Veggies With a View: Front-Yard Gardens [iTsArticles]

Tired of mowing your front yard? Try harvesting it instead. A front-yard vegetable garden is one way to brighten up the block while adding healthy fare to your dining experience. 

"We're seeing a splurge of homeowners using their small front-yard garden space --- formerly used for flowers --- to grow vegetables and other edibles, such as herbs and fruits, because of the increasing desire to eat more locally produced and organic fruits and vegetables," said Craig Jenkins-Sutton, co-owner of Topiarius: Urban Garden & Floral Design in Chicago.

Check your local ordinances first. Front-yard vegetable gardens are not legal everywhere. If you get the green light, bring out your green thumb.

Space Strategies

You don't have to live on a large lot to enjoy an awesome vegetable garden. Even those in cramped quarters may produce crops worth crowing about.

"The key is to maximize the available square footage and to take advantage of all the available sunlight," said Jenkins-Sutton. "Most vegetables will require a minimum of four to six hours of direct light each day. To create the most productive front-yard vegetable garden, installing traditional raised beds on the ground and on front porches is an excellent strategy."

Raised beds are ideal for front yards and porches because they allow for a significantly larger volume of soil than would otherwise be available in a small or confined area, providing ample space for growing a variety of vegetables, including tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, eggplant, peas and beans, said Jenkins-Sutton.

For even smaller spaces, he suggested "pot-sized" vegetables that have been specially bred for tight squeezes, such as Tom Thumb tomatoes, Gold Nugget carrots and Spacemaster cucumbers.

Another benefit of raised beds is the ease of adding soil amendments to increase fertility and maximize drainage. If space doesn't allow for raised beds, you may use any available container as an alternative, Jenkins-Sutton said. Be sure to add drainage holes, and because plants love soil, use the largest containers possible for the available space.

Planning Your Plots

For the ideal front-yard garden, the materials you use and the crops you choose are almost equally important. Improper materials can leach potentially harmful chemicals into the soil, Jenkins-Sutton warned.

"Natural stone or untreated and rot-resistant lumber, such as cedar, are good examples of products to choose," he said. "Newer products, such as recycled decking products, are also options." 

As for containers, anything that will hold soil will work, he said. When working with containers, make sure the soil stays evenly moist and aerated, but not saturated or compacted, to allow the roots to get the oxygen they require.

Cassy Aoyagi, president of FormLA Landscaping Inc. in Los Angeles, recommended planning your plots around crops that have predictable rotations from season to season. 

"For example, beans in the fall, lettuce in winter and eggplant in spring could be one dedicated plot," she said. "Another could be radishes in the fall, broccoli in the winter and tomatoes in the spring. This strategy makes planning and harvesting the easiest."

Invader Alert

Squirrels love vegetable gardens. So do deer, rabbits and even family dogs.

Rabbits and pets may be held at bay with fencing, Jenkins-Sutton said. He suggested burying fencing at least six inches below the surface to keep rabbits from digging under, with openings kept to a minimum to keep them from squeezing through. 

"Squirrels and deer are much more difficult garden adversaries," he said. "Short of building a fence fortress around and over the entire garden, use a variety of deterrents, from organic sprays to sensors that trigger sounds/sprinklers when invaders get too close."

Growing Good Neighbors

Front-yard gardens also serve a social function that can make you the hit of the 'hood. For a "neighborly" garden, Aoyagi recommended planting close to the street instead of enclosing the area with greenery, as you might treat a more private area. 

"If you really want to engage your neighbors, plant cherry tomatoes or berries that can be picked while passing by," said Wendy Weiner, who teaches clients how to make attractive and functional gardens through her business, the Front Yard Farmer. "Plant something for this specific purpose, and put up a sign that says, 'Yes, please pick the cherry tomatoes.' "

To stimulate passer-by curiosity, put up signs offering the names of specific plants or saying, "Guess what this is?" Another helpful sign, Weiner said, asks dog walkers to keep their pets out of your garden.

To be a good neighbor, keep your front-yard garden fully maintained, attractive and appropriate to the surroundings so it doesn't become a neighborhood eyesore, Weiner said.

"I built raised bed boxes in my front yard for utilitarian reasons," she said. "In doing so, I was able to lay them out in a way that I found attractive and balanced within a classic suburban yard. I like the way the wood has weathered. I wouldn't paint them showy colors."

If you want to add whimsical features to your garden, consider what they might look like when everything has died back. "I prefer to give the plants the leading role in the garden and let a well-tended plant stand on its own," said Weiner. "Too many whirligigs and ornaments can be a distraction."

The Veggies of Your Labor

"The most important thing to remember in front-yard vegetable gardening is to have fun," Jenkins-Sutton said.

"Making a connection to where our food comes from, understanding the difficulties of food production, recognizing the taste and nutritional benefits of growing vegetables and, most of all, the satisfaction of the first vine-ripened tomato are invaluable lessons for people of all ages," he said.

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Spring Gardening Guide [iTsArticles]

Grab your gardening boots and get ready to get your hands dirty. With so many returning to their roots this time of year, a talk is in order with Sheri Ann Richerson, author of "Complete Idiot's Guide to Year-Round Gardening" and "101 Organic Gardening Tips," to get the dirt on how to weed, prune and prep gardens for spring.

Early Spring: Determine Your Start Date:

While spring technically begins on March 21st, it's important to take your climate zone into consideration. "Remember, most plants prefer frost-free conditions and soil temperatures that are 50 degrees Fahrenheit or higher," Richerson said. "You can use a cheap kitchen thermometer in place of the more expensive soil thermometers -- simply insert the probe into the ground and let it sit there for five minutes so you know you are getting an accurate reading." In terms of gardening, spring starts when the soil says so.

Early Spring: Check the Soil:
First, check your soil. "Never work wet soil," Richerson said. "Pick up a piece of soil with your hands and squeeze it into a ball. If water comes out, the soil is too wet. If the soil crumbles and won’t form a ball, it is too dry." If the soil forms a somewhat crumbly, loose ball, you're ready to start prepping.

Early Spring: Clear the Area:
"Remove plant debris from the garden," Richerson said. Rake your leaves, clear out old mulch and pay special attention to unwanted refuse in the beds. If you need to turn the soil, do it by hand instead of using a roto-tiller. While you're down there, be on the lookout for insect eggs belonging to ladybugs, praying mantis or other "good bugs." "If you find these, try to leave them alone," Richerson said. Not only do they eat the "bad bugs" (the bugs that eat your plants), they also often keep you company while you garden.



Early Spring: Get Rid of Weeds:
With weeds, the best defense is a good offense. "Remove weeds as soon as they begin to emerge," Richerson said. "You can pull them or chop them off right below ground level." The goal is to get rid of any unwanted growth before it starts to steal the sunlight and nutrients from the plants you're trying to nurture.

Early Spring: Prune Now to Enjoy Later:
Trees, shrubs, flowers and houseplants all need to be pruned. "Pruning encourages new growth and helps give plants a nice shape," Richerson said. "Some plants need pruning to encourage them to continue to flower or flower more profusely." If you've never pruned before, think of it like a routine trip to the barber shop, except you're the barber and your garden is the customer. Essentially, your giving your plants a haircut and encouraging them to take a specific shape. "Always make cuts at a 90-degree angle right in front of a branch or leaf cluster," Richerson said. The goal is cut as close as you can without damaging the part of the plant you're hoping to keep. In terms flowering shrubs, remember that it's best to prune them after they flower so you don't accidentally trim off a baby bud.  Early Spring: Start Your Seeds: Now's the time to plan ahead. "Consider the plants you want to start from seed and how much room you have before you begin," Richerson advised. Then, get out your calendar and count backward. "The typical indoor seed starting time frame depends on the type of seeds -- the average range is anywhere between four weeks and 12 weeks prior to the last frost in your area." The back of your seed packet will tell you a more precise start week for your U.S. Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zone.

Early Spring: Start Your Spuds:
Potato planting begins as early as November, but if you get them into the ground before St. Patrick's Day, you'll be fine. When you begin to plant your potatoes, select a spot in full sunlight and dig a trench 12 inches deep. Then "fill the bottom 4 inches with grass clippings, leaves or straw and place the sprouted potatoes on top of the straw -- be sure they are cut up and cured first," Richerson said. "Cover them with an additional 4 inches of grass clippings, leaves or straw and a light layer of soil." When you start to see refill the trench with your displaced soil.  Early Spring: Plant Cold-Loving Annuals: In the early spring, you can plant some of the heartier annuals, such as pansies, like the ones here, and snapdragons. "Once heavy frosts in your area are over – typically four weeks before the last expected frost, you can begin planting annual plants that don’t mind light frost," Richerson advised.

Mid Spring: Plant Trees and Shrubs:
If you're buying partially grown trees or shrubs, wait to buy them until you are ready to plant them. "A good rule of thumb is to dig a hole two-to-three times larger than the plant's root ball, amend the soil with organic matter and back-fill the hole," Richerson said. "Remember, the roots need to grow into the soil, and hard, thick, packed soil is not ideal for anything."
  
Mid Spring: Divide Your Crowded Perennials:
Perennials, by definition, are plants that grow from the same roots year after year, like the mass of daisies here. Unlike annuals, they don't die after germination. This means you don't have to replant perennials each season. But you do have to be wary of overcrowded roots. The solution is to divide them. "If the perennials are dying, don’t wait," Richerson said. "Do what you can as soon as possible to save some of the plant."

Mid Spring: Plant Cold-Loving Vegetables:
Peas, carrots, radishes, turnips, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, kale and Swiss chard are just a few of the cold-loving veggies you can plant mid-spring. If you're already a seasoned veteran in the garden, take notes from Richerson. "I start planting seeds for my spring garden in January and continue through March. Most people won’t start until April," Richerson said. "I also replant all those frost-loving vegetables again in July and August for a fall/winter harvest."

Mid Spring: Protect Your Plants:
If the soil dries out, your plants have already suffered. "Those tiny feeder roots dry out and then the plant cannot take up water and nutrients as necessary," Richerson said. To protect your plants from dehydration, use compost both before you plant and when the weather heats up. "It warms the early spring soil and cools the soil in summer by protecting the plant's roots." Late Spring: Plant Heat-Loving Annuals: Impatiens, petunias (like these), geraniums and begonias are among the heat-loving annuals you can plant in late spring. "Plant them after the last frost in your area," Richerson advised.

Late Spring: Prune Spring-Blooming Shrubs:
As soon as your spring-blooming shrubs, like the lilacs here, finish flowering, it's time to prune them. "The exception: plants that produce berries," Richerson said. "If you prune these, they will not fruit."

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