Grow Your Own
Learn how to grow fuss free fruit and veg, with these top tips. There's so many reasons to grow edibles and it's easy when you start small!
Growing your own fruit and vegetables has become a bit of trend in the last few years and and there’s many reasons for this, not least because growing food makes your garden more functional as well as beautiful – what’s not to like?!
And if you’re looking for more reasons to incorporate edible plants into your garden, look no further…
Why Grow Fruit and Veg?
1. Sustainability
- Growing your own helps reduce your carbon footprint, with no transport needed, no packaging required, and no nasty pesticides used.
2. Economic Advantages
- With the cost of food rising, growing your own can reduce your monthly grocery cost and you will be getting fresh, healthy, organic produce.
3. Health
- You will be getting the freshest possible produce devoid of harmful pesticides and preservatives. Not to mention the benefits to your mental and physical health from spending time outside and the satisfaction of knowing you’ve grown your own food.
4. Aesthetic Appeal
- Edible plants can be just as beautiful as ornamental ones. Many vegetables have interesting leaf textures, some herbs have lovely dainty flowers and fruit trees and bushes have great autumn displays.
Ways to Incorporate Fruit and Veg:
Now, the thought of a kitchen garden fills many people with dread and overwhelm, however you really do not need a huge amount of time or space to grow your everyday favourites. So here I’m highlighting a few ways to incorporate fruit and veg into your garden design with the minimum of fuss…
1. Raised Beds
- The easiest way is to add a couple of raised planting beds. This creates a dedicated space for growing that is easy to maintain.
- By artificially raising your soil depth, you are not reliant on the quality of your garden’s soil.
- Raised beds can be any size and made of many different materials, and because of this they can be designed for any size, shape or style of garden.
- If you grow annual fruit and vegetables, you can change what you grow in them year on year.
2. Structures
- If you have a structure in your garden, such as a pergola, consider planting climbing vegetables such as beans, peas, cucumbers or vine tomatoes up it.
- Not only will they provide produce, but with the many varieties available they can also add a seasonal pop of colour.
3. Trees
- There is something truly delightful about freshly picked fruit!
- Fruit trees can even be incorporated into tight spaces.
- Beautiful espaliered, cordon or fan trained fruit trees can be grown on a fence or wall. They do require annual pruning to encourage fruiting and maintain their shape, but I believe the small amount of time this requires is well worth it.
- There are many varieties available to purchase ready trained such as Apples, Pears, Cherries and Plums.
4. Amongst Other Plants
- Many fruits and vegetables will grow happily amongst other plants and can add colour and texture to a planting scheme.
- Plants such as Artichokes with their bold dramatic leaves can be a real focal point.
- Herbs such as thyme, sage and Chive have lovely flowers, and plants with brightly coloured fruits such as peppers and tomatoes can add a pop of colour to a border.
- This can be a great way to start growing your own as you can add a few plants amongst your borders.
The best place to start when growing your own produce is by picking easy to grow varieties of things you and your family like and planting only a few, This way you do not have to dedicate a lot of time or effort. As your produce appears, and your confidence grows, you will start planning new plants to grow the following year I am sure!
Have we enthused you?! Book your free consultation with ALDA to get started on a fruit and veg garden, or read more tips on growing your own from the RHS.
From planning a new border to a complete garden remodel, we pride ourselves on transforming ideas into beautiful reality, with minimum disruption. If you’re based in or around the Reading and Newbury area, we’d love to meet and discuss your project in detail – book your free no-obligation garden consultation today.