Creating a Gardening Space
Updated: Feb 10, 2020
We moved in June in the heat of California summer. Immediately the daydreams began. What about a tree here? A planter here? I was so excited to begin gardening in MY yard. No HOA, no badly patched concrete patio floor, no spot of artificial turf as our only lawn. The plants I had grown, previously confined to pots, would be able to stretch their roots deep into the soil.
Except...it was June in California. I was 6 months pregnant. When we went to dig our shovels hit dry, hard ground that reverberated the shovel like we were characters in a Looney Toons bit. I then realized I would have to wait for my baby daughter to arrive and the grounds to soften with winter rain. In the meantime we could design.
Even in our small backyard design felt intimidating. We have never had our own blank canvas before and all the possibilities seemed very overwhelming. It's easy to see a feature you think looks nice on TV or in another garden, it's quite another to know how to put everything together on your own. To complicate things further, my husband and I rarely agree on design. As compatible as we are as partners, our aesthetic tastes tend to clash. Frequently.
The first mental hurdle was to remind ourselves that a garden takes years to complete, and is constantly evolving (thanks Monty Don.) We didn't have to have the perfect design completely nailed down, we needed a place to start.
We began by focusing on a few things: 1) What was the general purpose of the space?
2) What are the general zones or themes the space can be divided into?
3) What features did we know for sure we wanted?
4) Do those features need to be in a particular location? (Sun needs, electrical, water etc.)
5) What design features are permanent builds? (aka hard to change our minds in the future.)
The general purpose was easy to decide. The front yard was already hard landscaped and fenced for the animals and children, so the backyard was going to be for adults and for entertaining. As such, the main priorities were a seating area and of course gardens. Eventually both flower and food gardens will exist, but we decided to start with food. In prioritizing the food we not only get food (let's face it I was not going to wait another season) but we were also able to lock in some of the design. There's only one section of the whole property that gets good all day sun, so that's where the veggies go.
Building:
The beds butt up against a raised RV pad, which as of yet have no real stairs leading up to it, so we decided to design the beds to flank the future staircase on either side. We decided to go with asymmetrical rounded rectangular (ish) beds to try to achieve a softer look than squares. Originally we were going to just use garden bricks from a box store, but by happenstance we got a hold of some landscaping edging on clearance for $10. (The bricks are $2 a piece.) This, obviously, altered the plan. We used the edging to make the base shape and natural rock from our property to make a facade to hide it. In the end the edging and rock ended up complimenting the softer shape we were going for much better than the brick ever would have.
Living in the foothills we have no shortage of rocks or even small boulders on our property, and the new design also solved a secondary problem. We had several rock piles left from the previous owners landscaping that needed to go somewhere, anywhere. While working we also found a pile of fill dirt (from another part of the yard) that greatly cut down the cost of soil. (Filling planters can be expensive!) Thanks to the fill dirt we were able to fill the beds with a mix of native and potting soil.
Using the existing materials ended up saving us a lot of money and ultimately gave us a better look, while also helping us clean up the yard. The only downside was that the project was much more physical labor than I was expecting originally. I suppose in some ways that's also a benefit, as I have definitely been getting back in shape since starting all this.
The beds have an approximate dimension of 5x8 ft. The interior run of the boxes have been left without rock facade to help ease the building of the future stairs. They join an existing triangular bed that was already on the property, which is made of cinder block and almost chest high. To try to blend the look of the beds together, we added a semi-circle of bricks to our left bed to create a tiered effect. To add a bit more growing space I also added an arched trellis at what will be the base of the stairs. It's not the most even built, but it was my first, and I reckon it'll hold a plant or two just fine. Finally I cleaned out an existing flower bed and installed a shepherd's hook with trellising nearby to maximize the growing spaces as much as possible. We may add more beds in the future, but we're at a good starting point.
Overall it took about three days to put together. Those folks without a 3 year old and a baby could go a sight faster, I believe. In the end though, I have functional veggie beds, and the first seeds have been sown and even germinated! I am sow excited about the future! (Get it? Hah.) If you're stuck overthinking your plans I highly recommend picking a place to start and going for it!
Of course, I will happily update you all as the plants come in!
Until next time!
Bethany
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