Choosing a Location

In a typical suburban plot, there isn't a whole lot of choice in where you can put your garden, especially if you have a picky HOA, which we do. The key is to put your garden where it gets, at the very least, a half day of FULL sunlight. Most vegetables want a whole day of sunlight but will tolerate less. Winter varieties do fine usually even in partial shade.

If you are unsure of where you're sunniest spot is you can check your yard periodically through the day and note where you see the most sun. A good rule of thumb is that the sunniest spot will be on the South side of your home. Less shadows are cast from the house and without too many trees around, you'll get good exposure all day. The next best location is usually Southeast or East side of your home. The morning sun is less brutal to the plants so if you must choose between morning or afternoon sun, choose morning. When it comes down to it, choose the sunniest spot you can given your variables.

I lucked out and was able to move up my side yard fence and I have a big area of largely unobstructed South side space for my garden boxes. I'm noticing as the trees fluff up in the neighboring yards that some of my garden area isn't getting as much sun as it used to. A disadvantage to a new neighborhood, the landscapes are still changing.

Here you can see where I've placed my garden beds, there's room for more but I haven't been ambitious enough yet to add more. You can also see the two boxes at the far left, some of my first boxes, are now partially shaded.

Now that you have the general area chosen where you will put your garden, if you have some wiggle room, you want to choose the space that drains the best. Most fruit and vegetable plants do not like wet feet. Building a raised box is going to help with this, but I find the corners of my boxes that are in the lower areas of the yard tend to stay soggy even when everything else is well drained.