Square Metre Garden

I'm interested in the 'square metre garden' approach as a good way to initially get my teeth into growing vegetables. I have two spots in mind either side of my front door, which means they'll be in a relatively sheltered, south-facing spot.

What I'm struggling with a little is what to plant in them, bearing in mind they'll not be ready until the end of the month, and I don't want any one plant hogging the sunlight/nutrients/water, etc. I've spent a while searching on Google for ideas but can't seem to find anything useful for dealing with these issues.

Can anyone help with some suggestions, or point me to a good online site?

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Permalink Reply by Melinda Que_Linda on May 17, 2011 at 17:00

HI Simon, grow what you like eating, or veg that's expensive in stores.

There are lots of good looking herbs and veg which will make the areas around your door look lovely as well as being functional.

Herbs: Rosemary, sage, oregano, mint, some lavender, various cut and come again lettuce. Perhaps even a home made obelisk in the middle of the bed to grow peas or beans.

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on May 17, 2011 at 17:00

I thought the whole point of a square metre garden was just to have one type of veg per square metre??

What I would suggest is to start of with something that you really enjoy eating & is either expensive or difficult to buy.

Possibly a courgette plant on one side & something else on the other?

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Permalink Reply by Una Bee on May 17, 2011 at 18:45

I would suggest herbs and salad leaves like Melinda did, and add at least radishes, beetroot and spring onions to the list. That's what I'm growing now, except that I'm sowing my seeds in drifts instead of squares, aiming for a more natural 'edible flowerbed' effect. You could use a row of taller plants (e.g. beans or peas) climbing on a trellis at the back to add a bit of height and perhaps line the front with another row of something small like alpine strawberries (if you want to think slightly outside the square, that is).

Good luck and have fun experimenting. :)

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Permalink Reply by Flighty on May 17, 2011 at 19:40

I'd try sweetcorn one side as you could grow nine plants in a metre square bed. Sow the seed direct at the end of the month or beginning of June. How about a few tomato plants the other side? Again they can be planted early June.

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Permalink Reply by Simon Thompson on May 17, 2011 at 23:13

Some nice ideas guys. I really want to try a few different plants in each bed so I'll limit the numbers, but the sweetcorn is grabbing me and toms too (they're getting really expensive in the shops and I'm sure the quality is declining - even vine toms seem flavourless these days). Herbs and beetroot are nice ideas too.

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Permalink Reply by Una Bee on May 18, 2011 at 7:06

Go for it, you can't beat a home-grown tomato! :)

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Permalink Reply by Zoe on May 18, 2011 at 8:59

I would go for prolific croppers, so that you can be eating from the patch for as long as possible.

After thinking about it I wondered what I would grow in the same position. So if I only had 2x1 metre square to plant I would have mange-tout &/or french beans climbing up the wall at the back, a courgette plant or a bush tomato in the centre of each, lettuce covering the ground everywhere else & strawberries along the very front edges.

Hope this helps.