Planning A Vegetable Garden

As the seasons change in Dunedin, like a roller-coaster ride, my favourite season is Autumn.  From March to May, the productive garden is filling baskets and I love how the plain, green summer trees suddenly take centre stage, colouring our landscape. Autumn is also a fantastic time to plan and rejuvenate the vegetable garden area, once your crops have finished.

Usually I site a vegetable garden in the sunniest part of the garden, north to north/east facing and with a fence, hedge or wall on the south to south/west for shelter. I encourage you to surround your productive garden to protect it from the wind, with a medium height fence or hedge.

Consider building raised gardens which are a back-saver, look great when well made, and contain the soil and mulches from making a mess. Raising the soil also aids drainage and adds depth to the topsoil.

When I am designing a productive garden area, I will always include a space for a garden bench or small table and chairs – somewhere you can sit and view the fruits of your labour!

Raised vegetable gardens can become a seat if you add a wide capping. For a smaller garden, this is a great space-saver.

Mulch the soil around your plants to suppress weeds, with compost or pea-straw, and make sure you have a good water supply handy.

If you are can include a hot-house, either glass or plastic or polycarbonate, you can then extend your growing of vegetables into winter, if it is well sited for sun and shelter.

For re-designing your garden to accommodate a productive growing space, call  Leisa Browne at Leaf Landscape Design on 0274 156555 or go to the contact page on this website.