The Plan Looked Wrong, So I Fixed It

Final draft... I hope.

Now there's easier access to the compost, #8 has got itself vertical space and the yard should look nicer without paths that just go straight through the garden and smack into the fence. Also, when checking out the shadows in the yard yesterday John and I determined it's Bed #7, not #9 that should be the "hot house" bed. #9 is actually shaded by the houses most of the day this late in the year which means it will be in early spring too. #7 is the first to get sun and keeps it til late.

Also, some of the measurements on the west side were off. That's also been fixed.

Pray I Don't Alter it Further

While deciding what plants go in which beds I realized I didn't have access to the east side of the east beds. My arms cannot comfortably stretch across four feet of garden to tend/harvest so I've altered the arrangement of the backyard beds.

All beds 4ft by 4ft and numbered for easy ID. All paths 2ft wide.

Bed #9 will probably be our hothouse bed. We can build it up a bit, put vertical supports along the east fence and hot house it with clear plastic to get things started early. It gets the most sun for the longest time so this should work well.

Wow were we way off. Almost a full two feet off.

We have an optical illusion yard. Even with this knowledge I can't see the angle out there.

So this is the new plan with  much more accurate measurements. Had to give up one foot of width on one path but gained a vertical space so I say it's a win. We considered digging up to the gate but it's not a patio stone like the rest; it's actually poured concrete so that'll be staying put.

Design for the backyard

The dimensions of the back garden will be 24' X 10' with a "tail" of 3' X 10'. In the NW corner are the compost piles as well as room to store dry material like straw for them. The shed hides this view from the road; and John's sunflowers might hide the shed. :)

The beds have their dimensions marked on them, the main west/east path is two feet wide; the north/south paths are three feet wide and the small paths are one foot wide. This should provide enough room to tend the larger beds and somewhere to put one's foot as one tends the smaller beds.

The ==== indicates vertical supports, and the XXXX indicates where the garden path meets the patio area.