Orientation

Oliver Buckle

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2021
Messages
4,202
Reaction score
2,704
Country
United Kingdom
Wondering how you orient your rows, stuff that grows close I usually put roughly east to west so the sun is full on to the rows and the plants don't shade each other, but that's usually, not always. Things like potatoes which grow as individual plants pretty much I just put in to suit the run of the bed. In my last garden that was a south facing slope east west seemed natural, in this one where it is slightly north west facing it doesn't feel as though it makes a lot of difference and I tend to go with the way the bed runs.
 

oneeye

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2020
Messages
1,697
Reaction score
608
Country
United States
Wondering how you orient your rows, stuff that grows close I usually put roughly east to west so the sun is full on to the rows and the plants don't shade each other, but that's usually, not always. Things like potatoes which grow as individual plants pretty much I just put in to suit the run of the bed. In my last garden that was a south facing slope east west seemed natural, in this one where it is slightly north west facing it doesn't feel as though it makes a lot of difference and I tend to go with the way the bed runs.
I love your observation friend. Makes a lot of sense too. Can you post photos?
 

Meadowlark

No N-P-K Required
Moderator
Joined
Feb 5, 2019
Messages
3,347
Reaction score
2,836
Location
East Texas
Hardiness Zone
old zone 8b/new zone 9a
Country
United States
x2 on the photos @Oliver Buckle .

I have raised my family's veggies in the same location for about the last 1/2 century, never changing the East/West orientation of the rows but always rotating the crops. The orientation is singularly driven by optimizing use of equipment specifically, small garden tractor and implements. Long rows, plenty of room to maneuver/turn around facilitate growing large volumes of veggies.

I have long held the belief that a large garden laid out for optimizing equipment use was far easier to work than a small garden which has to be worked principally by hand. With advancing age, that belief is further enforced.
 

Oliver Buckle

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2021
Messages
4,202
Reaction score
2,704
Country
United Kingdom
"Can you post photos?"

I should be able to, after three years I managed to get the forum onto my phone the other day, but I haven't mastered moving photos yet. :rolleyes:
Mind, it's mostly bare earth waiting for the rows to go in at the moment, that's what made me think about it as I was turning in manure.
My only equipment that is not hand tools are the mower and an electric grass rake. My garden is a reasonable size, but not laid out in a way that would allow your sort of rows, Meadowlark. Sometimes I think your photos look more like agriculture than horticulture :) Actually I quite like doing it with hand tools, it's good exercise for my age, I feel it puts me more in touch with the soil, and mechanical tools are noisy, I enjoy hearing the birds
 

Oliver Buckle

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2021
Messages
4,202
Reaction score
2,704
Country
United Kingdom
Looking at the last bit of that post, not just hearing. All over the world there are birds called 'robins', but our robin is a small insectivore, and very people friendly. Not only have they nested in my shed, where I am in and out daily for tools and the missus goes to the freezer, when I an turning in manure as I have been the last few days he will come and sit on a nearby clump of earth, the tread of the spade, or even my boot, as a vantage point to survey the dug ground. That is magical, but it would never happen with a tiller. Yes I want crops, the end result, but enjoying getting there is as important, it's quite a chunk of my life.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads

Arch orientation 0

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
28,180
Messages
268,150
Members
14,951
Latest member
Aqibnoor

Latest Threads

Top