Vegetable Garden Guidlines

I hope you can get this going, Robert. Welcome to the Forum. By "recent" Board member, do you mean "new"?

I think your guidelines look great. I haven't lived in a detached home for 10 years, but have a of of previous experience.

Would you permit fending around the gardens to keep out critters? If so, what kind of material, color, height?

Given that many backyards are unfenced, how would you be able to permit gardens, but make them invisible to next door neighbors. Do you think that some residents would not want to see the gardens?

Do you want to add "well tended" and define that? I've known a few folks who really wanted a vegetable garden, but found it to be too much work and the plot ended up looking terrible!

Hi,

I live in California and growing up we did actually have corn in our backyard (single family home). My mother's folks were farmers with tomatoes and cucumbers. Technically, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers are fruit.

I currently have tomatoes, strawberries, passionfruit in my backyard.

I don't think the 36-inch limitation is a good idea. Why not just call a horse a horse? Say no corn mazes.

My tomatoes have grown over 36-inches. In addition, various vines will be over that height. For instance, our passionfruit is growing on a six-foot fence. The people who owned the house before us had grapes. Also, a common suggestion for gardening with children that looks quite attractive is a bean teepee for scarlet runners. Children love it, but your condition of being under 36-inches would be a problem not just for a teepee, but for any beans/peas. Beans, peas, passionfruit and grapes are commonly grown on trellises.

You might also check the height of commercially bought trellis. Most are six to eight feet.

Another common plant that is common over 36-inches is sunflower. They are a good crop because every part can be used.

Will you allow trees/small bushes? I also have a tangerine bush in my backyard. Dwarf-sized fruit trees can be above three feet.

I would put something in about raised beds. When I was learning about community gardening, we were taught raised beds were best for children and elderly. You might want to limit the materials used (one easy suggestion was old tires, but I'm not sure how you'd feel about that). Also a wood frame does deteriorate after a few years and needs to be re-built.

Growing a vegetable/fruit garden is a lot of work. The additional food sources may also attract unwelcome guests: opossums, rabbits, racoons and deer.

I would also advise against a 36" limit, for reasons already mentioned, AND, because if I can't see it from the street, who cares?

Honestly... if I have a 7 foot trellis on my back porch, and it can't be seen from the street, is that a problem?

These are all great suggestions. You might look at what your area considers invasive plants because what is a weed? Some common weeds are edible (purslane, sorrel and dandelions).

In a regular farm, you would have a cover crop which might look to some people like weeds (like clover) but is a natural and easy way to suppress the growth of unwanted plants as well as enrich the soil.

A reason for growing local native plants is to encourage the presence of bees. So there is something known as a bee-friendly garden.

The mention of rain barrels reminded me of another important part of pest control--standing water and mosquito preventive measures.

In California, people could get training for a community garden common grounds project. You might check and see if your state/city has a similar project. Volunteers were trained by local specialists in best practices and sent to community garden projects to schools and senior citizen housing but also home gardens. Here's a link.

I know you are not in California, but I list the link for others who read this and might be in California as well as to give others an idea of where to look locally for similar programs. I went through the training there and you can get plenty of free advice. You can also search under victory gardens.

One thing I thought was funny was my very unpleasant neighbor in a gated community attempted to grow a small row of corn in a shallow (10-inch deep)long rectangular pot. He was also trying string beans. Of course both enterprises failed. The first due to wind pollination required by corn and both because there wasn't enough space of the tap roots to grow. A little education can go a long way.

Corn needs to be grown in a rectangular formation for wind pollination although I suppose if you round the corners of the formation and make a circle that will do was well. Or you can actually do the pollination by hand.

Beans and peas do not need wind pollination. With a container garden, you need to give plenty of room for the roots. The roots will eventually become crowded. Some plants will be okay with the crowding, some varieties will not be happy. A five-gallon size container is recommended.

We had a container garden on our balcony as well but the growth pattern is different once you get them in the ground.

I try to practice organic gardening and companion plant gardening to maximize space usage, deter pests and yet encourage the presence of bees.

Our guidelines are simple. Vegetable gardens are not allowed.