Start a backyard garden this summer with a dozen backyard garden tips to help you build beds and grow flowers, fruits, and veggies.
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Whether you have a small patio or a big lawn, growing a backyard garden is a fun summer activity for families. Kids love learning where their food comes from and somehow, when you’ve done the work yourself, it just tastes better. If you’re looking for creative ideas to add to your gardening plans, these 12 backyard garden tips are simple to do and have big results.
Depending on where you live, Between March and May is the ideal time to plant a summer vegetable garden. As you’re making plans and dreaming of a summer bounty, remember that you don’t always have to follow the traditional rules of gardening. In fact, sometimes trying something new and different turns out fantastic.
Here are a dozen backyard garden tips that I’ve tried in my own garden that are simple, but effective.
Backyard garden tips
1. Build raised beds for easy access.
Raised beds are easier to weed, control drainage, and just look pretty. You can build simple raised beds with cedar boards and garden soil. The raised beds in our garden were built in 2016, 2017, and 2018 and all are holding up well.
2. Make DIY garden markers.
Label your plants with pretty signs to keep track of what is growing where. Try painted rocks, carved stakes, or laminated paper flags.
3. Put a layer of sand down before gravel.
Our original DIY patio looks great, but somehow weeds pop up almost daily. For our most recent section, we put a thin (about 1 inch) layer of paving sand down before adding the gravel. You could also use a layer of newspapers instead. Weed-block fabric works okay, but it doesn’t seem better than the newspaper.
4. Plant companions together.
When you grow certain plants together, they help each other out. Either they deter pests from their neighbors or add nutrients back to the soil for them. For example, tomatoes, bell peppers, and carrots go together.
5. Use rocks in containers.
Small containers sometimes hold water, especially if the soil is packed in tightly. Start by putting a layer of medium-sized rocks in the bottom before adding dirt and plants.
6. Mix veggies with flowers.
Flowers make the whole setup prettier. Some also do a good job of attracting butterflies and bees or deterring pests. We planted marigolds this year, but chrysanthemums, lavender, and chamomile are also good choices.
7. Try new things.
If you’ve always grown the same simple vegetables, like bush beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes, try branching out and planting something new. Peanuts are simple and grow well in containers. They’re a fun way to get kids involved in the backyard garden!
8. Save your plant tags.
Your garden markers will remind you what was planted, but be sure to keep the plastic plant tags and seed packets. You may want to reference them for instructions or remember which variety you purchased for next year.
9. Deter pests with cayenne pepper.
One of the best natural bug and critter repellents is cayenne pepper. Sprinkle it onto the soil and plants and repeat every few days. Just be careful around pets or kids; it works because it smells spicy and burns if you sniff it!
10. Repurpose coffee and eggshells.
Composting is quite a chore and one I’ve never been good at. Used coffee grounds and empty eggshells can go straight into the garden beds. Be sure to rinse and dry the eggshells before crumbling them. Wet egg = mold.
11. Keep beds full.
Traditional gardens are spaced out in nice, even rows. Most plants can grow closer together without any trouble, though. There’s no room for weeds and you can get a bigger yield in a smaller space.
12. Save space by going vertical.
Vine plants like cucumbers, squash, and pole beans take up a lot of space. We made a DIY trellis with trimmed tree branches for our beans.
What’s next? Try these other fun and creative ideas on One Mama’s Daily Drama:
Thanks for the great info!
You’re welcome! If you try any of my ideas, I’d love to know how it goes.