This week is our Spring Garbage Pickup in my neighborhood (we have weekly pickup, of course, but this is the big week for yard waste and large items that don’t fit in the bins), so I’ve been busy cleaning out the alley (which was disgusting), raking up the leaves, acorns and twigs that littered the yard, and trying to eliminate the weeds that have already taken over last year’s garden patch.

Last year’s garden, overrun with squash and weeds

This year’s blank slate

I’ve decided to add some raised beds this year to help keep the weeds at bay and keep my veggies from overrunning each other (last year the squash gave all the other veggies too much competition for sunlight). I’m also doing a bit of rearranging, now that I have a better understanding of the sunlight in each part of the yard.

The sunniest patch of the yard is actually the strip right alongside the garage and where the existing 4 x 8 foot raised bed sits. Last year, I filled this box with herbs and lettuce, but as lettuce can do with a little less sun, I’ve decided to promote the most sun-loving veggies to this part of the yard. My tomatoes did pretty well in a shadier part of the yard last year, but they were much slower than everyone else’s, so they are getting a little promotion. My cucumbers and peppers did pretty poorly, so we’re going to try out a sunnier spot for them too.

I’ve decided to try out a square-foot gardening approach this year, so here’s the plan for the first box:

Then along the sunnier side of last year’s vegetable patch, I’m putting in three 4 x 6 ft boxes (the size was determined by the length of board that can fit in my tiny car).

Then, on the other side of veggie patch, I’m going to plan the vining vegetables and fruits — melon, zucchini, acorn squash, pumpkin and butternut. Last year the squash thrived on this side of the yard, while it wasn’t quite enough sun for the other vegetables. Plus, this way, the vines can go crazy without the risk of suffocating the eggplant or celery like last year.

I’m also planning to use some freestanding pots along the side of the garage, for additional tomato plants and possibly peppers. And rosemary — I regret not planting last year’s rosemary in a pot I could bring inside.

How do you decide what to plant where? Any plants that need maximum sun that I missed?