As many of you know, Dave and I are doing a lot of yard work this summer — however, we STILL haven’t had a chance to work on our vegetable garden (no, the photo above is not in our yard — but wouldn’t that be awesome!)
Part of the reason is because we know (from past gardening experience) how much work a vegetable garden can be, and we also already have a lot on our plate this summer.
However, the main reason is because we don’t know exactly where we want to put our garden. So the vegetables need to wait until next year — in the mean time, we’re enjoying fresh produce from my parent’s garden, local farms, and the grocery store.
We’re currently deciding between 2 different locations, and tossing a bunch of other design ideas around. Of course, I’ve been scouring magazines, websites, Pinterest, etc. for more ideas — and I thought I’d share some of them with you in case you had anything else to add.
If all goes as planned, we HOPE to “break ground” later this fall so our garden is ready for seeds early next spring.
.
LOCATION #1 = The front yard.
I realize that the front yard isn’t exactly a “normal” location for a vegetable garden… but due to the layout of our property and the direction our house faces, the front yard actually does make sense.
Our side and back yard is about 80% shade — which is awesome for playing outside on hot summer days, but not so awesome for growing vegetables. The front yard, on the other hand, is south-facing and literally has 100% sun all day long. This makes growing grass somewhat of a challenge so we figured it might be a good idea to remove some of the grass and replace it with a large vegetable garden.
A few more of the pros and cons:
PROS:
- full sun all day long
- we already have irrigation in place for watering
- unlimited space — seriously, our front yard is HUGE and we could grow anything we wanted
- it could potentially be an awesome focal point for our yard and look super “farmy” to have a big garden out front (think white picket fence, metal windmill, and a scarecrow!)
- it’s currently ready to go and all we’d have to do would be rototill up the grass and bring in some fresh soil
- it would alleviate the need to water so much grass all summer long as part of the front yard would be a garden
CONS:
- front yard veggie gardens aren’t “normal”
- although we do already have irrigation in place, we would still need to rearrange a few zones and sprinklers to make it work for a garden
- it would most likely be quite a bit more expensive because we would want to put a nice white picket fence around the garden to make it look “pretty”
- it could potentially take away from all the other landscaping we’re doing in the front yard, especially in the off seasons when it would mainly be an empty garden plot
- it would break up our nice big front yard — a.k.a. our future soccer or football or wiffleball field!
- it would not be in super close proximity to our house, our garage (where all our tools are), or our kitchen
- it would be more challenging to work in the garden with Nora around because we would be so close to the road
- it would be really easy for anyone to take produce out of our garden since it’s right out in by the sidewalk and away from our house (not that I think this would happen; however, it is something Dave and I have mentioned before)
- if we change our minds, it would be a huge pain to remove
LOCATION #2 = Along the side of our driveway.
Again, I know this definitely isn’t a traditional spot for a vegetable garden, but since our side yard and back yard are too shady, we have limited options.
The side of our driveway is a very long, narrow strip of land (about 10-15 ft wide and 300 ft. long). We’re currently thinking about making part of that strip into a raised-bed vegetable garden… but again, we haven’t totally thought through everything yet.
We would have to do a decent amount of demolition to make this space suitable for a veggie garden, but we were planning to do most of the demolition at some point anyway — just not necessarily this fall.
A few more of the pros and cons:
PROS:
- it wouldn’t be as “out in the open” as the front of our yard (we wouldn’t do it right next to the road — probably back at least 150 feet)
- it would get much more sun than if we had a garden in our side yard or our back yard
- it would be right next to our house (right outside our kitchen) and our garage for easy access
- we could start small and easily add more raised beds as we went along
- we wouldn’t need it to look super pretty because it would be mostly hidden from the road
- this portion of our yard is on a separate zone for sprinklers so watering would be super easy
- it would be relatively easy to remove the garden if we changed our minds down the road
- it would be easy to work in the garden while Nora plays in the driveway with chalk, on her scooter, in her car, etc.
CONS:
- it could potentially make parking along the side of the driveway more difficult
- it wouldn’t get as much sun as the front yard (full sun from 12-7pm)
- we would have to remove several large trees and a whole bunch of brush/ground cover before we could even start “building” the garden, and we aren’t positive we want to take on that project this year
- if we chose this location, we would need to build raised beds — which is another project and it could be pricy depending on how many we want to build
- the space is more confined so we would have less freedom or room for expansion
.
Here’s a (not totally to scale) drawing of our property to give you a little bit more of an idea about the 2 options we’re deciding between. Keep in mind that the area by the driveway is actually a lot larger than it looks. This drawing cut our property off early so we have more useable space over there.
When we first started discussing our vegetable garden options, Dave and I were both much more interested in putting the garden in the front yard, but after tossing a few more ideas around, we’re starting to lean a bit more towards trying the side of the driveway… but of course, nothing has been decided yet.
Sometimes I feel like we might be over-thinking it, but as I mentioned in this post, when it comes to yard work, we are notorious for doing something, changing our minds 3 months later, doing it again, and then still doing it again a year down the road. We’re sick of this… so we’re trying to put extra thought and effort into all our gardening plans in an effort to avoid doing double and triple the work for the same outcome 🙂
Can you blame us?
I did find this really neat garden-planning program that I’m hoping will help us with the planning process. It not only helps you plan your garden space, it also helps you know what crops to plant together, how to rotate your crops on a yearly basis, how to naturally control common garden pests, and so much more. Plus, there’s an App for the iPad! The subscription costs $25 per year, but they do have a free 30-day trial that you can use once per email address.
What are your thoughts?
I realize you don’t have all the details so it might be difficult for you to fully understand our potential plans or offer any suggestions, but I’m curious to know what you would suggest — especially if you have a front yard, driveway, or other non-traditional vegetable garden!
top photo credit
Cathy says
I would go with by the driveway for now–while you have small ones being close to the house will be easier and right now you need less food. As they get older, if you feel you need more gardens, you could go the front yard route. If you go with option 1, I’d just make the front yard a fully fenced area so you wouldn’t have to worry 🙂 good luck!
Beatriz says
I would go with the front garden and work with the zones you already have for the sprinklers. That way you could create paths along and it would be a nice stroll kind of thing. You know taller vegetables (eg corn) in the back mixed with varying heights of other veggies/fruits so that it creates a design but it also provides nourishment. I’m not sure how clear that is but I hope it helps.
Jeanine says
I vote for option #2 unless you could move the garden over to the left side in the front yard so that you don’t take up the main part of the front yard and ruin the sight line to the front of your house. I was wondering if you’ve considered putting up a picket fence all around your property so that Nora and visiting kids/future kids would have a safer place to play. I just remember a time when my son went skateboarding down the driveway, couldn’t stop himself, and went right in front of a car on the road. Thankfully, the car was able to stop.
Anyway, I think a picket fence would be so pretty in front of your house, and it would probably give you a lot of peace of mind when Nora gets older and starts having friends over.
Kari Slone says
OK this is one I have to chime in on!! I have spent the last 4 years, since we bought our first (and probably only) house, dreaming, scheming, planning & finally started implementing our Front Yard Raised Potager!!! My home is a 1920 bungalow and what I now consider my own little urban farm. This coming from 25 yrs in an apartment.
In Southern California, it’s still not “normal” to have a front yard garden and my DH was not exactly excited about it either. But the complements, from everyone and the sense of community it’s created have been a great validation and are starting to change his mind.
We don’t have the property square footage that you have so choices were limited. The following are the reasons why we (I) went with the front yard:
In the backyard where a garden would go, was in shade during fall to early spring, which would limit the fall garden.
We got a rebate for lawn removal and I had to do something with the front yard space!
We don’t have kids but it is semi enclosed with fence and arbor (for the green beans) at the front walk. A hedge and chain link fence are on the sides. There is no gate.
I wanted to have some formality so there are four raised beds in each section on either side of the front walk to the house. With a relatively traditional quadrant style of square with quarter round in one corner that creates a roomy round opening in the center of each quad. I can place a large round container or a sprial herb garden in the center.
The front bed at the fence and side walk is a combination of both flowers (mostly of different rose varieties) and edibles.
The raised beds are a pseudo combination of “Square Foot” and hugelkultur. Plans to do both “combination” and rotation planting with flowers with a feel of a french potager.
A possible reason to do plan #2 is that in your zone where you definitely have a winter, is what it would look like during that time of the year?
Andrea, thanks for your blog. I’ve been lurking for some time now, watching, reading, using and pinning much.
Amie says
Have you ever thought of a straw bale garden?
Living So Abundantly says
Definitely driveway! You’re not doing much with that space anyway, and you won’t have regrets later on. 😉
Liz says
Here is a lovely front yard vegetable garden: http://www.theartofdoingstuff.com/the-front-yard-vegetable-gardenjune-2013/
Great inspiration, I’m sure Karen would be happy to discuss why she likes it?
Melinda says
I myself hate making decisions. It’s a lot easier to decide for someone else. ha. Since your asking for opinions and if it were me, I would go with the garden on the side of the driveway. I see nothing wrong at all with a garden in the front yard but when you wrote the con of having Nora by the road when working, that would make me want to have it closer to the house. It sounds like it would be more convenient too. But from reading your blog I’m sure you will make the best decision! Good luck!
Lynn says
I would go with option #2, definitely. My husband and I changed our vegetable garden location from the backyard to the side yard – and did it with two 4×8 raised beds. This is working out wonderful.
Janice says
I vote for option #2 for several reasons. 1. Safer for Nora and any brothers and sisters she may eventually have. 2. Retain the large play area you have. I would love to plant more flowers in our side yard which gets full sun, but would never take away our volleyball, badminton, baseball, croquet, horseshoe tossing area for our family and friends. Our kids loved it, school and youth groups loved it, and now our grandkids love it! No amount of beautiful flowers could ever replace it! 3. Option #2 is near your kitchen. 4. Easier to remove and install sprinklers. 5. Less “stress” to have a picture perfect garden than if it were in the front yard. Veg gardens can go through some ugly stages, especially during dry years, pest prone years, not enough time to spend in garden years, and the offseason. We have had some gardens that were really embarrassing and we’ve been glad they were out of sight. The year our daughter was born in early September, my husband was ill and I spent the summer in bed. Neither of us was up to gardening. 6. When it comes to parking, friends and family always manage to find a place for their cars in order to visit you. 7.your garden produce would be safer from those who might want to help themselves if on front of house. 8.Better to start small with those raised beds than put in a larger area right in front of your house. I could go on with a few more, but this is already long.
Brenda says
I would go with along the driveway. I would run the rows the short length (from the drive to the prop line) You could use raised beds spaced a push mover’s width apart–no weeding the paths. Shorter rows are easier to organize since you don’t need room for 50 tomatoes, 50 peppers…1 row toms, 1 row peppers, 1 row beans…then you can get/make cute little marker signs.
Also, go stand in your font yard for an hour right now (afternoon). It is reallllllllly hot! Stand there tomorrow morning. It is reallllllly hot. Full sun all day means really hot all day, and then you won’t want to work out there or even go out and pick stuff. I know this from experience. :~) Option #2 could be worked in the morning when it is shady or in the evening when it is cooler or almost dark.
If you were trying to grow and preserve everything to last through next year, then you would want option 1 as you will probably yield more (if you can deal with the sun/heat.) But, since I think you are mostly doing this for fun and enough veggies to eat for dinner, I think that Option #2 will yield plenty and be way easier to work in. Also easier due to being closer to kids play area and house. As the kids grow they might want to stay in while you are out and then you can still hear through the windows. (My 4 boys are older {6-15} and they stay in but I can hear if they are being naughty when they think I’m not looking. 4 boys sometimes require a sneaky mom!)
Have Fun!!! Try putting a listing on Craig’s list under free for you-dig ground cover…might get rid of some that way and reduce your digging.
Cheryl says
My husband just built 2 raised beds for our vegetable garden this year. The only place to put it was right in our backyard landscaping and I think it really worked out well. It is not as big as I would want but good enough until we can clear our side yard by taking down some trees. Our next garden will be raised beds again, I like the looks of it also you can really make them the size you need to fit in the space you have. I don’t believe making the beds were too expensive either. I would go with the driveway choice and do raised beds. If you make the raised beds make sure there is a ledge all the way around it so you can sit when picking or weeding the garden.
Jackie says
Driveway definitely!
Dana says
I vote option #2. I have two kids under the age of four and one on the way, and speaking from the experience of my garden being a bit away from my driveway, that is where the kid(s) will be playing and it will be much easier on you to be closer to them! Both options could end up having plenty of expense, just in different ways.
Natalia says
I have a front-yard garden and I love it. We didn’t have to decide on where to put it – it was there when we bought the house. I thought the location for it was strange, at first. Then, it made sense and I love it. It receives more sunlight than it would in the back of the house, and it’s a great conversation starter with guests and neighbors.
But, we do have a white picket fence on the property line, very close to the road. It gives us all the privacy and security we need. The gate rolls over the driveway and it looks just like the fence. I have no idea how expensive it was (it came with the house), but I would encourage you to some research, esspecially since you’re planning to live there for a long, long time. We just close the gate, and don’t have to worry about kids chasing their ball into the street, strange cars pulling into our driveway, etc.
The garden “has” (had?) a second layer of fencing around. We started to take out portions of it, because my husband wants it all gone, while I like the nostalgic look. Trying to decide… We don’t really need a fence there, but I think it makes the garden look nicer, especially during winter months.
We have a shed for tools, and a compost area.
I will try to take REAL pictures (not beautiful) and e-mail you sometime soon, hopefully that will give you an idea and help you decide for it or against.
Andrea says
That sounds lovely — and I’d love to see pictures sometime!
Carrie says
My first thought was a grape arbor with berry bushes on the driveway side and a white picket fence garden in the front. Are there any plans for a Nora garden? I have 3 sons that have their own portions of our garden. They picked their own seeds or plants and were supposed to handle the upkeep (with help as we started when they were3. They loved it! As they grew older, they helped in the big garden also. Now that they are older the thrill is gone but they still talk about
Andrea says
we would actually love to have grapes and blueberries in our eventual garden 🙂 And yes, I’m planning to have an area for nora to plan — we’ll see if she gets into it or not!
Sara says
Hi Andrea!
What an exciting project! I personally love the idea of putting your veggie garden in the front yard. I think it would be a really charming addition to your lovely farm house. I also think it would open up possibilities for future gardening projects, like adding fruit trees, or blueberry bushes, or raspberries. Or maybe a butterfly garden for Nora. I envision your picket-fenced garden with a native flower garden along the perimeter (outside the garden) that would attract pollinators, provide some additional curb appeal, and give you a little more privacy. As for what’s “normal” you could be a trendsetter in your neighborhood! I have created a full-yard garden in my front yard, and have inspired 4-5 neighbors on my street to add more gardens in their own front yard. Now we have a really nice neighborhood for walking and it is such a friendly place…lots more “hellos” and “I love watching your garden change throughout the seasons,” etc. It’s a great way to interact with your neighbors, which creates a really nice sense of community. Cheers!
Ann says
I think your PROS about the side yard convinced me to vote for #2!! Also, I like to garden & have been told many times that if your garden has 6 hours of sun, THAT IS full sun. I used to think full sun meant all day long, but now I understand it differently.
It seems like the side yard would help keep an eye on Nora &/or future children and be a step toward a SIMPLE WAY to enjoy your garden!!
Chris says
I like the idea of closer to the house. But be sure you have someone with some expertise look at the area if you have large trees, even if they will be removed. Our yard has beautiful walnut trees, and as beautiful as they are, they are NOT good in any proximity to a veggie garden because of their root systems. I never knew that until I had some failures in the garden. Now it seems everyone knows that! Wish someone had shared!! So having someone who really knows trees look at the area would be a very good thing. I have been told it would take years for all of the roots to die out.
Beth says
I vote for the side yard, realizing of course that I am not there to see everything well. I love the look from the road to your property from the pics you have shown. As mentioned above, the close proximity to the house while your child(ren) are young is a huge plus. Keeping the tools closer to the garden is also another biggie reason for keeping the garden closer to the house. look forward to seeing your final decision.
Erica Shier says
My opinion? It’s pretty late in the season to plant much at all. Buy a couple of planters for the things you really want, place them on the asphalt area for now and do the work required to put the garden along the driveway next year. Then it will be primed and ready to go….
Andrea says
Hey Erica,
We’re looking for ideas for NEXT year’s garden. We want to get a head start on preparing the area this fall so that it’s ready for plants and seed early next spring. We’re not planing to grow/harvest anything this year 🙂
Tara says
Ok, well since you’re all about simplicity I’ve got to suggest you look into permaculture and doing a less “manicured” garden area. You can find permaculture designers too. It’s all about setting up a little sustainable ecosystem and planting things in a way where they take care of each other and need as little human intervention as possible.
It may not work for you as it’s not always a neat and tidy appearance (although it can be if you want to invest more time into it). But it is what we are gradually shifting to even within the constraints of our little picket fenced in garden and it is wildly successful and much less work. Square foot gardening can be a type of permaculture too.
Here’s a nice blog with lots of permaculture ideas. http://permacultureideas.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2013-02-27T16:55:00-08:00&max-results=7&start=14&by-date=false
I like this motto about gardening. “If it’s not fun, it’s not sustainable” I’d like to add that if it’s too complicated it’s not sustainable. So the above comment from the non-gardener about doing what makes it as simple as possible is really the wisest move. Let your garden work for you than you work for it. With a little less structure we’ve had many of our heirloom crops reseed themselves which means we have more harvest often earlier and with absolutely no work on our part and no expense for seeds.
As another mom of two small people, I have to say…work smarter, not harder in your garden. It’s so important to have a connection with the food you eat, and for your children to see and understand how vegetables and fruit grow. Things my daughter never would touch before, she now eats happily when she can wander our garden and pick them for herself. There’s a magical element to the give and take relationship of stewarding a garden that even the youngest children seem to appreciate.
To add to my little novel here, I think the side yard looks most ideal too. 100 % sunlight will require you to care more for some of your crops and possibly even provide shade for plants that can’t handle that much sun. A little bit of shade and being close to your kitchen will keep your crops more protected (maybe needing less watering) and more utilized in your kitchen.
I’m sure you’ll make a great choice too. 🙂 Happy gardening!
Amanda says
Andrea,
Your front yard is so beautiful, don’t mess with it. I would do the side area – closer to the kitchen. Can’t wait to have a house with a yard some day – in a condo now. I am not much of an outdoors girl, but you are making me want to be.
amanda
Melissa Q says
I say do raised beds in the front yard – then you might not need to fence it in at all. Seriously, square foot gardening has been this girl’s primary reason for starting to garden. It just makes so.much.sense to me (and it doesn’t seem overwhelming AND it appeals to my structured personality).
Though it might not yet be “normal”, I think you AND your neighbors will love having a garden so up-front-and-center to your home.
M says
If you put the garden in the front, it will be your main showcase instead of your beautiful farmhouse. If you put it to the side, it will give accent to your beautiful farmhouse.
Christy says
My thought is the side yard. easier access in a hurry. closer to the house in case you are needed (think future NAPPING children) :).
Katie says
Looking at your map. I know this is not one of your options, but I was wondering about the space more to the side of the garage behind the house, or the space between the 2 garages. This would give you storage and I can’t see that you have anything there but an empty space. Just a suggestion.
Good luck with whatever you decided is right for your family:).
Andrea says
That area is all asphalt. It’s our driveway + a basketball court — which is why that area wasn’t an option 🙂
Melanie says
I would go with #1….but slide it over toward the property line so it’s not smack in the middle of the from yard….so if facing your house…move it left….maybe even have it right on the property line…it’d look beautiful!!!
Andrea says
that area is really sloped so it wouldn’t be great for a veggie garden — especially if we put a fence around it (which we’d like to do).
Jamie Rohrbaugh says
I like your driveway idea. Our subdivision has restrictions prohibiting veggie gardens, so I planted my veggies among the landscaping beds along the side of our house. The blueberries blend in with the greenery, and the asparagus sits next to the echinacea. Looks fine… except for the 6′ milkweeds I need to go pull up. (Hard to find time for yard work these days.) 🙂
Andrea says
I’ve thought about doing this type of thing too — but I’m too particular about how my planting beds look so I KNOW I’d drive myself crazy trying to keep the vegetable part weeded and maintained 🙂 I’m less particular about my vegetable so it would probably be better for me to keep them separate!
Ann says
I vote the side yard because you can start small and add on as you have time and energy. You can also add the front garden later if you decide you need a huge garden but I agree, I’d put it further to the left and not in the middle of your yard.
Chalyse Meiklejohn says
I have never gardened and have no interest in doing so, so I don’t have an opinion. But I’d say just do whichever will make gardening most enjoyable… and SIMPLE, like you say. You want gardening to be fun and not be a hassle. If you have to go out all the way to the front yard and watch Nora while you do it, are you enjoying your garden? If you have it next to the driveway which could cause a lot of tree removal and stress, is that enjoyable? But overall, which spot is the most simple? That’s how I would pick, based on those 2 ideas. Good luck!
Lynn says
I vote for the side yard. Your front yard is so pretty and I love the view of your house.
Kari says
I vote for the side yard. Although if my garden were in plain sight, maybe I’d weed it more! I think raised beds are a great idea and it looks like you can already park plenty of cars.
Shelly Smith says
I love the convenience and “safety” of the one next to the driveway. I have had my garden in two different locations over the past years, one close to the house (but slightly less sun hours) and one farther away but in full sun. I found I was much more “hands on” in the garden close to my house, mainly because of the convenience! When my boys are playing outside, I migrate out there in the nearby garden and pull a few weeds, or water or whatever! And even though the one “out in the filed” was not extremely far away, I was much less likely to “wander by” and work a little bit at a time! And, you never know, but your next child might be a good sleeper, and you could work in the garden close to the house while he/she naps! 😉
Ann says
I agree. We had a tiny strip garden next to our driveway when our kids were young and it was idea and grew a surprising number of veggies! Now that they are all adults, we have a large traditional garden but I still use containers closer to the house for herbs and cherry tomatoes and I find I keep those up better than the big garden because they are easily accessible.
Ann says
*ideal* not idea
Katie says
I vote #2! This is our very first year having a garden, so I’m certainly no expert, but it’s already been abundantly clear to us that that there are 2 major must-haves for success (besides the sun!): convenient location and convenient access to water. It seems like both of those things are more easily provided through option #2! Plus, if Nora is anything like Lincoln, he gets bored of “helping” in the garden after about 20 minutes (or less), so having it far away from the road has been super important for us. He’s still within eyesight while we’re working, and has plenty of room to safely wander/play outside of the fence.
EITHER WAY: I know you’ll make a great decision for your family! Can’t wait to see how your plans evolve.
Melissa says
I vote for the side yard. Most of our gardening is done with the kids outside and we have a fenced in backyard when we do ours. It is super easy to weed which we have to do a lot of with the kids in the back with us. I know they are safe. Plus for the front it doesn’t look nice all year long. Well at least our garden doesn’t, but we do plant primarily vegetables, so they take some time to grow! But that is just my two cents!
Ree says
I think having it in the front yard would be the best option, if you are able to put up larger fencing around the veggies themselves (it wouldn’t have to frame them in entirely, but at least along the actual garden) and not just a regular white fence — this would also give certain veggies space to grow upwards, if they had something to grow against (which is also quite pretty). This would mean the view of your house wouldn’t be quite as open, at least not when coming from the left, but I think it’s a small price to pay for a larger garden with more sun.
The only reason I would suggest option nr 2 is that the only exhaust coming in undiluted would be from your own cars and those of your friends/family, and not “all the cars that drive past” as it may be in the front yard. (Having a larger fence with smaller holes/none at all would hopefully help to keep some of that exhaust away though.)
As for the actual location of option 1; in the drawing, there’s a black space which you’ve cut out (I assume you had something else planned there originally) and the garden would be placed somewhere in the middle of your front yard – any particular reason for why you’re not thinking of having it to the side (to the left)? It would make it easier to expand, going from a wall and outwards instead of starting in the middle and going out to the sides (unless it’s because of what you’re planning on planting) and it would also mean that at least for a time, there is some grass available for playing on.
Andrea says
the left side of our front yard (looking at it from the road) is sloped so it would be sort of difficult to put a fence up and get nice flat beds. That’s the main reason we are thinking of putting the garden more in the middle/right of our front yard.
Jen says
I like Option #2 best. I do think the garden could be pretty in the front with your fence idea, but you have such a lovely home and yard and I agree that it would definitely detract from that. Since this is your “forever home,” the pain in the butt process of taking out trees and stuff to make room for your garden makes sense.
Regardless, I know you’ll end up with the best choice for you. But if there’s a vote to be taken, I vote for #2! lol
Andrea says
yeah — we plan to take down those trees eventually anyway — we’re just not sure we want to have that expense next year already 🙂 Seriously, why are trees SO expensive to remove!
Evie says
Oh, I would absolutely put it in the front yard–but just not so far out by the road. I’d tuck it into kind of an “A” shape in the front yard area on the left side as close to the bushes and trees you can get it while maintaining full sun. Hard to explain what area I mean and I keep trying to point….LOL…….but if you stand on the sidewalk and walk up through your yard in an angle toward the left, you will get to where I mean. If you put a (charming, white, picket) fence around the garden, Nora will be safe with you, especially since I bet she’s going to be psyched up about gardening and have her own little tools and area to dig. About tools, I’d put a small shed in there for essentials so you don’t have to carry things back and forth each time you need them. IMO, the driveway area would look too cluttered with a vegetable garden there. This is going to be exciting, whatever you decide!
Evie says
Answering myself here, hahah, but to clarify the “A”, I was picturing it angled with the bottom of the “A” tilted to complement the shape of the drive on the other side of the yard. That would give a kind of visual funnel from the street, directing the focus onto your house. 🙂 Evie
Ann says
Brilliant idea! It took me awhile to grasp what you were suggesting and your comment was very helpful in doing that! I concur!
Andrea, you could also start with a smaller triangle and can always widen it if you want it bigger. You are at the stage of life where a huge garden might make life too complicated anyway. Start small and add on as necessary!
Debby says
Based on the info and pics, I would lean toward the side yard. That is just such a pretty view of your house from the street. Even with the picket fence and such (which I can totally envision), I think down the road you may regret giving up that section of yard. Whatever you decide though, I am sure it will look great and be uber cute.