Planning The Suburban Garden 7 - Your Property

This post is called 'Your Property' because this and the next will look at features that are unique to your garden.

Features like this fall into two categories; those which you want and those you don't and choosing which is which is the first essential.

The Problem
There are so many possible combinations of plants, features and structural arrangements that the different permutations are probably endless! The first thing you must do is to appraise the area that you have and sort out what to keep, what to improve and what you would rather not have.

This applies, of course, whether you have just moved house and thus are faced with the task of remodelling a garden, purchased a new property or, in the majority of cases, just are tired of your old garden and want a change.

Fruit and veg
The first decision to make is to decide if you want to grow vegetables and fruit and, if you do, on what sort of scale you want to grow it.

Firstly, you will never taste fresher vegetables than those grown in your own garden and harvesting, cooking and then eating them gives you a satisfaction that is probably a unique one.

If you do want an edible garden decide if you want to make it a large area and devote time to it or if you want to just grow a few things as a supplement. I think a small area to grow some sort of veg, even if only some salad crops, is a very good idea.

The main considerations for a vegetable garden are:
1. Do you want to keep it out of sight? Most people want the edible garden to be not on display but not exactly hidden. This is easy to arrange with a border of plants.
2. You need storage and somewhere to produce compost. Room for a small shed or similar storage is very useful and you will also need either a compost heap or, as these can be unsightly, one of the many compost producers. If you decide on a plastic compost maker make sure you get a big one because the small ones are soon filled.
3. You need good soil. You need good soil for growing anything but with plants you can get by without a massive soil improvement program but you need good quality soil for veg.
4. In the UK, if you keen on vegetable gardening then consider if an allotment might serve you better. Most allotments are a good size and you can grow far more food than you need without the need to clutter up the garden. My father and I had an allotment a few years ago and produced enough food to feed an army on it so it is worth considering.
5. Think about the height of the garden. If you are going to grow runner or French beans then the plants will grow to around seven or eight feet high (over 2m) and are easily seen unless you have a very high border. Personally I like the look of these plants but they are not to everyone's taste (pun intended).

This will help you make a start and the next post will look at ponds, rock and desert gardens along with the thorny issue of children in the garden.