To plant in straight rows or with gay abandon?

                  That is the question.

 

Somehow we seem as a culture, to have gotten it in our heads that a vegetable garden needs to be confined to a plot in the backyard, separate from the rest of the garden, with rows of the same evenly spaced vegetables.

Where did this idea come from and is it the best way to plant vegetables?

The cottage garden on the other hand explores gardening from a different perspective; as a space where there is a jumble of diverse plantings, flowers mingling with vegetables, a mixture of hedges and fruiting trees, climbers scrambling throughout and self-sown seedlings coming up wherever they please.

 

 

 

How did planting in straight rows come about?

 

Traditionally, vegetable farming was done in small rows or blocks, often primarily for consumption on the farm, with the excess sold in nearby towns. Later, farms on the edge of large communities could specialize in vegetable production, with the short distance allowing the farmer to get his produce to market while still fresh. This is similar to the Farmers Markets of today. Then, the development of ripening technologies and refrigeration, reduced the problems with getting produce to market in good condition. Farms could grow large quantities of a few vegetables and sell them in bulk to major markets or middlemen, which requires large growing operations. When growing in large quantities, planting in rows makes it easier to sow seeds and harvest crops using machines so even spacing is important.

 

Is this, however, important to the home vegetable gardener?

Perhaps there are other styles of vegetable gardening that may better suit the home vegetable garden?

 

Planting randomly for example, can confuse the enemy of munching hoards by disguising the vegetables amongst flowers. Flowering plants also attract good bugs and pollinators, such as bees into your garden. If space is at a premium, vegetables can be planted randomly throughout the front garden amongst ornamentals. It still looks attractive and doesn’t scream “this is a vegie garden” to the street! The reality is that some gardens just do not have the space for ordered rows. Sometimes it is necessary to adapt traditional design ideas for unusual or smaller blocks. However, where there is a will there is a way! Remember ‘The Good Life’ on TV years ago? Barbara and Tom Good, removed their front lawn and filled it with vegies, much to Margot Leadbetters disgust!! Grass just isn’t productive unless you happen to be a herbivore! Perhaps vegetables, fruits and herbs are a better option, so why mow when you can grow healthy food for the family to eat?

Traditionally, this is what has been known as a kitchen garden, also sometimes referred to as a potager (a French term for a kitchen garden or ornamental vegetable garden). Usually it was a space separate from the rest of the residential garden - the ornamental plants and lawn areas. Most vegetable gardens are still miniature versions of old family farm plots, but the kitchen garden is different not only in its history, but also its design. Plants are chosen for their functionality as well as their color and form. The aim is to create an aesthetically pleasing as well as functional garden. Many plants are trained to grow upward to make better use of a small space. A well-designed kitchen garden can provide food, herbs and cut flowers for the home with very little maintenance. The kitchen garden therefore has year-round visual appeal and can incorporate permanent perennials around (or amongst) the annuals. Their functionality is often disguised in a wide array of forms—from the carefree style of the cottage garden to the formality of a knot garden.

The cottage garden has it’s own distinct style that uses a mixture of ornamental and edible plants in an informal design with traditional materials. English in origin, the cottage garden is homely and functional. Early cottage style gardens were more practical than their more modern descendants; with an emphasis on vegetables and herbs, some fruit trees, perhaps a beehive, and even livestock including chickens and a pigs. Flowers were used to fill any spaces in between. Though even the early cottage garden flowers typically had their practical uses. The traditional cottage garden was usually enclosed, perhaps with a rose-bowered gateway. The flowers often had rich scents, bright colours and included flowering herbs, self–sowing annuals and freely spreading perennials. This is a garden that stimulates all the senses. Of course, a sundial, paths inter-planted with thyme, and a rustic seat in order to sit and enjoy the sight, sounds and smells, completes the picture.

Now the term 'cottage garden' is used to describe any number of informal garden styles, using design and plants very different from their traditional English cottage garden origins. Modern cottage gardens more often use local flowers and materials. What they have in common with the tradition is the casual look, the use of every square inch, and a rich variety of vegetables, herbs and flowers in harmonious or contrasting colours. The casual look belies the planning needed to create such diversity in a small space. Instead of grand geometry there is an irregularity of design and a diversity of plantings. Every available space is used, lawns often replaced with flowers or vegetables and beds can be as wide or narrow as the space dictates. The flowers are often chosen for their ability to self-seed and the vegetables also allowed to go to seed so there can be an abundance of free produce that decides where it will grow and usually that isn’t in straight lines or even in the same garden plot. In many ways then, the garden creates itself.

In these days, however, when backyards seem to be getting smaller, dominated by huge houses, there is very little space for even a modern cottage garden, let alone space for rows of vegetables in a separate plot. A great way of maximising space is to think laterally and then go up! Blueberries, peas, beans, zucchini and sweet peas for colour can be planted around established shrubs so they can grow up through them. But equally balcony railings, pieces of reo (reinforced steel mesh), lattice or an old wooden ladder can be used as support for climbers.

I have had success with a large pot on a north-facing wall with a ladder placed on the pot, leaning it against the brick wall. The brick reflects heat in the cooler months providing a sheltered and frost-free aspect. At present there is jasmine for colour and perfume planted in the pot, with sweet potatoes planted in a potato bag, climbing up through the ladder. A couple of half wall pots are hanging on the rungs planted with strawberries and silver dichondra for contrast. Around the bottom of the jasmine pot there are flowers. This set-up can be adapted for use on balconies of apartments or in small courtyard gardens. Many plants can be grown up a trellis of some sort allowing for denser plantings. For example, peas, beans, cucumber, zucchini, pumpkin, squash, rockmelon and watermelon can all be trained to grow up a trellis making sure it is strong enough to support the weight of the vegetable. In small spaces look for miniture varieties of plants, for example, rockmelon Minnesota Midget. It is the size of a tennis ball with a very sweet and juicy taste.

When space is at a premium the best option is container planting using vertical space. A pot tower for example, can be very effective for smaller areas. Starting with one large pot filled with potting mix and then place a smaller pot on top repeat the process and so on. In this way a large number of plants can be grown in a small area. This is also a great way to grow fruit and vegies that the birds adore because it is simply a case of throwing a bird net over the top. I once saw pot tower of strawberries grown this way and the fruit was prolific, alas the blackbirds looked thoroughly dejected as they had finally been outsmarted!

The most common problem with container growing is that the pots are too small and dry out too quickly. The fruit trees and vegies do not receive a consistent supply of water or fertiliser. The classic example of this is citrus. Citrus will happily thrive in a pot for years provided it is a decent size!! A half wine barrel is just about the ideal size and I would avoid using anything smaller. It is important to sit it up on a couple of bricks to allow for good drainage and airflow and will also prolong the life of the barrel. My Clementine mandarin has lived happily in one for at least 8 years and provides a bumper crop. The other thing about container growing is feeding and mulching. Some experts do not advocate the use of mulch as they say you can’t see when the soil is dry, but as plants in pots dry out more quickly than those in the ground I think it is critical. My citrus thrive with a mulch of milled cow manure, sugar cane mulch and composted manure, lucerne hay and wood shavings.

 

The positioning of your plantings can also be extremely important, whether that is about utilising a frost free spot, creating a microclimate or placing taller vegetables, such as tomatoes, eggplant, capsicums and beans etc that can handle the heat of the midday sun so that they cast shade on smaller more sensitive plants like loose leaf lettuce, endive or raddichio. Alternatively, a couple of short stakes and some shadecloth can do the job. It’s also a good idea to try and plant vegies with similar water requirements close together, as it makes for more efficient of water and healthier vegetables.

So you could plan a vegetable plot - evenly spaced and planted in raised beds with rows of the same vegetables located in the backyard, or you can plan a modern cottage garden with a riot of colour, texture and scent with dense plantings of vegetables, perennials, flowers, fruits, hedges and herbs. Using self-seeding companion planting, interplanting and informal crop rotation. Self-seeding allows plants to come up where they will, creating an unplanned, informal mixture of crops. Companion cropping, interplanting, and crop rotation have been used for centuries to improve the efficiency and quality of vegetable production.

Polyculture is a method, which uses multiple crops in the same space imitating natural ecosystems. The advantages to this way of planting, is that the diversity of crops tends to reduce susceptibility to disease, thus reducing the need for pesticides. An example of the effectiveness of this was shown in a study in China, where several varieties of rice were planted in the same field increasing the yield by 89% with a dramatic decrease in the incidence of diseases by 94%. (Genetic Diversity and Disease Control in Rice, Nature 406, 718-722, 17^th August 2000.

Crop rotation is used improve soil quality as well as preventing soil borne disease. An example of effective crop rotation is a garden bed that grows legumes i.e peas or beans followed by leafy vegetables such as lettuce, spinach or kale. During their growth, legumes release bacterial enzymes, fixing nitrogen that will benefit the leaf development of the subsequent crop.

These techniques provide flexibility and create a more interesting garden. When space is limited, two or more crops can be planted together so long as they do not compete or interfere with each other’s growth. An example of interplanting would be to plant shallow rooted vegetables such as spinach, lettuce or rainbow chard with deep-rooted ones like beetroot, carrot or parsnips. Companion planting is used as a means to control insect pests and to bring out rich flavours in organic vegetables. Native Americans used a system where the corn crop served as a trellis for the beans to climb while the beans would provide nitrogen for the corn. The amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which the body needs to make proteins and niacin, are missing in corn but are found in beans. Also, sometimes squash was planted underneath, not only providing a natural mulch thus helping to retain water, but also creating a microclimate and at the same time deterring pests with its prickly hairs. Carbohydrate-rich squashes are also a great source of vitamin A, and their seeds provide quality vegetable fats that corn and beans both lack. Together, the three plants constitute a complete nutritional package. Often another native flowering plant was used to attract bees to pollinate the beans and squash. (The Three Sisters, John Vivian, Mother Earth News Feb/Mar 2001)

 

In the end there is only one way to plant vegetables and that is whatever way works best for you, your space, time and temperament! Some people are definitely straight row people, while others are more gaily random, of course others fall in between and a combination of formal and informal planting can work extremely well.

Cheers

Anne-Louise

(C) insideOutCreations 2011