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The stealth garden plan

August 28th, 2008 at 06:26 pm



I have ambitious plans to beautify the outside of our house. Part of this is to eliminate grass,because I hate mowing, and since all of the full sun on our property is in the front, build beds large enough that I can secretly grow vegetables behind the flowers without raising the ire of the neighbors.

And then there's covering up those glamorous sink holes that showed up last year!
Here is the plan. The dark areas are the new beds. Now that the roof is finished, my goal is to dig the beds during the month of September. If all goes well, I will be able to buy stone and lay the stone retaining walls around the beds as well.

The dark parts of the diagram are the new flower beds. There should be enough room to plant some perennials for a butterfly garden, and then a hidden strawberry patch, herb garden, and watermelon patch, and some zucchini plants. From the street, all you will be able to see are flowers, if all goes according to plan.

It's like a stealth agriculture plan! I'm such an anarchist...

8 Responses to “The stealth garden plan”

  1. baselle Says:
    1219949888

    Do you have an HOA that prevents a veg garden? Unless you are actively planning to grow poison ivy and 4ft high bermuda grass (tick farming, anyone?), the only thing the neighbors might be complaining about is the raccoon feeding site that you'll be generating. Big Grin

  2. thriftorama Says:
    1219952617

    We don't live in an HOA. Thank goodness! I'm just surrounded by older conservative folks, who believe that a lawn is part of the American dream. And for the record, I've never had a raccoon problem ; )

  3. monkeymama Says:
    1219953315

    I just found out it was city law that we couldn't grow gardens in the front yard - I didn't even know. You don't need an HOA for crazy rules...

    Sounds like a GREAT idea. I likey.

  4. thriftorama Says:
    1219955613

    monkeymama. That's disgraceful. I mean, hello. Victory Gardens in WWII allowed average people to grow 40 percent of the nation's veggies. In an eco challenged world, these laws need to be reevaluated. I'm just hiding mine because I like my neighbors and want to be considerate. Plus I like flowers and want to plant some bee and butterfly plants, so this makes everybody happy.

  5. baselle Says:
    1219979961

    Monkey Mama - That city law is crazy and a shame. By definition (garden = collection of cultivated plants), a lawn's a garden. & a foreclosed 4 ft weed patch is ever so much better.
    Thriftorama - I can relate. But you'd be surprised about some of those old conservative neighbors. Many of them are secret gardeners and might help you out. Herb perennials are usually quite handsome plants - good to be tucked in between the flowers in the front. And I thought I didn't have a raccoon problem when I started my first Seattle garden. All it takes is a couple of developing ears of corn. Smile

  6. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    1220030782

    Scarlett runner beans are a nice edible to plant where looks count. You can grow them up an obelisk or trellis and they make showy red flowers. The beans are edible, but you must harvest them young or else you have to shell them and use as dry beans which must be rinsed multiple times in cooking to remove toxic alkaloids! But they are tasty when young and are productive.

    Strawberries can be grown beneath trees! They leaf out in spring ahead of the trees and are bearing fruit when the trees are fully leafy. But they will have gathered enough sun to make good berries and expand their size so that you can thin them out and create new strawberry patches with the thinnings....If you grew strawberries in N.O., you probably need to grow a different type there in OH[? Is that where you are?].

    Oh, the everbearing Alpine type strawberries make a really cute edging for beds and walkways.

  7. gruntina Says:
    1220116620

    I want to grow a veggie garden too! But not in the front of the house. I want green beans and corn and both grow pretty tall! I also want to be able to walk around the garden and through it ro reach for all harvest. I think having space is important for growth as well.

  8. thriftorama Says:
    1220145461

    I wish I could grow everything in the back, but my back yard is shaded by two giant silver maple trees. The front is the only sun I get, so I will have to make do.

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