it, don't use it. It's going to consume a lot of usable space in the garden that could be put to a better purpose. Plus, aluminum sheds are an eyesore, no matter how well constructed they are and are best located in an out of the way, not very visible location, which you just don't have available.

If you keep the shed , turn it into a She Shed. Google images the term.

I called the store it was purchased at at i could *maybe* exchange it for a different shed, at management's discretion, as it's still in the box. I do absolutely need a shed back there though because I have limited storage in the house. I need to store camping gear, the lawn mower, sports equipment, gardening and landscaping tools.

She sheds look nice, but I don't want one, thank you. I have a gigantic deck, half of which is covered in vines and is very beautiful.

You guys is crazy! As soon as one starts using the inside of a shed ... they shrink to 25% of size. I would look at it as another design opportunity. Make a cute "foundation" planting around it. No end of possibilities to add special plants until the shed can barely be seen. And to to break rules like can't ordinarily be done in front of the house. What the heck ... busy it up!

Here's one quick stab at a basic organization. What is marked "veggie" and "landscape" areas are vague insofar as where one stops and one starts. Each type can wax and wane over time to suit what the owner wants to plant.

Jessica, you might have specific reasons for wanting the raised planters for veggies, but if not, it would be easier to plant directly in the ground. Gives you more space for vegetables until your landscape development progresses.

What is the vine on the pergola?

Thanks Yardvaark!

Haha sheds go from having a ton of space to none at all so quickly in my opinion too! Thanks for looking at it as a "design opportunity" instead of something that can't be worked into my yard. Here's a stock photo of what it looks like. Not the worst -- just a shed -- but we can work with it.

I LOVE your ideas! I've mocked up another drawing based on your suggestions. I'm going to keep the lawn area as large as possible, so I made the ornamental & veggie planting areas smaller (I can expand it down the road). I'll need to put something on ground level, such as pea gravel or something... at the front of the garden shed, the utility area and around the vegetable beds. I want to use raised beds for a vegetable garden for several reason:

-the topsoil is only 4" thick, after ripping out the remaining sod in that area I'd have to do a lot of amendments

-the roots from the poplars are EVERYWHERE and such a pain in the butt

-in that specific area was a huge Saskatoon bush and raspberries which I took down last summer. It has an extensive and hard root system and I was hoping to let it rot out rather than to have it removed.

-I hear good things about raised beds for vegetables, as well as square foot gardening methods.

I'm also thinking about using the fence line behind the cherry tree to espalier an apple, and the fence behind the spruce for a climbing rose, maybe.

The vine on the pergola is a hops (like thehops found in beer) :) It has leaves as big as my hands and man can it grow! By mid spring it's growing a meter or two a day!

I would not use gravel as a general ground surface. Use mulch where you will need to walk but don't want to plant. If you use gravel, it's not only heavy to place in the first place, but it makes altering the scheme in the future potentially more difficult.

Suppose you wanted to travel to dead northeast of where you were. The way roads are generally built (in a grid system) you might travel north, then east, then north, then east, and so on until you finally reach your destination. But you would be ticked off if you had to drive north, then east, then south, then west, then north, etc, in order to get to the same place! It would involve a lot of extra driving and seem to defy the rules of economy of motion. By the same token, when you're creating a bed line in a landscape, keep in mind that the line represents one edge of a broad path (the lawn). Unless you are specifically creating a special artistic effect, it seems odd and is usually less attractive to have a bed line that meanders and loops without specific purpose. They can add a "busy" quality. Try to stick with a line that does not seem to return you, even if momentarily, to the direction from whence you came. In other words, avoid a looping, wiggly bed line. :-) The other thing is, wherever that line meets another line (a walk, drive, fence, wall, etc. it should meet it at a 90* angle. (There are exceptions but I don't now want to complicate or confuse the point.) It will look much cleaner and behave better. I can't imagine that you'd want to maintain pointy wedges of grass tucked in next to the fence, either. Too, I don't think you'll want to have grass between the back fence and the shed. It's too confined an area. The absolute minimum distance between those objects should be 4' if you expect to use it as utility space. And that is tight.

I would not have the raised planter immediately next to the shed. I'd put 4' min. there, too.

Don't be afraid to explore additional bed layouts, too, just in case you can come up with simplification and improvements to the geometry.

I'll need to put something on ground level, such as pea gravel or something.

NOT PEA GRAVEL!!!!! You will regret it forever. Use a layer of thick cardboard topped with wood chips (ask a tree trimming company for a load of it) that will last several seasons. then you can take the decomposed wood chips and use them as a soil amendment.

The vegetable area - you don't have to till to plant. Kill the grass and transplant seedlings into that area, digging tiny holes, then mulch heavily with shredded leaves or something that will decompose. Next year do the same ... you can plant all kinds of things, except root vegetables. In a couple of years the area will be easy to plant into.

*************

Tuck a compost bin in the corner behind the shed. It's great for getting rid of kitchen and yard waste. Bushels of leaves and all the old coffee grounds and tea bags and carrot peels end up as an amendment.

http://lazygardens.blogspot.com/2015/05/diy-cheap-compost-bin.html

***************

Here's my "raised beds" ... One was just a mulch retainer, the taller one actually holds my vegetables in a thick layer of home-made compost.

I should have made the tall one narrower. I can't reach the middle :( It will be remodelled soon by hacking a foot or so off the ends, increasing the length, and moving some fill dirt around.

http://lazygardens.blogspot.com/2014/02/cheap-and-lazy-no-tools-needed-raised.html

http://lazygardens.blogspot.com/2016/11/no-tools-needed-tall-raised-beds.html