Having a garden is the perfect way to lower your food bill and ensure you’re eating the freshest vegetables and herbs. Sooner or later, you might want to expand your garden space.
Removing Grass
The quickest way to expand your garden is to dig out the grass by hand. You can take the sod out and use it elsewhere. An easier method for removing grass is the solarization method. The solarization method uses the sun to remove grass, weeds, and any disease in the soil.
Cover the area with a black or clear plastic tarp. The ground under the tarp will heat enough to scorch the grass, weeds, and disease. Depending on the weather, you could have a new garden area in 4 weeks. If there is still some grass, you can use a rototiller or dig the grass into the soil and add compost.
Trimming Trees
If you have a nice area of the yard you want to expand your garden into, but there are trees, you can trim the branches or remove the tree. Removing a tree can be a costly way to expand your garden, but it is an option.
Sometimes just having the branches trimmed will allow enough sun into the expanded garden area. Before you decide between trimming and removing a tree, you should consult with a residential tree care company. If trimming the branches gives the area 3-6 hours of sun, there are plenty of vegetables that grow well in partial sun.
Vertical Gardens
If you can’t expand your garden outward, expand it vertically. You can use trellis netting along a privacy fence, under a deck, or on poles to grow vegetables on vines.
You can practically double the size of your garden by using netting and vertical gardening. Some vegetables that grow well on trellis netting include zucchini, peas, pole beans, strawberries, cucumbers, and crookneck summer squash.
Raised Gardens
Expanding your garden doesn’t have to mean adjacent to the existing garden. You can put raised gardens in any sunny spot. You can build your own raised garden beds using 2 x 10-inch untreated wood from the hardware store. To make it easy to reach the middle from either side, build the raised beds no wider than 4 feet.
You can also buy premade plastic or cedar raised garden frames. You don’t even have to remove the grass first. Raised garden beds expand your garden area and also look nice in the yard.
You can easily double the size of your garden space with any of these techniques. Expanding your garden size reduces the amount of lawn that you have to care for and gives you more healthy food to enjoy.