How to get the best from your garden space.

You can grow everywhere.
Many people think that growing your own fruits and veggies is very complicated task that requires a lot of time. The truth is that if you spend 2 – 3 hours a week in your backyard, you can have you own fresh supply EVERY DAY (and will burn an extra calories, here is my post about this topic

working-out-in-the-garden.html).
That’s the good news.
The bad news is that unfortunately, in a country like Australia with a great backyard culture, the size of blocks in the last decade has been decreasing dramatically and you can hardly squeeze a barbecue in some of the new blocks of land.
Don't be disheartened as even in a very limited space you can get a quite a good crop all year around; all you need to know is just a few little gardening tricks. And we are going to consider them by turn right now.


Evaluating the location, soil and already planted plants

1. First thing to do before planting anything (or establishing chicken house or placing a bee-hive) is to find the spot that receives the most of the morning sun: this is going to be your gardening spot. Always remember, that leafy and root veggies need at least 2 - 4 hours of sun and fruiting ones 4 – 6 hours.

1. Second step, we check the soil that’s available. Your soil is going to be clay most likely, as this is the most common soil in Victoria. In this case you'll need to add there lime or dolomite and start to improve it by adding compost and mulch.

1. Then we evaluate what was planted before. If there are fruiting trees in good condition then you are lucky. Enjoy the labour of the previous owner and don't forget to look after the plants – prune, add manure and water during summer.

1. If your garden only has decorative shrubs and trees and you are determined to have only consumables, then consider the option to find them a new owner by asking relatives, friends and placing an ad on Gumtree.

 Vertical garden.
Vertical garden is the most effective way to save space while gardening.
For a vertical garden you can use:
- Fence or walls: just hang your pots on the hooks;
- Poles with the nooks, where you can hang the pots;
- Pallets;
- Old ladder, with planks/boards placed horizontally, etc.
And here some tips on how to look after the vertical garden:

• be sure that you can reach your containers with the watering cane and hose;
• you'll need to consider the compatibility of plants as one of them can overshadow the other one;
• you'll need to feed them with fertilizer or change soil more frequently.

 Pots and containers.
In pots you can grow almost everything. I grow in pots the following: apples, persimmons, pears, avocados, kumquats, peaches, sour cherries, berries, almond and a lot of herbs and vegetables. Pots are real space savers, you can place them in any corner, on a concrete, window sill, porch, move around, hide the ugly spot or make boring spot bright and colourful.
I consider buying containers a complete waste of money. They are either donated to me or I pick up from the sides of roads anything that can hold dirt and I can punch holes in the bottom. Or, you can find heaps of them in your rubbish bean: tins, milk and yogurt containers, chlorine solution containers for swimming pool, etc.
Here are some tips how to look after plants in the pot:

• the most important rule: the bigger the pot, the happier your plant;
• you’ll need to water them more often than beds;
• check the soil, if it’s dry more than 1 cm down, then water; fertilize twice a year (more or less, just check out how healthy you plant looks like);
•  fruiting trees you need to re – pot once every 2 years.

You can grow in the pots:

• All herbs;
• Carrots;
• Cucumbers;
• Fennel;
• Garlic;
• Leek;
• Lettuce; Onion;
• Radish
• Tomatoes;
• Peas;
• Zucchinis

 No – dig – bed.
A real treasure for people with limited space and time and a solution for a poor soil that will require a lot of time and investment for improving. It could be set up anywhere, be a different size and height and doesn't require so much work as a conventional bed. The other advantage of this type of bed: it discourages the growth of weeds and retains the moisture well.
The idea of a no-dig-bed is similar to composting: layers of straw (carbon) and manure (nitrogen) eventually will turn into rich, dark soil.
Soil is a complex eco-system with a millions of microorganisms and worms. When we are digging the soil, we destroying this eco – system and it takes a lot of years to restore. When we are digging the soil, we are damaging water retention and structure that leads to the erosion of soil. That why in a lot of way “non – dig gardening” and “organic gardening” are synonyms.
Here is my post on how to make a no-dig-bed: its-simple-make-your-own-no-dig-bed.html and the post that explain why tillage (digging and disturbing soil) is not the best way of farming: organic-food-organic-life-organic-fashion.html


Planting the right crop.
As we want to maximize our harvest we need to plant the right crop. And here are few tips how to do it:

• Always inter-plant, because the monoculture bed is a haven for pests. The are lot of companion plants that love to grow next to each other: radishes like to be next to carrots and onions, celery with tomatoes, cucumbers with salad, beans with corns etc.
•  Don't forget about crop rotation as it restores the nitrogen balance and decreases the plants’ disease development.
•  Plant at least one fruit tree as it will attract pollinating insects. If you are lacking the space, consider buying a dwarf one.
• Plant herbs that attract pollinating insects: oregano, lavender, rocket etc.
• Read the seeds’ packages before planting as the tallest plants should go to the back of the bed and not overshadow the smaller ones.

 How to increase harvest:

•  Attract beneficial insects;
• Add manure;
•  Here is my post about mulching all-about-mulch.html ;
• Compost and apply it around the garden;
• Water; do it right – soak your soil thoroughly, rather than sprinkle, water should get into the roots of the plant. Besides, over-sprinkling will contribute to fungi development;
• Prune trees and shrubs.

 Exchanging with fellow gardener.
If you have an excess of harvest you can sell it or exchange with a fellow gardener.


Freezing, preserving and fermenting.
You can freeze all you herbs, berries and some of the veggies (beets, carrots, pears etc.). Or preserve (cucumbers and tomatoes) and ferment them (carrot, cabbage, radish).


Share you success!
Don't keep you success for yourself, share your tips and hints via social media, we'd love to hear from you!