Creating a small no till garden
No till gardening is a system of gardening where the soil is mulched to prevent soil erosion, conserve water and reduce the pressure of weeds. Utilizing no till in small garden spaces will help to reduce weed pressure and conserve water.
Like large gardens, small gardens benefit greatly from no till methods as the physical work load of maintaining a garden space is very time consuming. Weeding will be cut to minutes a week and watering will be much faster when the garden is working to conserve it’s own water.
Be sure to add a barrier space around the edge of your garden to prevent grass from creeping into your rows. If you are using lawn around the garden space, ensure your pathways are wide enough for your lawn mower to get between any raised beds. It is also wise to consider the tools you use in the garden. If you use a wheelbarrow or wagon, make the distance between rows wide enough for this equipment to get down the pathways.
When growing in small gardens, it is important to employ all the usual gardening recommendations like rotating your crops. Lay out a rotation system and keep in mind that larger plants like corn will shade smaller plants. This can work in your favor if you plant onions, lettuce, radish or other cool season plants so they are shaded for a part of the day by the corn. Remember that fruit trees tend to sucker so choose varieties that sucker little and plant to remove suckers as they occur.
It can be difficult in small yards to find space that is open to direct sunlight all day. Utilize the space in your yard, plant warm season veggies on the south side of buildings where it is hottest. Plant cool season vegetables in areas of the yard that does not have full sunlight all day as they can handle some shade.