How to Landscape for Flower & Vegetable Gardens

Create a notebook of pictures and ideas from gardening magazines that will help you plan the landscape. Think of this as a visual wish list. The scrap book should include plants, plant groupings and any other features, such as fountains, statuary and arbors, that you would like to include.

Accurately measure the area you will be planting with a tape measure. Make a rough sketch of the garden to scale on paper. Include curves, walkways and other existing features in the garden area, as well as architectural and aesthetic features you will be adding.

Use your notebook of ideas to decide what types of plants will be placed in each area of the garden. Write the names of the plants on the garden sketch in the approximate location where they will be planted.

Choose landscape plants that complement each other and share the same water, feeding and sunlight requirements. However, during the hottest times of the year there are some plants that will benefit from the shade of larger plants. Lettuce and spinach, for instance, can be planted under grapevines and tomatoes.

Choose plants in a variety of shapes and sizes. Consider the height and width of the mature plants. Well designed landscapes often incorporate a series of levels, beginning with the lowest in the front to the highest at the back.

Choose appropriate annual vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers for the season. You can also use perennial flowers as well as many herbs and vegetables like asparagus, which will return year after year. Plan carefully to accommodate their growth as well as their dormant seasons.

Use a companion planting chart to avoid planting enemies side by side. Companion planting is a method of gardening in harmony with nature that pairs beneficial plants to maintain health, discourage pests and increase production. Many plants have known enemies that will inhibit growth. For example, peas do not like onions, but tomatoes, asparagus, carrots and basil are mutually beneficial.

Plant the flowers, vegetables and herbs close enough together that their foliage will overlap to create a living mulch and a continuous flow of plants, color and texture in the garden.

Plant the garden for easy access to vegetables. You may choose to plant flowers throughout the garden and place vegetables and herbs along the borders, or use stone pathways that allow you to walk through the garden to harvest and tend the plantings.