Would you put a veg patch in your front garden?

[sherby]

We have a large back garden but it is surrounded by trees and gets hardly any sun. The one patch it does get is where the children play in the summer, so I was thinking of putting a veg patch out in the front garden. Not a huge one, about 3m x 3m, but DH isn't sure.

All the neighbours (cul de sac) have lovely mowed flowery gardens and he thinks it will look out of place? Would you do it?

I am considering the same thing, Sherby, but smaller. I have two dogs, and they would either dig up, eat, or wee on anything I planted in the back garden, so I am claiming a patch of the front for herbs, salad, etc.

Your husband might be right, but even if it did look a little out of place, do you mind? It worked for Tom and Barbara in The Good Life!

My next door neighbours have done this. It is great.

Just don't plant ugly things (like brassicas). Stick to pretty carrots, etc.

I've done it. I made raised beds out of decking which I stained and have put gravel walkways between each section. It looks fab, if I say so myself.

I'm also planning on hanging baskets with small tomatoes in them hanging from the trees that are above the patch, which I'm hoping will look pretty in the unlikely we get weather sunny enough this year to actually produce a crop!

I would yes. Some veg plants look quite attractive, last year I planted swiss chard in barrels in our front garden, this year I'm adding a Willow tripod/cage thing and growing beans up it. Courgette plants are nice with their big yellow flowers and I also have hanging baskets with tumbling toms and strawberries in them.

Ooh, I hadn't thought of using the baskets too. Do toms really work in them?

I've not tried it before. It solved a space issue and hopefully will work well.

Also, alternate lines of green and red lettuces look pretty.

Some people down the road have veg in their front garden. I think it looks lovely.

I did it last year, you need the tumbling tom variety. Marigolds planted in with them look nice and also attract beneficial insects.

Oh, should say, I planted rainbow chard (the kind which has stems in red, yellow and orange), not normal swiss chard which isn't as pretty.

Thank you. Excited now! Garden centre tomorrow methinks.

The tumbling toms cropped well last year but took ages to ripen, I thought they were never going to turn but they eventually did. That might have been to do with the wet summer we had though.

Oh yay!

Going out to measure up now, just moved my toms up to bigger pots, very exciting!

I think it would look lovely. What about one of those Rose Arches you can buy for a fiver in Lidl with things like runner beans and mange tout climbing up it.

We parked our car outside a house the other day and they had the whole front as a veg patch and it was so nicely done it was the prettiest house in teh street.

ooo rose arches sound lovely

Just dug my plot out only 1.5m x 1.5m, 3m was huge

We have. Ours is fairly screened from the road, so not too in your face, but in any case, it looks really good. And our next door neighbours have done one too, so it can't be too bad!

We did splash out on plastic raised bed kits, to help keep things looking tidy. But to be honest, when everything is growing, it looks good anyway. Last year we had runner beans, courgettes and pumpkins all flowering at once and lush growth on everything else. Looked like a proper little kitchen garden!

Can you trust your neighbours not to swipe your veg?

I would love to plant in my front garden, however my house looks right onto a very public path(not busy, but folk def walk by mainly kids) I am scared in case they steal my veg...do you think people would really know what it looked like?

Ha Ha, not modern teenagers!!! They've surely never seen a veg!

Not round here, I'm more scared the local ASBO teenagers will piss/crap over my veg rather than nick it.

Well I thought they wouldnt know what they looked like either, however hubby isnt so sure...

In my front garden yes. In my lady garden no.