Adding veggies and flowers to a small backyard
Hello,
I was hoping you all might be able to help with some advice for a small backyard. The yard is located in Washington D.C.. The owner and I were thinking that they would be adding an easy-to-maintain raised bed with some flowers and veggies that small children could help with. Veggies could include anything really (tomatoes, peppers, squash, lettuce, carrots, etc.), though the more kid-planting/tending friendly the better. Annuals might be more fun for the kids to plant, but some perennials wouldn't be out of the question, so long as they're easy and not too delicate. We're open to other suggestions, too, but that's what we had in mind.
Veggie garden people, what's your experience with making mixed beds for veggies and flowers? What works best in terms of tending and harvesting without damaging the flowers? Flowers don't need to be edible, though I'd be wary of things have parts that look edible but aren't.
Main goals:
1) add a raised bed for flowers/veggies
2) keep backyard mostly grassy for kids to play
3) avoid difficult to mow arrangements
4) make it attractive yet functional
Overhead view of the yard:
And a diagram of the space (with dimensions):
The southeast corner is the sunniest spot in the yard, and there are sprinklers set on a timer for the grass.
We'd love any suggestions for where to place the raised bed and how to shape it.
Comments (18)
NHBabs z4b-5a NH
5 years agoBlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
5 years agoRelated Discussions
beginner backyard veggie gardening for dummies??
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Comments (34)This is the organic Gardening thread! Some interesting points have been expressed in the thread. One of the key organic principles is replenishment; of course referring to nutrients and organic matter. The use of cover crops, rotations, intercropping, green manures, recycling refuse and manure to name a few, fill the replenishment options. That certainly does not preclude the organic amendments for deficient nutrients or adjustment of pH. The OP specifically poised the rotation topic. It compels me to ask of those who plant the same plants in the same location, "What do you proclaim to be the cause of pests and disease?" If a plant(s) succumbs to a pest or disease in that location from year to year, do you not think that the origin might be the soil? Rotation is primarily directed at avoidance of direct exposure to pests and disease that exist in the soil. While there is also truth in healthy soil reducing the impact of pests and diseases, moving the host plant to a fresh location reduces the incidence. The continuos presence of the host (as mentioned by Peter) continues the cyles of pests and disease without interruption. By rotating crops you insert a non-host species or one that is antagonistic to that pest or disease (i.e. - marigolds for nematodes). Diversity of planting is also an enhancement, especially for pests and disease. The availability of nutrients is also a factor in the growth rate of the plants; a plant growing too fast or slow suffers stresses which are invitation to pests and diseases. Being in a zone 5 and growing many long season heirlooms I am compelled to start most for transplanting. Timing the starts attempts to have a strong plant able to adapt easily when placed within the suitable growing conditions. Transplants also permit me to properly prepare the beds. For me rotation means having a growing plant or crop in the soil 70-80% of the year. A fall green manure and/or cover crop is part of the plan. Timing of fall sowing may require inter-seeding to permit suitable germination and growth before first frost. Turning under the spring growth prior to transplanting adds nutrients and organic matter which must be given 2-3 weeks for initial decomposition; so not to starve the transplants of nitrogen. Rotation does have a part in the small and medium scale. For my two distance-separated plots totalling nearly 10,000 square feet it is simple to rotate plantings by simply leapfrogging beds. My five year rotation plan shifts each wide (3 feet) bed about 21 feet (including the paths). For nutrient replentishment I strictly limit amendments to compost, composted manure (cattle/horse) and green manure. My soil is tested every three years for comparison. My nutrient management plan is based on improvement versus maintenance. My primary plot is sand which has produced for nearly 40 years. A new plot of silt-loam on a beef farm has been in production for me over five years. My only bad year was 2009 due to very brief summer weather and only about 30% sunny days. I'm sticking to my rotation plan....See MoreLandscaping a small backyard in Houston
Comments (10)Explore the drainage problem by looking OUTSIDE of your own lot lines and get an understanding for how water is supposed to move through the surrounding neighborhood. It travels from one person's yard into and adjacent yard on it's ways downhill. Where does your yard fit in the downhill path relative to your neighbors' yards? When water doesn't drain out of a yard, it's sometimes because its path is blocked by something a neighbor has created. Look outside of your fence and see if that is the case. Where is the drainage problem showing up? Is there a desire for privacy? It looks like one neighbor's house has a looming view of your deck. If I lived there, I would want screening from their back deck and upstairs window. Also in the view are some less than pleasant features ... I would want screening from seeing roofs and bits of neighboring houses that show up in the background. Being as you are in Houston, you could incorporate some tropical flavor into the scene. Hate to say it, but one of the most disconcerting aspects of your back yard is the fence itself. Cheapest way to spruce it up would be paint. Or it could be screened with any length of suspended trellis, but this means working vines into the scheme. I wouldn't bother with lawn grass. By the time you allocate space to some of the nicer things you could grow, there'd be so little room left over for grass, it wouldn't be worth the bother of maintaining it. Check out perennial peanut 'Ecoturf. It blooms for 10 months out of the year where the weather is warm. I have it as a lawn and mow once a year in early spring with a motorless reel mower to tidy up in the Spring. It's low growing and can be walked on so would be perfect for your small space. I'm not intending that you take the picture literally. What It's showing are suggestions for: 1. How to extend the screening height of fencing without smothering the ground floor space with bushiness. 2. Placing the herb garden at the right end, adjoining it to the garden at the side of house. 3. An approximate limit on the number/size of plants that will fit comfortably in the space. 4. A foreground of low growing groundcover ... a lawn substitute. 5. A way to link all the disparate objects with a second, slightly taller groundcover. 6. Instead of hiding the electrical utility box, paint it to your liking and use Plumbago at each side, adjacent to fence. 7. Plant larger sections along the fence with a group of shrubs/perennials or a single specimen of grass, shrub or perennial ... whatever fits without crowding something adjacent. I didn't show it, but single tree location could be a group of Pindo Palms for some tropical flavor. It's one of the shorter feather palms. Pretty cold hardy. Also did not show, but if you want shade for patio consider a small tree placed at the open (right) end. Does Golden trumpet (Tabebuia chrysotricha) grow there? Or for really fast shade, a tight cluster of Papaya (grow from seed.)...See MoreBackyard garden remodel dilemma - roses or veggies in the potager?
Comments (16)Thank you Carol. Wonderful point on the bees. And you're right about roses growing like crazy in my inland area of northern California. I have around 30 in the front yard and they grow so fast... with few problems and very little care even though I don't spray. Although I have to admit that I choose roses that grow well here, will require little care and I do make sure to keep them well ventilated by planting them far apart with just mulch underneath. There is a little planning that goes into it so I guess I can take some credit for that. :) I will stick with my original plan. Organic homegrown veggies in the potager garden and the roses up towards the house and the main patio. Maybe I will just add a few fragrant rose bushes near the potager garden so I can enjoy their beauty while I'm tending to the veggies. I can't wait to see my yard in bloom too!!!! Like any remodel, it has been full of ups and downs, but now the dream is materializing and it is just lovely. :)...See More
digdirt2
5 years agoBlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
5 years agoSo I drew up an idea, if anyone has any suggestions or comments, it would be appreciated.
The idea is that this would be about 3' deep and 8' long (about 1' high bed). The bed was drawn in to scale ... I can't guarantee I kept the plants to scale; they're more approximate. (Examples: The onions are shown more or less in their own space ... they would be more in between other plants. Squash plant likely to take up more room than drawn.)
Close up:
Plants depicted:
Tomato, nasturtium, eggplant, peas/beans,
nasturium, onions, peppers, carrots,
strawberries, squash, onions, beets
Pot: large flower/peony?
Comments:I picked nasturtiums because they're an edible flower, and my mum reminded me that she used to plant them with me and my sister when we were young.
Peas/beans might be able to fit one then the other in the DC growing season, or they'd pick one each year.
I tried to keep in mind plants that do better or worse together: I made sure to keep the beets away from the beans, in case they want to do pole beans, and I made sure to keep the onions away from the peas/beans.
Squash is a general term. I think she's done zucchini, but maybe patty pan or cupcake squash. (I was thinking a small variety ... if they pick something large, they'd probably need to skip something else.)
Ridley Donovan
5 years ago
User
5 years ago
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
5 years ago
Katie S.
5 years ago
albert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoBlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoSo I've done a second version based on discussion with the owner and comments here.
The path/border would be patio pavers, to give somewhere to walk and make it so that they wouldn't have to mow all the way to the bed; it also gives a place for pots. This would be present in the rectangle format, as well.
In this version, the corner is about 2'x2' with a 4' branch along the back fence and a 3' branch coming forward.
I have a number of the same plants in there still, but a few modifications:
tomatoes in the corner, with onions poked in around them
peppers and beans across the back
beets and carrots and radishes in front of them
sugar pumpkin plant in front of the tomato
eggplants surrounded by marigolds on the north end
I added a few more pots to the end of the L; they could be flowers or herbs. I drew bronze fennel, nasturtiums, and tri-color sage. (I had been thinking maybe pineapple sage, but then I put the fennel in the pot by the fence, and I wasn't going to erase it.)
Flowers might get mixed in more, but I'm trying to depict veggie options in small space at the moment ... she may decide she'd like more flowers and less veggie. I think it's also easier to think about replacing a veggie with a flower than the other way around, since veggies tend to have more specific space requirements to be practical.
I love the idea of bulbs for spring interest!
Festiva Maxima, thanks for the feedback on what grows well in the DC area ... being from MA, I'm only sort-of familiar with how well different things will grow there. She did grow some veggies last year, but one year doesn't really make a trend.
digdirt2
5 years agoUser
5 years ago
mad_gallica (z5 Eastern NY)
5 years agoBlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agodefrost49
5 years agodigdirt2
5 years agoBlueberryBundtcake - 6a/5b MA
5 years ago
defrost49