Ideas for Vegetable Garden Projects

A vegetable garden is an important, functional part of your outdoor living space.  Being practical does not mean it cannot be beautiful as well.  Carefully designing the layout of your vegetable garden can help take advantage of the natural beauty in vegetable plants, creating a garden that is functional as well as pleasing to look at.

Group by Blooming Age
Time your planting and select plants to bloom in groups at the same time.  This will add bright pops of color throughout your garden.  Squash plants have pretty flowers that can accent their surroundings, so group multiple squash plants together for a large bouquet.

Plant for Variety
You do not have to group all the plants of a kind in the same place.  You can put a couple of corn plants next to some squash, and then plant additional corn next to beautiful flowering peas.  In fact, this is an excellent way to maximize complementary planting.  Pease can climb up corn plants while providing shade for squash plants situated beneath them.

Practice Successive Plantings
For plants that produce continuously or have short growth times, plant in succession to ensure color and production throughout the season.  Lettuce can be planted successively early in the season but will not germinate once it is hot.  Radishes typically take 28 days to mature, so plant them in succession throughout the season to ensure fresh radishes and pretty foliage all summer long.

Vegetable gardens can be a way to exercise your creativity and create living works of art, all while providing you with healthy food and lower grocery bills.