A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Food Garden Forum Need help with how to plant my garden please.

Had a garden several years ago. It got washed out and what didn't get washed out turned yellow and got bugs. So I obviously don't have a clue what Im doing. So I spent $300 dollars so far on trying to do it again this year. So here is what I got. A long narrow garden with three rows possible. I need to know where to plant the following in my garden.

carrots
pumpkin
tomotoes
watermelon
pepper
corn
strawberry
cantaloupe
sweet potatoe

My garden goes from North to South. Approx. 25 feet long by 4 feet wide. I already have the dirt, weed paper stuff, mulch, and soaker hoses. I just need to know where to plant? I know years ago I had read something about putting corn on one side and not shadowing other things. Im sure you can tell I have no clue what Im talking about. If someone could just tell me how to postion it all in my gardent that would be most helpful.

Hi oknewby,,,,Yikes I attempted to write this all out and it just became overwhelming. One of my favorite books is "Gardening by the square foot". With your area 4 foot wide this may give you the perfect ideas on how to lay out your garden. My library has a copy of this book and I refer to it so often I bought a copy, it wasn't very expensive. Another resource I use is a web site called Campanion Planting. It gives you tips on what grows well next to what. I have a hard time remembering everything on the companion planting...corn doesn't go well with tomatos...carrots go well with tomatos....those types of tips. I know this may not be much help, but it would almost take a book to write all the options you may have!!! I draw out my garden on a piece of graph paper and that helps me to plan the lay-out. Good luck and success with your garden.

thank you! I will look it up.

Here is some info:

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/vegtips.html

http://www.thegardenhelper.com/vegetables.html

Put the corn at the northern most part of the garden so that it doesn't block the sun from the rest of the plants once it grows tall.

Carrots and pepper are OK to be next to corn, but tomatoes are NOT good to be next to corn. Tomatoes are ok to be put next to carrots and peppers, tho. Confused yet?

When I had a large garden, I always planted my tallest plant at the north end and then worked my way to the smaller plants being in the southern end. So, at the very least, I'd probably plant the corn in the north and then put the peppers next, then the tomatoes.

I'm pretty sure watermelon, cantaloupe, and pumpkins are ok with each other, but you should do some research on them....also, they spread out quite a bit, so keep that in mind. I have seen people train watermelon and cantaloupe plants to climb up a strong trellis. You just need to support the fruit when it is growing....panty hose seems to work pretty well for that.

I'm pretty sure strawberries like to be in the sun. I've found really nice plans for a planter for strawberries that is a pyramid shape....it may be better for them than in your main garden? The plans can be found HERE .

I know nothing about sweet potatoes...sorry.

Thank you!

Thanks for that tip on the strawberry pyramid...think I'll have to talk to my DH :wink:

That is pretty.

So quick question. When putting my soaker hose down I had some extra so I looped it at the far north of my garden thinking I could put a plant there that needs more water. Is there anything in the list that I put above that needs more water than the other plants? I need to move the loop now because I need to plant corn there.. and corn doesn't need more water. Does this make sense?

Or I could just make a strawberry bed with the extra bit of hose?

There are a lot of strawberry planters out there. Stacked pots in declining sizes work well, too. Just good soil with regular water and feeding and you should get a nice little crop.

How big of an extra loop? Depending on size, the extra loop may not matter.

I just came across a companion planting guide. It mentioned that corn makes a natural trellis for pumpkins and that the pumpkin helps to smother weeds and helps the corn roots to retain moisture. Thought that was interesting.

I like that idea. We moved and the yards aren't as big so I have to start over this year.

Pumpkins, watermelons, strawberries, and cantelopes need a lot of space so using the corn for a trellis is a good idea. Tube shaped screens can work too for some things.
Corn needs a ton of nitrogen and the carrots and sweet potatoes will need a really loose soil. You can add sand or perlite to help with that.