Are you fencing the vegetables in, or fencing something else out? Just curious... ; )

I'm curious as to why you asking this question? We do see people post here occasionally because they just want compliments, but some are not quite happy with the results of their own efforts and really want some input.

Other than that, I wouldn't give an opinion unless I knew what effect you were trying to achieve. If the purpose is only to grow vegetables - well, then the vegetables will tell you soon enough what they think. You don't need our opinion.

Did you also want it to look pretty, to cool the house, to provide privacy, to create ambience, to...?

I was just hoping someone would have any type of input, since it's not everyday I choose a location for a vegetable garden.

Yes I'm fencing out 3 dogs. Yes the purpose is to grow vegetables. No, they won't tell me until next season I imagine since it's unlikly anything will mature before our first freeze.

And yes I would like it to look as good as possible given the materials and manner of construction.

Someone has suggested that I may have difficulties with the garden drying out due to the fact I constructed so close to the house and it's foundation. I guess they mean that the gravel around the house would allow for drainage? I don't know that's why I was asking for comments.

Someone else suggested I cut another section, like 6" tall, and dado it like our fence posts, and put those on the posts of the garden, as well as building a gate in the manner that our fence is built. Do you think it would just be better to build the gate primarily using the welded wire with a small wood square frame to allow for maximum sun?

I would also like your comments on the concrete block used to hold in the dirt. Would pressure treated wood do better? Does having the soil above ground level = having to water more than normal?

Obiviously I should have asked questions before construction but I didn't.

Have you visited the Vegetables forum? Sounds as though the questions you're raising and the input you're seeking would be better coming from other vegetable growers rather than landscape designers.

I don't see how being located close to the house should cause the garden to dry out more quickly, unless there's a problem with the structure retaining heat. I might have located it a bit further away for better access to all parts of the bed.
Locating the vegetable garden close to the house (and more particularly to access points) is a great idea as it promotes greater attention to and use of the garden. Ideally you should be able to walk out of the kitchen, take a few steps, cut some herbs or pick a few vegetables, walk back in and add them to the pot (vegetable gardens located far from the house tend to be forgotten and to accumulate weeds and pests).

Depending on possible plans to expand the vegetable growing area, you might want to think about additions to promote a decorative as well as functional aspect to the space.

To carry on with Eric's thoughts above. In such a protected spot in GA. Zone 7 you should be able to have a productive winter garden. Swiss chards, mustard greens, collards, parsley and others that can withstand freezing. Most of the young 'starts' can be purchased soon at your local box stores.

That gives much better direction, thank you.

I don't have a veggie patch as such but for all my gardening I have a personal dislike for deep beds in which I can't easily reach all parts of it. The fence means that access must be from inside. So your planting scheme will have to allow for easy walking through the bed both early and late in the season. I think I would put in a T-shaped pathway and plant all the tall stuff at the perimeter and short stuff near the path. I can't tell whether you can walk between the bed and the house, but I would want to, for harvesting tomatoes or beans that might grow there.

I wouldn't touch treated wood with a ten-foot pole for any purpose, and least of all where growing food that you plan to eat.

I'm also inclined toward making the functional attractive if possible, so if this ends up being a permanent feature I might also think about a more attractive form of fencing and gate.

What types of plants to you plan on growing? Have you thought much about paths or access to the plants? Even without the fencing, you could not reach the plants in the back from outside the bed. Your layout seems to call for a T shaped path that runs the length of the bed, but I am not sure you have room for anything but a very narrow path.

There is another forum around here..."Potager Gardens"...where the focus is on building attractive vegetable gardens. I am also sure an internet search for the same topic will turn up more information. The Landscape Design forum focuses more on the aesthetic qualities of landscape design than the functional layout of a vegetable garden.

- Brent

I guess I should have posted this elsewhere.

To respond to some issues raised, before I move this to another forum, the bed is 17' by 10' and is located 2.5' form the side of the house. allowing my a pathway between the house and it. The fence is 3' tall, and was constructed out of welded wire to withstand the curiosity of our 3 large dogs.

The plywood piece is leaning up where the gate for access will go. I planed to have a path through the garden in a plus sign shape if viewed from above to have access to the 4 quadrants of the garden. I am tall and can reach over the fence and pick something up off of the ground.

My previous comment was wrong, the person mentioning issues with the foundation of the house was referring to leaching of calcium from the concrete into the ground....

Yes the posts are pressure treated, is it a known problem to have pressure treated post in the ground around/near a garden? Does arsenic leach out of them? If so I guess that means no one in the know plants anything they plan to eat near their decks as well?

Thanks for you imput.

I think everyone has to find their own comfort level with pressure treated and many other potential toxins, known or unknown. I for example live in a hundred-year-old house from which paint has been peeling into the soil for about that long. I suspect the soil to be laced with lead and so plant very little that is edible. That might not even occur to the next person who moves in here, and might not bother them if it does.

Pressure treated wood is obviously bought by many people, and no doubt a great deal of its dust is being breathed in while cutting and a great deal of food is being grown near it. I imagine many of its users are living long and healthy lives. Some people don't worry, and I respect their choice. But you asked, and so I told you my opinion. There may have been more informend discussion elsewhere on GW; maybe do a search for some old threads.

But I think the concrete blocks look better too :-)

Okay, here's my critique. You probably did not design it, actually, you just built it--a big raised bed with a fence around it. Ideally, I would use a completely different design for a fully-fenced garden as for one not fenced--both as to dimensions and where the garden actually "is" with regard to the house and to the fence and to any paths or stepping stones that will be needed. However, you were able to take some advantage of where you attached the fencing to the perimeter. You can retrofit it now with some kind of step stones or paths in order to try to work in it. It's too close to the house so you lose the ability move very well back there or to work freely through the back fence or to run a wheelbarrow back there. You lose a little bit of some space advantage you could have had to let larger plants (indeterminate tomatoes; peas and beans) which like to spill out over the back sides--but you could still place them at the ends. These types of vegetables are really fun to grow in places where you can just saunter up to pick them at eye level (I am revealing my middle-agedness here). Of course, it isn't that much fun to try to work through the squares of fence, so you will mostly want to work from inside. If you put a path through the middle then will still have a few feet on either side for your crops.

You can have a lot of fun with this garden regardless and learn a lot about growing different types of stuff. I always feel pressure to try to put as much as possible in the small veggie garden, but sometimes that can take the fun out of it (pressure! pressure!) as much as it can be fun. But if you do check out some of the photos and articles on small-space or square foot gardening, they will have some helpful tips on where to place different vegetables with regard to each other (height and growth patterns, time to maturity, multi-season planting).

I would work out your pathways, and plan on enjoying plenty of tomatoes (next year) , herbs, and lettuces. In your zone, you can plant cilantro and parsley now and it will grow all winter and thaw out great after freezes. Also all kinds of lettuces and greens as suggested above.

Up date, here's how it looks now, peas and beans have sprouted and they'll be climbing up the back support, a row of peppers in front of them, and lettuce, carrots, radishes, spinach, cucumbers (which i hope will grow on the sides of the garden) and strawberries. Had to move tomatoes and more pepper plants outside as you'll see...

Next year I want to fence in the area where the tomatoes are and the peppers are, except this time I'll put raised beds within the fenced in area....

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