How to Plant a Vegetable Garden in Rows
Once an area is tilled, composted and properly prepared, the garden is ready for planting vegetables. Some gardeners plant vegetable crops in raised beds or French intensive planting, while a traditional gardener may stick with the tried and true method of planting vegetables in rows. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Hoe
- Rake
- Rototiller
- Fertilizer
- Mulch
- Poly hoops and floating row covers
Instructions
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Plant vegetables in direct sunlight where there is minimal shade. Place tall pole beans and corn, which are light barriers, in rows toward the back of the garden
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Form the garden rows with a rake and a hoe. Use the hoe edge to make the required size furrow for planting seeds in a flat row garden and rake closed once planted. Pull the soil toward the center from both sides with a rake to make raised garden rows.
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Make the garden rows the width of the rototiller for early crops like peas that are tilled and replanted.
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Plant a circle garden in rows with the tallest vegetables in the center working out to short vegetables on the outside. Rows also work well in terraced gardens.
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Furrow the rows along the contour of the land in hilly areas to prevent soil erosion and moisture loss. Contour planting is an excellent method for retaining water in between the rows for plants.
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Leave enough space between the rows to allow room to walk and gather produce comfortably when the plants have fully matured.
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Make rows 18 to 24 inches wide to allow for trellised and caged vegetables like cucumbers and tomatoes.
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Build a row of mounds 4 feet apart for summer squash and cantaloupes that need warm soil for successful growth.
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Plant the garden in short rows in narrow beds for a watered down version of French intensive gardening without the dense plantings.
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Thin the vegetable seedlings to the required distance specified for the seed type. Selectively remove seedlings until they are spaced as necessary in the garden rows.
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Weed and fertilize a garden row in March and plant lettuce, spinach, radishes and beets. Add mulch and water frequently. Place polytunnel hoops over the row every 2 or 3 feet, lay a floating row cover over top, and harvest a garden salad in less than 2 months.
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Tips & Warnings
A traditional vegetable garden is rectangular and planted in rows.
Keep asparagus and other perennials in garden beds separate from the main vegetable garden.
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Comments
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easteh
Aug 15, 2010
Retry... Professional greenhouses "always" plant rows north-south to take full advantage of the morning and afternoon sun. North south give better spread of sun over the beds as it passes over from side to side. As the sun travels from east to west, the plants aren't shaded by those on either side. But remember, too, that in Southern Hemisphere, the sun always stays in the Northern sky as it moves east-to-west, so if you put your short plants at the Northern end, they aren't shaded by taller plants to the south (in southern hemisphere). In winter, the south wall is often solid & insulated (in southern hemisphere).
