The object of a successful vegetable garden is to eat the fruits of your labor. Anybody can garden like the pros and enjoy a huge harvest of tasty, fresh, nutritious vegetables throughout the year if they know the essentials of successful gardening. One of the most important factors is having a good location. A good location is one that receives direct sunlight all, or most of the day.
Sunlight provides the energy plants need to grow. Ideally, sunlight must not be obstructed at any time of the day. However, this is not always practical. Your property may be small or for some reason your garden needs to be close to the house or a large tree that you don't want to cut down.
If this is the case, choose a location south of the high objects if you live in the Northern Hemisphere. Or choose a location north of the high objects if you live in the Southern Hemisphere,
This way, high objects will not obstruct direct sunlight to any part of the garden at any time of the day.
If the site you choose for your garden is east or west of nearby high objects, you still can grow vegetables successfully. Determine which areas get more sunlight and which areas get less sunlight
during the course of the day. The shade from high objects moves continuously during the day, because of the earths rotation.
Once you begin to move beyond basic background information, you begin to realize that there is more to gardening than you might have first thought.
Plant the fruit-bearing vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes and eggplants in the areas that get at least 8 hours of direct sunlight daily. Plant leafy vegetables such as lettuce and spinach in the areas that get at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. Plant root crops such as potatoes, beets, and carrots in areas that get at least 7 hours of direct sunlight per day.
Place your garden at a respectable distance from large trees. In addition to obstructing direct sunlight, large trees deprive nearby vegetable plants of water and nutrients. This is because tree roots have a far greater reach compared to vegetable plant roots and, therefore, have more capacity to absorb the soils nutrients and water.
If you cannot locate your garden a reasonable distance from large trees, give the area that lies on top of tree roots extra fertilizers and water and raise the level of the ground over the tree roots by adding topsoil. This extra soil will provide the vegetable plant roots with a growing depth free of tree roots. If the trees are of the kind that develop shallow roots, like maples and cottonwood, you will have to add more topsoil every couple of years.
Most people position their garden in the backyard. In houses that have a small backyard, the garden may be positioned in the front. The surface of the ground should be flat or have a gentle slope. A gentle slope facing south (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere) increases the intensity of sunlight. This is more desirable for tender vegetables because they thrive in hot weather.
A gentle slope facing north (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere) reduces the intensity of sunlight. This is more desirable for hardy vegetables, because they thrive in cool weather.
If the surface is too steep, water from rain and irrigation will run off too quickly instead of seeping through the soil. Moreover, heavy rain will wash away the topsoil and the valuable nutrients
it contains. To absorb more rain and reduce soil wash, plant the rows across the slope. If your area is windy, you may have to plant some high shrubs around the garden. The shrubs should be about 15 feet from the boundary of the garden in order to prevent their roots from absorbing the nutrients the vegetable plants need.
For more gardening tips visit: http://www.windycreekgardens.com
Leslie Gibbon. http://www.lesliegibbon.com
