Plan before Planting Vegetable Gardens

In order to maximize your garden space, get the best growing potential out of your soil, as well as take advantage of the sunlight and temperatures in your area you're going to need to plan before planting vegetable gardens.

It's best to take a look at the location for your vegetable garden before you begin planning what type of vegetables you'd like to have. Some areas are going to have more shade than others, while others, may see sunlight all day long. Certain plants are going to do better with a little bit of shade, while others may need that full sun. Most vegetable plants need at least five hours of sunlight in order to grow well, so you need to make sure the trees, fences, and other shading sources are not going to affect the growing vegetables.

You'll also want to take a look at where your water sources are, there's nothing worse than having to pack buckets of water to your garden. You'll need to be close to a hose to make watering easily. You'll also need to make sure that you have the proper soil and drainage. And it's always nice, if it's not too far from your daily routes so you can check for weeds, pests, or wilting.

Now that you know where your planting your garden you can effectively choose those vegetables that are going to do well in that area. Remember, certain plants like a bit of shade, other vegetables like full sun, and of course they all grow at different rates. Plan your vegetable garden so that you can take advantage of those fast-growing plants to shade others. Also, make sure that those same fast-growing plants don't shade those type of vegetables that need full sun.

Now it's time to think about how often your vegetables are going to yield. In other words, you don't want to have to disturb your pumpkins that yield in the fall, by constantly weeding and taking care of your radishes, beets, or spinach that you'll be using throughout the season. You want to be able to access these areas easily so that you can either plant more for a second crop, or at least pull them without disturbing the roots of your other plants.

You might want to do a bit of research as far as companion vegetables. This means that some vegetables are going to enhance the growing of other types of vegetables, and of course, the reverse is true. Potatoes are eminently capable of inhibiting the growth of certain types of squash, and tomatoes. So do bit of research as to what plants enhance each other, and which plants inhibit the growth of others.

By taking a bit of time and planning out your vegetable garden before you begin planting you're going to have a better yield, find it's easier to take care of, and be unable to enjoy planting vegetable gardens on a regular basis.

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