Types of Vegetable Gardens
By: Sheera Stern
You have committed to growing vegetables for your family, your neighbors, or the local food pantry. Gardeners typically grow vegetables in three kinds of gardens: in-ground, raised bed, or container. All work well, and you may find a combination of two or more types is best for your needs.
While you will make your garden to suit the needs of your lot, there are some good rules of thumb. A bed width of four feet is convenient if you have access from both sides; if you have access from only one side, customize your bed to the width you can comfortably reach. Allow enough space between beds to that you can comfortably crouch or kneel to weed and harvest—a minimum of two feet. Stepping on the soil in your bed will compact the soil, which decreases permeability of air and water.
In-ground gardens
Photo: In-ground garden with trellised peas and kale.
For whom: Gardeners with space to convert to garden; gardeners without mobility issues
The challenges of in-ground gardens include the need to till or remove existing lawn or weeds, and an accumulated bank of weed seeds. You can have an in-ground garden without tilling (and bringing all those weed seeds to the surface where they will sprout in the light). To suppress weeds, mulch your garden bed with straw, shredded paper, shredded leaves, or leaf mold (composted leaves). Add 3 inches of compost and finish with 3 to 5 inches of topsoil. You can plant in the topsoil. Over the following year, the mulch and compost will work its way down into the lower level of the native soil and you will end up with a deep bed of usable soil.
Photo: In-ground garden bed. This is a shade garden with rows of string beans, lettuce, and kale.
Raised beds
Photo: Pollinator flowers are planted in a raised garden bed made of cedar.
For whom: Gardeners with poor, rocky, or contaminated soil, gardeners with mobility issues, gardeners with mammals that predate on the garden, gardeners with drainage issues
If you suspect or know that your soil is contaminated, you should install a plastic liner inside your bed before filling it with soil. Be sure the liner is firmly attached to the bed. You should install drainage pipes in the sides of the beds to prevent the soil from becoming muddy during heavy rains.
There are many ways to create a frame for your raised bed. You can purchase a frame ready made from garden catalogs and home improvement stores; these may be made from metal, plastic components, cedar, or pressure-treated wood. You can build one from pressure-treated lumber or cedar; if your carpentry skills are limited, you can purchase the hardware for the corners from a garden catalog. If you are building a bed with wooden sides, use a connector every 8 feet to prevent bowing due to the pressure of the soil. You can make your raised bed inexpensively from dry-laid bricks or stones if they are available. Even if you have no tools or carpentry skills, you can buy cement corner blocks and nominal 2-inch lumber and assemble beds as shown in this article: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/oldcastle-wall-blocks-raised-garden-bed/
The height of your raised bed depends on the problem you are trying to solve. You can grow greens in as little as eight inches of soil and tomatoes in 12 inches. Drainage issues can be solved by raising your beds to a height above puddling. If you are choosing raised beds due to mobility issues, you can customize the height of your beds to your needs. Gardeners with back problems may be happiest with a garden at three or four feet. Bear in mind, however, that costs increase with the height of the bed: you will have the cost of the materials for the frame plus the cost of soil to fill it. Gardeners with mobility issues may appreciate a capstone or board on top to sit on.
Many gardeners dig out paths between the raised beds and use native soil to fill their them. You can amend with compost if your soil test shows you need organic matter. Nurseries and home improvement stores sell specialized raised bed mixes, but you can make your own with a mix of native soil, compost, and coir or perlite to improve drainage, at a rate of roughly 70% topsoil, 20% compost, and 10% coir or perlite. Mix the components thoroughly to optimize water flow through the bed. Remember that organic matter will break down over time and need to be supplemented each year.
Photo: Two cedar raised beds that are cleaned up and ready for planting.
To find out how much to buy, use this handy calculator. Put in the dimensions of each bed and total the answers: https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/soil-calculator/7558.html
If you have basic carpentry skills, you can add fencing to the top of your raised beds to keep out rabbits, groundhogs, and other garden pests.
Container gardens
Photo: A creative container garden made from a wagon. Holes were drilled to allow for drainage.
For whom: Gardeners without property, gardeners with mobility issues, gardeners planning to move during the season
Even if you don’t have a garden, you can grow vegetables in containers. Remember: plants need soil, light, water, and nutrients to grow. (We won’t get into hydroponics here, which doesn’t include soil.) If you have 6 hours of sunlight hitting your stoop, balcony, or driveway, you can grow vegetables in containers.
Choose containers large enough to provide enough soil depth to feed the plants you are growing. Greens such as lettuces need little soil depth; potatoes require a large grow bag. If you don’t own containers, look for castoffs from neighbors who garden. The nursery industry creates large amounts of plastic waste from used plant containers, so neighbors, friends, and landscaping companies will willingly donate used containers.
Containers come in numerous materials.
· Plastic or resin have the advantage of being light enough to move easily. However, they heat up in direct sun and may require more frequent watering.
· Unglazed terra cotta pots breathe, which helps to keep soil aerated. However, they can’t be left out during the winter; make sure you have a place to store them.
· Grow bags are made of woven fibers. Their advantages are being light, easy to store, and well aerated. They come in a variety of sizes.
· Self-watering pots are a boon to busy gardeners because they may be watered less frequently. During heavy rain they can become too wet and may need their reservoirs emptied.
Choose containers with drainage holes or drill holes in existing pots.
Soilless potting mixes for containers have the advantage of being light, which is essential if you need to move the pots during or after the growing season or if you are growing on a balcony; however, you may need to fertilize the plants if the mix doesn’t contain fertilizers. If weight isn’t an issue, you can mix native soil or topsoil, compost, coir, and perlite to make your own potting soil. If you can protect your pots over the winter, you can reuse the soil the following season with the addition of a little compost and fertilizer.
Some varieties of vegetables are specially hybridized to grow well in containers: patio tomatoes and small-space cucumbers, squash, and melons. If you insert a support in a medium-sized pot, you can grow vines such as peas and green beans. Herbs and salad greens are particularly well-suited to container growing.
Incorporating vegetables in your garden beds
If you have existing beds of annuals or perennials, consider adding vegetables to them. This style of gardening is particularly popular in New England, where tall dahlias and pole beans mingle in the back of the border, nasturtiums climb among the tomatoes in the middle, and herbs and annuals sprawl in front. Your garden can be colorful and nutritious, too.
