Lazy Gardening Series: Part 3: Bed Planning

Welcome to the third part of our Lazy Gardening Series; a series that challenges everything you know about working hard in the garden. If you missed the first parts to our series, start here: 

• Part 1: Plan for, don't react to wildlife
• Part 2: Soil Health

I'm convinced that working with nature for our food is top priority, so these tips are all organic, don't require you to spend tons of money, and absolutely possible no matter your experience level. Let's get growin'!

Part 3: Designing a garden without neat rows

Example of a cool season wild garden- Gardenary.com

I didn’t want to scare you away, so now that you’re here, I’ll be honest. I like to call this type of gardening... Wild Gardening. Trust, gardener. The Wild Garden is the cottage garden of the landscaping world, to the low effort gardening world: worth the hype.

If you've read the first two parts to this series, I am sure you’ve noticed that the garden values diversity. Each plant has their own strengths and weaknesses. When you put them all together, you'll have resilient plants that work like a team to get you the best harvest possible. 

And let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a summer stroll through a whimsical, colorful garden with butterflies & bees flitting about? Let your garden hang free!

A wild garden rejects the uniformity and mass harvest goal of a monoculture. Its magic comes from interplanting.

Interplanting is a strategic gardening method of planting different crops in the same bed, with a purpose. Two traditional examples:

• Planting quick-growing radishes amongst slow-growing broccoli. Radishes harvest quicker, provide cover and shade to the soil, & act as a trap plant for broccoli-loving pests.
• Three sisters; corn, beans, squash. Planted strategically, the corn provides support for the beans, the squash leaves protect the soil from the harsh sun, beans replenish nitrogen to the soil. 

Some other benefits of interplanting are pest dissuasion & beneficial insect attraction (as mentioned in Part 1), soil aeration & nourishment (as mentioned in Part 2), more bountiful yield, and less weeding! A low effort gardener’s dream.

Interplanting Marigolds, Kale, Cabbage- Epic Gardening

Lettuce Monoculture Garden- Epic Gardening

Integrating Interplanting

Now that I've got your attention, let's make garden bed planning easy for you. Begin by splitting your garden into “beds.” This may be quite literal if you have raised beds, or you may have a specific way of marking “beds” in your in-ground garden. Try for 2-4 beds with a minimum of 12 sq ft/ bed.

Each bed will have herbs, flowers, seasonal plants, roots, & harvest plants.

Herbs

Outline the bed in herbs as first line of defense against pests. Enjoy fragrance, pretty flowers, pest dissuasion, and easy access for quick pickin' during mealtimes.

• Rosemary, Lavender, Thyme, Oregano, Mint, Nasturtium, Chives, Calendula, Dill, Cilantro, Lemon Balm

Flowers

Outline your beds and place throughout, attracting beneficial insects & pollinators. Make sure the height of your flowers doesn't shade out your other plants. Try to stick to flowers with a mature height of 24" or less. 

• French marigolds, Salvia, Celosia, Dwarf Zinnias, Dwarf Sunflowers, Sweet alyssum, Snapdragons

Seasonals

Crops that mature quickly & can be planted closely together. Can be known as cole crops, they are the second row deep in your beds. Can also be sown July & later for a second harvest in fall. 

• Kale, Lettuce, spinach, radishes, turnips, bush beans, chives

Roots

Root crops that mature slowly & require a bit more space. Third row deep in your garden. Provide soil aeration + prevent erosion. Tubers, bulbs, root vegetables. You can even use perennial crops or herbs in this space as well. 

• Asparagus, rhubarb, rosemary, mint, potatoes, onion, garlic bulbs, carrots

Harvest Plants

The “steak & potatoes” of your garden, also the most demanding. A fruiting plant that requires the most space. Plant in the middle of the bed for 360 protection from pests/ wildlife, or onto a trellis to keep off the ground & reduce fungal growth. Your harvest plants may differ from spring, to summer, to fall. 

• Peas, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, melons

 

F- Flower
Orange H- Herb
S- Seasonal
R- Roots
Red H- Harvest

Doable right? Not only will you have a bunch of diversity, pretty things to look at, and no bare soil (less weeds & watering), but you're also maximizing your overall yield from the garden! 

Whenever a plant is spent, you can pull it (or chop & drop) and throw in some new seeds or plugs, making yourself a beautiful & productive year-round garden. 

Questions? Stop by Sunshine Garden Center in Diamond, IL Wednesday- Saturday 10am-5pm, or Sunday 10am-2pm. Ask for Courtney, or email info@sunshinegardencenter.com.