Thoughts on bed layouts?

[Susan BBPM]

I think he's referring to putting short plants among tall plants. Another example would be cabbage (short) and tomatoes (tall)

Carrots and peas are a classic

Am I correct in thinking that this kind of thing is climate specific? (Can anyone from the UK comment?)

My albeit limited experience tells me that in my damp, Scottish, slug-friendly climate you need to give plants more space? When it's very hot it's great to have all those plants packed in helping to retain moisture, but here in Scotland we have a couple of weeks of really hot weather - most of the time it's damp or raining and the plants need plenty of air circulation.

Is this a fair comment or am I avoiding crowding unnecessarily?

 

[Meadowlark]

The corn, I night still try. That was the 1 thing my kiddo requested ‍

The difficulty with corn often is the need for pollination. It happens naturally when pollen from the tassels touches the strands of silk usually wind aided. In large gardens with several rows of corn in proximity this is not a problem. But in small space gardens, it often is a critical problem.

It's fairly easy to get around it by hand pollinating.

As soon as the silk emerges, you’re ready to begin hand pollination of corn. The best time to hand pollinate is mornings when pollen shedding is happening. Break off a few tassels and use them like a feather duster brushing the silks. Alternately, you can hand shake each plant to simulate wind effects but the feather duster works best in my experience.

Pollination will continue for about a week under ideal conditions. Repeat the process in a few days for insurance. This works and you can experience one of the greatest tasting garden treats in small space garden. It is worth the effort and actually kind of fun.

 

[headfullofbees]

Am I correct in thinking that this kind of thing is climate specific? (Can anyone from the UK comment?)

My albeit limited experience tells me that in my damp, Scottish, slug-friendly climate you need to give plants more space? When it's very hot it's great to have all those plants packed in helping to retain moisture, but here in Scotland we have a couple of weeks of really hot weather - most of the time it's damp or raining and the plants need plenty of air circulation.

Is this a fair comment or am I avoiding crowding unnecessarily?

More than fair.
We get many fungal diseases in plants, from blight to botulism, mould to mildew, rust to root rot.
Spacing the plants helps to ameliorate the problem, but, being sensible, plants which grow from seed in the spring to full size in summer, harvested prior to autumn, can be placed closer than long-term brassicas, which are cool-weather crops, & as such, in danger.
I have never grown courgettes or cukes with absolutely no powdery mildew.

 

[Meadowlark]

I have never grown courgettes or cukes with absolutely no powdery mildew.

Interesting. I have never grown either any with powdery mildew. Not any. I never see that stuff in my garden...only on Crape Myrtle trees crowded in the yard.

 

[Susan BBPM]

Interesting. I have never grown either any with powdery mildew. Not any. I never see that stuff in my garden...only on Crape Myrtle trees crowded in the yard.

West of Scotland (where we both live) is VERY wet. We also get a lot of mist and gray (no sunshine) days. Later in the season we don't get enough dry, sunny days to evaporate water.

Right now, everything is parched and you could do with crowding things in to trap in the moisture (3 ssisters planting for example). But later in the year you pay the price when you end up with a mouldy, messy, slugfest.