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| Hello all,
I have the good fortune to be planning this year's garden in a new spot and would like input on what the ideal set up would be. For a garden in a flat area with full sun should the beds be orientated north-south or east-west? I live in the San Francisco bay area, specifically contra costa county and I plan on growing tomatoes, squash, corn, melons, peppers, sun flowers, garlic, dahlias, etc. Thanks for any advice! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I do not think it will matter, if it is in the open, no walls or trees. Now a solar house or a green house would need orientation. |
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- Posted by nancyjane_gardener USDA 8ish No CA (My Page) on Fri, May 4, 12 at 21:00
| I'm up in Sonoma CO. Not far from you! I think you guys are a bit warmer than us, though. I have my garden on the south side of the house where the sun in the summer hits the garden from 6AM to about 6PM The house is on the north side of the garden (2 stories) which gives the garden a bit of reflection to help with the heat. You want taller crops/plants to be on the north side so they don't shade out the other plants. Gotta LOVE No CA! Nancy |
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| I'm not sure how much it will matter, but if it's for one long raised bed I'd say north-south orientation. Picture a single row of corn aligned east-west parallel with the average arc of the sun in the sky through the growing season. The front (east) plants will shade the rear (west) plants in the mornings, and the west plants will shade the east plants in the evenings. Now picture a single row of corn oriented north-south. As the sun rises and sets, the row will not shade itself but will instead cast a shadow on the areas beside the row. As mentioned above, it also depends on the relative heights and sun requirements of what you are planting and there may be some trade-off involved i.e. the pole beans can either shade the cabbage for some of the day (planted north-south) or the beans can shade themselves somewhat but not shade the cabbage (planted east-west). |
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- Posted by steve22802 7a VA (My Page) on Sat, May 5, 12 at 0:11
| If you are considering using coldframes on your raised beds during winter you may want to go with an east-west orientation so that you can slope your coldframes toward the south. |
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- Posted by egganddart49 6a NY (My Page) on Sat, May 5, 12 at 0:42
| I used to do N-S. A diagram in one of Eliot Coleman's books showed E-W. When I redid my garden I aligned the beds E-W. Both have been fine, I saw no difference. Jealous of you No Cal people!! I was only in Sonoma once, but i LOVED it, it felt so Mediterranean! |
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- Posted by stuffradio SW 8a BC (My Page) on Sat, May 5, 12 at 1:30
| As everyone here has said, it probably doesn't matter in the open. I have to have mine a North-South orientation Because of the way the sun comes up. |
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