25 Ideas for Your Fruit and Vegetable Garden

Keep herbs handy for easy clipping

Summertime meals are made for just-picked flavors from the garden, so keep savory herbs in pots near your back door for quick snipping when you’re cooking up a storm.

Use raised beds

A raised bed is an excellent option if your soil isn’t up to par. Build the bed frame using materials like untreated wood, stone, or bricks. Ensure the raised bed is at least 16 inches (40 centimeters) deep to allow plant roots to grow. Fill the bed with topsoil or triple mix; compost or composted manure may be added for heavy feeders.

Make it pretty

Play with color—juicy red, deep aubergine, and crisp citrine—and texture to create attractive displays that are as easy on your eyes as they are on your taste buds. Lettuce, with its striking foliage, makes for a lovely edible border in early spring. Once the lettuce is harvested, plant small, colorful hot peppers (like habanero or jalapeño).

Separate invasive plants

Be careful of aggressive spreaders, such as strawberries and mint, which can take over your garden. Plant them in individual containers, where you can reap the tasty benefits and keep plants controlled at the same time.

Incorporate edibles into your living space

Use a combination of built-in raised beds and containers to bring an edible oasis onto your deck. No space? No problem—this design works as well for a small condo balcony as it does for an oversized backyard patio.

Think outside the pots

Make attractive containers for individual plants with recycled tin cans and jars. Wash and dry the jar or can, then drill holes in the bottom for good drainage.

Mix edibles and ornamentals

Combine practical and pretty: In addition to being beautiful, flowers draw pollinators and beneficial insects (such as ladybugs) to your garden to help control the harmful pests.

Mulch it up

Mulch helps to retain moisture in the soil, adds organic matter, and discourages weeds; it also makes an attractive background. Straw is a traditional organic mulch, but be sure to avoid hay, which contains weed seeds.

Create a border

To add structure to your vegetable garden, plant a border. Boxwood was used here, but it can be high maintenance. Try lavender or germander, which have similar growing requirements to a vegetable garden.

Let them climb

A surprising array of annual crops—pole beans and peas—are well suited to growing vertically with the support of a trellis. Vertical plantings take up less ground space and can cover up unattractive siding on your house.

Keep out pests

Use a sheet of thin-gauge chicken wire to deter pests from digging up your seeds before they sprout.

Make your own markers

With so many distinctive heirloom varieties available these days, be sure to identify your plants so you can keep track of what you’d like to plant again next year. Get creative with Popsicle sticks—washed and dried; they make excellent markers and are a fun project for kids.

Even the smallest nook and cranny can accommodate a pot of edibles.

Whether it’s a backyard patio, small apartment balcony, the edge of a driveway, or even an urban rooftop, all you need is a space with a few hours of sunlight to grow container veggies. Colorful crops such as cabbage and red lettuce, multicolored ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard, and orange and yellow peppers add visual allure. And while you’re at it, combine pots of flowers, particularly edible ones such as nasturtiums, bergamot, lavender, and pansies.

When choosing vegetables, the most crucial consideration is how many hours of sunlight the growing area receives. If possible, select a site with easy access to water; being able to hook up a hose to a garden tap or an indoor faucet will save you laborious and time-consuming trips with a watering can.

What are the requirements for vegetable containers?

You have several options for containers, including buckets, barrels, garbage pails, and plastic crates lined with plastic garbage bags—even window boxes or hanging baskets should work. Bear in mind, though, that clay pots, unless they’re glazed, absorb moisture from the soil, so your plants will need more frequent watering.

Consider the following vegetable container tips:

If your growing area is on a rooftop or an apartment balcony, use lightweight pots and a lightweight soilless mix. If you’re planning on having multiple containers, check if your building has any weight restrictions.
Avoid using anything that’s been coated with toxic substances or preservatives.
If the pot is too little, the plant may develop poorly and become root-bound.
Drainage holes in the bottom are critical.
Smaller containers require more frequent watering; those less than 20 centimeters wide are challenging to maintain.

How to prepare your fruit and vegetable pots?

Before you add the potting mix to the container, place fiberglass screening (available at hardware stores) or landscape cloth over the base’s holes to keep soil in and undesired creatures out. Fill to within a few inches of the top and carefully press the mix down—not enough to compact it but sufficient to settle the mix (if needed, add more to once more bring it to the required level). If the soil doesn’t contain slow-release fertilizer, mix in an organic fertilizer or slow-release types, such as 10-10-10 or similar all-purpose fertilizer for greens 5-10-10 for other vegetables, according to manufacturer’s directions.

How to plant your vegetable pots?

Once you’ve decided on a container, a suitable growing medium is essential for success. The mix (available with or without soil) needs to be porous enough to allow for good drainage and oxygen to reach plant roots. It must also hold moisture well; most garden soil is not suitable, as it becomes too compacted when wet. Buy the best available (ask a knowledgeable person at a garden center for advice, as there is usually more than one quality for sale). You can also add compost or composted manure (up to one part compost/manure to three parts potting mix).

While some vegetables can be planted in cold weather, others require warm temperatures. You can sow seeds directly into the containers or plant out seedlings. Thin seedlings once their first real leaves appear. After planting, water well.

Tip: A liquid seaweed solution—available at garden centers and nurseries—gives veggies a good start (follow manufacturer’s directions).

The leaves of the vegetables should become dark green (unless they’re specially colored), and the plant should grow at a steady rate. If the leaves are pale or discolored and growth is slow or stunted, they most likely need fertilizing (see Feeding schedule for more details).

When you check your containers for dryness, also examine plants for disease and pests. Remove any diseased plants and destroy (do not compost). If possible, isolate those that have pests. Aphids are a reasonably common problem and can be washed off with a shower of water; repeat every four or five days. Remove dead leaves to discourage mold.

At the end of the season, empty your containers, saving half the soil. (Don’t leave filled clay or ceramic pots outside over winter, as they may crack.) Refill your containers the following spring with a combination of fresh potting mix and saved soil.

Vegetable Pot Feeding Schedule

Some potting mixes contain slow-release fertilizer. In this case, vegetables won’t need feeding for eight to 10 weeks after planting. If you’re using good-quality soil, compost, and organic fertilizer, you can wait four to six weeks. Then add liquid fertilizer every two weeks or if plants need it once a week. Exceeding the amount recommended on the package can burn or even kill the plants.
Even better: feed your plants with composted manure (any kind is acceptable except for chicken, too high in salt) or compost tea. (To make tea, suspend a cloth bag containing one part compost or composted manure into a pail with five to eight parts water. After one day, the water will turn dark brown; dilute to the color of weak tea before using.)
Properly fertilizing your plants is essential for success. How often depends on your growing medium, the quality and nutritional value of your compost (if used), and the type of vegetable.

What is the correct watering routine for vegetable pots?

A regular watering routine is crucial to successful vegetable growing. Containers dry out quickly and need to be checked at least once a day. On sunny, dry days or in scorching conditions, such as those found on rooftops, they may need to be checked twice daily. Even after a rainfall, don’t assume the container has been sufficiently watered, as leaves can prevent the water from reaching the soil.

Water when the soil feels dry 2.5 centimeters below the surface. To help prevent problems with mold or fungus, water in the morning. If you must water at night, avoid wetting the leaves.

Light: Medium

25 Ideas for Your Fruit and Vegetable Garden

Keep herbs handy for easy clipping

Use raised beds

Make it pretty

Separate invasive plants

Incorporate edibles into your living space

Think outside the pots

Mix edibles and ornamentals

Mulch it up

Create a border

Let them climb

Keep out pests

Make your own markers

Even the smallest nook and cranny can accommodate a pot of edibles.

What are the requirements for vegetable containers?

Consider the following vegetable container tips:

How to prepare your fruit and vegetable pots?

How to plant your vegetable pots?

Vegetable Pot Feeding Schedule

What is the correct watering routine for vegetable pots?

Temperature, Light, and Planting Chart

Beans

Beets

Kale, Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Cabbage

Carrots

Melons and Cucumbers

Peppers and Eggplant

Leeks

Lettuce

Onion

Peas

Asian greens

Potatoes

Swiss chard

Radishes

Squash

Tomatoes

Spinach

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