It is so common that many people fantasize about having a beautiful garden in their backyard. But you have no idea how to transform your backyard into a vegetable garden. Everyone wants to grow their own food because there is nothing more satisfying than eating a meal made from these fresh foods and the fruits of their labor.
Though it is a simple way to start a garden, many people are unsure how to proceed or how to deal with it. First, they are disappointed to discover that their backyard is overgrown with grass. They are even more dissatisfied when they discover that their backyard is already more than just a patch of grass.
Their small backyard and lack of space make them less interested. But you don’t need to worry because, no matter how big or small your backyard is, you can bring your vision to life with a great arrangement of landscaping designs and different garden features. If you use proper landscape design, the space you have, no matter how small, will be used for relaxation, play, and entertainment.
In this article, I’ll give you some unique tips and ideas for setting up your backyard the right way, no matter where you live or how big it is. I hope these ideas inspire you to transform your backyard into a show-stopping garden. So, let’s get started.
Benefits of a backyard vegetable Garden
You can get many benefits from your vegetable garden which are as follows:
- It reduces the food budget by maximizing the benefits of your yard.
- It increases your property’s value.
- It turns your ornamental backyard into a vegetable garden, thus adding a healthy, sustainable new produce source.
- Anyone can enjoy fresh, homegrown vegetables straight from the ground.
- It contributes to the family’s well-being by supplying non-toxic products.
- It doesn’t take too much of your scarce free time.
- It supplies poison-free food for the family.
- A backyard garden is a symbol of beauty for a family and a delightful place for family members.
How to turn your backyard into a vegetable garden
How do you start a vegetable garden in your backyard? There are some instructions you have to follow for turning your yard into a garden. If you want to use up every spare space in your backyard, here is a list of materials and instructions through which you can convert your backyard from a lawn into a garden.
1. Determine your climate zone
The success of gardening largely depends on putting the right plant in the right place at the right time. So, you have to bear in mind that you must plant those suitable plants for your climatic region.
2. Enough sunshine and an ideal location
When you are ready to start a vegetable garden, select an appropriate area and make sure that your backyard gets enough sunshine. Choose a space that receives at least five to eight hours of direct sunlight. The proper growth of plants largely depends on the amount and intensity of the sun.
3. Closer to your home
It is also essential that your vegetable garden is closer to your home. There are huge benefits when you establish a vegetable garden near your home. It can reduce your extra time, you can take care of your garden timely and properly, you can protect your garden from animals, mostly you can get fresh food when you are needed.
4. Proper supply of water
It is also a significant thing to choose a location where it is easy to access water supply and convenience. When you establish a garden, you must ensure your water supply because we know that another name of water is life. So, for plant water, it must need water to survive and complete its life cycle.
5. Decide what you want to grow
Another important consideration is that you have to decide what you want to grow in your yard. We know different crops or plants need different care in different seasons and different climate zones; it also depends on your personal preferences. What types of gardens do you want to establish? Is it only vegetables, or is it a combination of several options? What kinds of fruits and vegetables do you want to eat and grow?
6. Follow a proper landscape design
When you have a small area but want to get maximum benefits from your garden, you must follow a proper landscape design to achieve your desired goals. Your landscape design choices often reflect your tastes and styles as well.
7. Cut the lawn in the designated area with a sod cutter
To prepare your lawn for cultivation, you have to cut the lawn in the designated area with a sod cutter and remove it all. Cut all the sod into one-foot-wide parallel strips.
8. Remove the sod segments
After cutting the sod, you have to prepare the soil i.e., remove the sod segments from your yard. Don’t allow roots or grass clippings to fall back onto the soil.
9. Add a layer of topsoil
It is essential to add a layer of topsoil to the area to replace what lost its fertility after removing the sod. Spread the soil evenly and cover the topsoil with a 3–4 inch thick layer of compost. Spread them evenly through a rake.
10. Mix the topsoil and compost properly
Compost is an eco-friendly option to fertilize your garden. Mix the topsoil and compost properly into the ground with a tiller. Run the tiller until the two elements aren’t mixed properly. In this case, you can use a compost spreader that is easy to use and can evenly distribute compost over large areas.
11. Proper spacing for allowing plants to breathe
Plants need space to grow and flourish into fully-grown, healthy vegetables. A universal spacing for the vegetable patch is 3 m by 3 m for most of the garden. Experts recommended spacing for some crops:
- 20cm around a row of salad leaves
- 35cm around a row of carrots
- 45cm around a row of beans
- 75 cm-1 m per plant for eggplants
12. Connect a garden hose to a sprinkler head
Connect a garden hose pipe to a sprinkler head to supply water and moisten the soil in the yard, and make sure that the sprinkler will reach the entire garden plot.
13. Make a compost pile
It is essential that your garden have a small area for making a compost pile by collecting and removing all the dry leaves, plants, leftover food, chicken droppings, grass, and other waste, assembling them into a hole, and letting them decompose. Then all the decomposed products turn into useful compost.
14. Keep a flock of backyard hens
Keeping a flock of backyard hens can also take your garden and fresh food production to the next level. You will have to get the freshest and best eggs, and it doesn’t take extra time to take care of your flock if you allow them to run free in your garden.
15. Collect rainwater
It is a very additional way to help the environment through your garden to collect rainwater. It is very effective for your garden and gives you additional benefits when you don’t have to supply water for your garden because your garden needs enough water to use in your garden.
16. Watering and Weeding
It is crucial to make sure you invest the time in watering and weeding your garden every week.
17. Mulching
Mulching is another advanced-level idea for your lawn. By covering the soil with rocks, organic matter, weeds, papers, plastics, straws, polythene, other dry leaves and clippings, and water hyacinth, they have a hard time germinating and keeping the soil cool and moist, thus reducing the required amount of water.
18. Fence for secure barrier
When you start a vegetable garden, the first thing you have to fix a fence in your yard to secure your desired plants from animals.
19. Protective screen in rain barrels or tanks to prevent mosquitoes
It is a very important consideration that you must keep your garden environment neat and clean. You have to protect the screen in rain barrels or tanks to protect from mosquitos and prevent them from spreading.
Final thoughts
A perfect backyard vegetable garden gives you fresh food as well as mulch pleasure by relaxing your life in your leisure time. If you follow a perfect landscape for your lawn, you can get maximum benefits from your small pieces of land. A garden is simple to the beauty of a family. A garden is a place where family member takes a rest and spends their leisure time jointly. Nowadays, it is challenging to find fresh food because all the food supplied in the market is toxic, which is very harmful to our health. So, it is essential to make your backyard lawn into a vegetable garden to get non-toxic poison-free food.
