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How many vegetables to grow in new garden beds?

I have 3 Garden Beds of 2.3 meter Length and 60cm width each.

I want to grow some vegetables and some flowers. Specially those which can do multiple crops and also flowers which smell more. Also, want to use Companion Planting Technique so that some plants can deter pests.

I gave some recommendations to ChatGPT and asked for suggestions. Here is what it suggested, but I'd like expert opinion on this. Somehow looks a lot as it's 27 plants in total. Will it be too much? Do you have better recommendations?

Bed 1 - 2 Marigold, 3 Lavenders, 2 Dianthus, 2 Pelargonium

Bed 2 - 2 Marigold, 1 Eggplant, 3 Tomato, 3 Capsicum

Bed 3 - 2 Marigold, 2 Chllies, 4 Okra and 1 Bush Bean.

ChatGPT suggested Marigold to help with pest control.

Two rows and distance of 50cm between plants was suggested.

I am new to Gardening, but want to get Max out of my investment, instead of phase wise planting 🙂

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Comments

Jewelleryrescue

Hi @amundra

Well that ChatGPT advice is a great starting point.

But remember it is your patch grow what you eat, I don't really eat carrots so why grow then lol.

There are more than Marigolds for pest control and seasonal crop rotation is very helpful for healthy seasonal soil composition.

I would hang some wall green gardens at your place for herbs etc Consider raised garden beds will work over concrete as you growing area is quite small and will support 1 to 2 people eg A single tomato bush Tom thumb you will be eating tomato's every day,

Home grown veg is the BEST

Plenty of info out there to watch you tube and literature gardening shows etc.

I grew a pumpkin vine across the lawn once and it had so many pumpkins. I took the many spares after all the Neighbours had their fill to the local IGA manager and swapped pumpkins for fruit, I wanted lol. They got the pumpkins super fresh and very low cost I was glad the see them gone not wasted.

More than I could type here so Enjoy the researching

JacobZ

Hi @amundra,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community and thank you for your question.

The advice you've received from ChatGPT seems solid.

The marigolds are fantastic companion plants that will deter pests while remaining pollinator-friendly.

Two rows of plants with 50cm between them should be fine, but I note that each planter box having 9 plants will make the planting pattern a little bit uneven. I'd suggest sketching your planting pattern and checking the spacings make sense to you before planting to ensure everything has adequate space to grow.

Outside of this, you'll want to make sure the plants that require them have stakes and everything gets plenty of water and nutrients.

Check out the following articles for some further guidance -

Allow me to tag some of our experienced gardeners for their thoughts - @Noelle, @mich1972 and @robchin.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

Noelle

Hi @amundra

There's a great article on companion planting here: www.sgaonline.org.au/companion-planting/ It will also give you some ideas of other vegetables to plant in your garden beds.

robchin

Hi @amundra

Love that you are trying something new. Sure you will love gardening.

Chat GPT is an interesting thing but can I suggest that you actually wonder into a nursery and have a look at the plants that are currently in store. This will give you the best idea of what to plant and when. Some good advice here already. A couple of rules for you to consider here:

1) Most flowers, veges and herbs are not available all-year-round - and won't grow all year (known as Annuals) . So what you put in now might only be there for a couple or few months then need to be replaced. Some like Lavenders and Pelargoniums are perennial -so will be there all year

2) You shouldn't always plant the same plants in the same spot every year. Eg. Solanaceous plants which include tomatoes and chillies - shouldn't be planted in the same spot in your garden year-after-year. This is called 'rotating' the planting

3) Don't plant your veges too close together - you will regret it. Spacing well will reduce fungal diseases and generally improve plant growth

4) If your not sure - talk to your local expert in a nursery. They will help you out.

5) The labels will also give you cultural information like how big they'll get and how far apart you should put them.

6) I have been gardening for years but I still refer to my Yates Gardening guide periodically - a very good investment: Yates Garden Guide 45th Edition - Bunnings Australia

You'll get the hang of it pretty quickly.

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