Quick Tip: Garden Close to Home

By Jennifer Poindexter

When selecting a garden location, don’t wander too far from home. The first year I lived in my house, our family placed our garden towards the back of our property, near our barn.

We thought this would be a nice, out-of-the-way location that we’d pass frequently and grow our garden where it wouldn’t take up much space near our home.

Though we went to our barn daily to care for our animals, it was easy to trot right past our garden, see the weeds, and think, “We’ll get those later.”

However, when you’re off to your next task, it’s easy to forget. Then you fail to return until your garden is overtaken by weeds.

Our garden produced that year but not like we’d hoped, so we moved it the next year and haven’t had the issue of neglect since. With this in mind, here are my tips on why you should garden close to home:

When planting your garden, ensure it goes in a place with regular foot traffic and where you’ll look at it frequently.

If not, it’s easy to pass by, see what needs to be done, and then forget about it until the issues become too large.

It’s wise to place your garden in a backyard near your home. You may also place it in a side yard or even in your front yard (if you have the space.)

I now garden in multiple locations, but they’re all close to my home. My raised garden is right at my backdoor. This ensures I must look at it everytime I’m in my backyard.

My other gardens are in my front yard. I live approximately five acres off the road and have a long driveway.

By placing my gardens in my front yard, it ensures I must drive by them every time I leave. I take walks along my driveway daily, so I must see them every time I’m out for a walk as well.

Plus, with my gardens being in front of my home, I care about keeping them beautiful. This all inspires me to avoid neglecting my plants. In turn, we produce bountiful harvests.

When gardening close to home, it also increases the chances of having a water source nearby. This is also vital to your garden’s success.

The bottomline is to ensure you place your garden where you can see it, easily access it, and in a location that’s hard to avoid.

In turn, you should have a convenient growing spot which may help you grow a more productive and aesthetically pleasing garden.