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A new vegetable garden #398686

Asked May 08, 2017, 8:19 PM EDT

Hi, I just put in a new u-shaped raised garden bed. I am clueless where I should put plants. I'm looking at tomatoes, green beans, radishes, cucumbers, peppers, strawberries, raspberries, maybe blueberries, and probably other plants. The bed is approx. 15' L in a u-shape. The opening of the "U" is facing south. Is there someone who can come over and let me know where to put things? I live in Crystal. I know that some of those things may not go well together. I don't know how or where to start. Help!

Hennepin County Minnesota

Expert Response

Master Gardeners are volunteers with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. Sorry, we don't make house calls.

There are a lot of online sources about planning a vegetable garden. I'll give a few links below.

Your first order of business is to separate out annuals from perennials and shrubs in your list.
Strawberries, raspberries and blueberries come back year after year. You would not want to scatter them throughout your garden, but instead put them in a dedicated corner. I should also add that strawberries are high maintenance, raspberries are a space-eater and invasive, and blueberries are a high maintenance shrub. I would not recommend any of these for a beginner.

A general principle is to put tall plants on the north side, so they don't shade the other plants. From your list, cucumbers (if trellised), pole beans and tomatoes are tall.

Some plants need support - staking or cages or trellises. In your list, pole beans, cucumbers and tomatoes need support. Certain peppers might also.

Finally, some vegetables do better in cool weather, while others require heat. Radishes are cool weather plants and will not do well in hot weather. I suspect it might be too late, even now, to plant radishes, but you can wait until late summer and plant a fall crop.

Here are links. Access to many good references:
https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/

Use this first one for planting dates:
https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/vegetables/planting-the-vegetable-garden/

This one has good planning tips:
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/topic/info/vegetable_gardening

For the three fruits you suggested (you'll see here why I don't recommend them for beginners):
https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/fruit/strawberries-for-the-home-garden/
https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/fruit/raspberries-for-the-home-garden/
https://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/fruit/blueberries-for-home-landscapes/

Dennis in St. Louis Park Replied May 09, 2017, 12:57 PM EDT

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