Garden Planning in Upstate New York
Gardening can be a means to produce food for your family, produce to sell, or a personal hobby that you just enjoy. No matter what your purpose, gardening takes planning in order to experience success. There are not many homeowners out there who have the perfect garden location or all of the necessary knowledge to perfect the art of gardening, but we have put together some of the most critical information to help you make the most out of your plants and enjoy the many benefits that growing vegetables and feeding your family with healthy foods can bring. The perfect location is not always possible, but there are a few important things to remember when planning the area you will use.- Sunlight is important and your garden will do best if it gets full sun
- 6 hours a day of direct sun is the minimum needed by most vegetable plants for optimum growth
- Leafy crops like lettuce and spinach produce reasonably well in a partly shaded location
- Root crops such as carrots and beets need more light than leafy vegetables, but may do well in a garden that receives only morning sun
- Fruiting plants such as peppers, tomatoes, and beans are sun worshipers and will yield poorly, if at all, with less than 6 hours of direct sun
- If your garden is shaded, experiment with the more shade‐tolerant vegetables to see which do best and put the full‐sun plants in containers that can be placed in a sunny area of your yard.
Companion Planting Chart for Vegetables
Plant (Vegetable) |
| Bad Companions | ||||
Asparagus |
| |||||
Beans |
| Onions, garlic, gladiolus, chives | ||||
Beans, bush | Potatoes, cucumbers, corn, strawberries, celery, summer savory | Onions | ||||
Beans, pole | Corn, summer savory, sunflower | Onions, beets, kohlrabi, cabbage | ||||
Beets | Onions, Kohlrabi | Pole beans | ||||
Cabbage family (cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, broccoli) | Aromatic plants, potatoes, celery, dill, hyssop, chamomile, sage, peppermint, rosemary, beets, onions | Strawberries, tomatoes, pole beans | ||||
Carrots |
| Dill | ||||
Celery | Leeks, tomatoes, bush beans, cauliflower,cabbage | |||||
Chives | Carrots, tomatoes | Peas, beans | ||||
Corn | Potatoes, peas, beans, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, squash | Tomato | ||||
Cucumbers | Beans, corn, peas, radishes, sunflowers, lettuce | Potatoes, aromatic herbs | ||||
Eggplant | Beans, potatoes, spinach | |||||
Leeks | Onions, celery, carrots | |||||
Lettuce | Carrots and radishes (lettuce, carrots, and radishes make a strong team grown together), strawberries, cucumbers, onions | |||||
Melons | Corn, Nasturtium, Radish | |||||
Onions(garlic) | Beets, strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, summer savory, leeks, chamomile (sparsely), pepper | Peas, beans | ||||
Parsley | Tomatoes, asparagus | |||||
Peas | Carrots, turnips, radishes, cucumbers, corn, beans, most vegetables and herbs | onions, garlic, gladiolus, potatoes, chives | ||||
Potatoes | Beans, corn, cabbage, horseradish (should be planted at the corners of the patch), marigolds, eggplant (as a lure for the Colorado potato beetle) | Pumpkins, squash, cucumbers, sunflowers, tomatoes, raspberries | ||||
Pepper | Onion | |||||
Pumpkins | Corn | Potatoes | ||||
Radishes | Peas, nasturtiums, lettuce, melons, cucumbers | Hyssop | ||||
Soybeans | Grows with anything, helps everything | |||||
Spinach | Strawberries, eggplant | |||||
Squash | Nasturtiums, corn | Potatoes | ||||
Strawberries | Bush beans, spinach, borage, lettuce (as a border), onions | Cabbage | ||||
Sunflowers | Cucumbers | Potatoes | ||||
Tomatoes | Chives, onions, parsley, asparagus, marigolds, nasturtiums, carrots | Corn, Kohlrabi | ||||
Turnips | Peas |
- Grow vigorous, healthy plants.
- Rotate crops.
- Choose varieties carefully.
- Use proper sanitation practices.
- Check over transplants.
- Time your plantings carefully according to season and growing patterns.
- Pick out pests and remove by hand when possible.
- Use barriers.
- Consider the use of row covers.
- Mulch with aluminum foil for small area.
- Take advantage of natural enemies.
- Consider natural pesticides when all else fails.
- 1 plant per square: Tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, corn, melon, squash
- 4 plants per square: Lettuce, garlic, Swiss chard
- 8 plants per square: Pole beans, peas, spinach
- 16 plants per square: Beets, carrots, radishes, onions
Garden Planning in Upstate New York was last modified: March 1st, 2018 by