The 5 Step Process to Creating Your Dream Garden
Hi everyone!
Beth and Lucas here officially revealing our garden to include before and after’s of our renovation. Though we aren’t completely done (not sure if we ever will be), it is a huge transformation that we are so excited to finally share with you. For all our gardening fans, we laid this post out into “5 Steps to Creating your Dream Garden” because if you have an idea we want to show you the way. It’s truly a simple process, but does require work and energy and we know you can do it just like we did!
Step 1: Make a Plan
When we purchased the house in 2019, we knew we needed to add a garden space. The southern side of the yard was not only the largest, but had a good mix of sun and shade for the entire day.
Southern facing areas of the yard usually yield the most sun year round; however, watch for structures that will cast shade over your garden. That being said, in the heat of the summer most plants prefer a filtered sun to help prevent burnt foliage or fruits.
Step 2: Prep Your Space
This side of the house had a concrete patio, so to begin our dream garden we rented a jackhammer and went to town.
(Notice the overgrown cherry tomato bush on the right?)
Step 3: Dig in Irrigation
We got the concrete up over the course of a couple weeks. We drew up a plan for where each garden box would lay and then began digging in the irrigation lines.
Trust us on this one, you want some way to automate your watering! For one, you’ll save time and energy and secondly, steady and regular deep watering is way better for your plants than the ol’ hose and spray nozzle.
Step 4: Build the Infrastructure
For us, we wanted raised garden beds, a fence to keep the dog out, and a pergola (er, very large trellis) to house our barbecue.
Orienting the raised beds north to south provides the most consistent sun to your plants and prevents taller plants from shading out the smaller ones.
Step 5: “Finish Work”
Once the infrastructure was in, the finishing touches were on. This step was just about as labor intensive as building everything, and at times seemed to never end! The finish work included: filling the boxes with soil (roughly 8 cubic yards), laying decomposed granite for us to walk on (and suppress weeds!), finishing the irrigation lines, and adding in some climbing trellis’s for the beds.
We did a combination of vertical and arched trellis’ which not only expanded our growing square footage but also promotes larger, healthier plants.
And that’s it! It sounds pretty simple, and it honestly is - the real kicker is having the desire, making a plan and just doing it. We started this project in the fall and were ready to plant by March. There is of course some tweaks and finishing touches we have yet to do, but we are taking our time and going to enjoy our new space this season!
Below you will find some more pictures of our “After” transformation. Continue to follow us on Instagram and Facebook to get live updates. We will update you as our garden fills in and comes to life!
Beth & Lucas
The vertical trellis will grow mostly pea’s and pole beans, while the arched trellis will be full of indeterminate tomatoes, cucumbers, and winter squash!
Our Liberty House Garden “After”
Cut flower garden, potato boxes, and our dual compost bins!
