How close to foundation and house?

18 years ago

Hi,

I am plotting my new SFG and I have some spaces up against my house that I can plant against. But I'm unsure how close I can build the boxes up against my foundation and not have to worry about moisture or bugs penetrating into the siding.

Also, one of the only plaeces I have for trellises are up against the house. I have read that the same veggies that like trellises (melons, squashes) actually like a little relief from the sun once they're fruiting. That area is full western exposure, and I'm wondering... will the reflection off the house plus the intense sun be too much for some of the climbers?

Which climbers would you put up against the house vs. others?

And finally, when putting a trellis up against the house, how much room do you leave between the trellis and the house.

Sorry for so many questions. I am so excited about doing this but there are some specific details that Mel doesn't really explain in his book. (Although I love the book anyway!)

Thanks,

Kristi

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Comments (3)

timewind
18 years ago
I don't feel like I know enough about some of the issues to answer, like the interaction of plants, trellises, and the particular materials your walls are made of/covered with, but there are a couple of useful things I feel that I can say. The first is that if you put your trellises right against your house you will want your beds to be only two feet wide, maybe three if you are especially tall, or you will want to break them up into 4 foot width sections so that you can reach the back of each bed.
My other concern would be the "drip line" of your roof, which in a heavy rain does more than drip, and could do a number on your beds (gutters may mitigate this). You may find you need to place your beds beyond where the water drips from your roof.
kristimama
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I remember Mel said something about the dripline... we do have gutters but even they sometimes drip over in a heavy rain. Yes, I was thinking of doing a 2' box instead of 4... and actually the 2' is about as wide as my drip line. But you've given me something to think about regarding the placement of the boxes.
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darcygarden
18 years ago
We have our SFG up against our home- but we did not do a raised bed for a number of reasons. We found that 6" is a good distance to keep plants from the building, mostly because of foundation issues under our soil- I assume you will not have that problem in a raised bed. We do not have a problem with our drip line because it almost never rains here in SoCA :) I know it rains quite a bit more up there in SF.

We planted our peas and cucumbers against the house- and they both love it. We have southern exposure, though. Have you thought about doing vining tomatoes? The building next to ours has them on a trellis with Western exposure and they look beautiful. Our second garden plot has western exposure (I'm in the process of planting it now). I am thinking about planting grape vines. They need shade at their base so I will probably do an artichoke plant in front of them to keep the lower part of the vine blocked from the sun.
Good luck with everything.