Gardening Methods

Traditional inground

This is what most people think of when they think about gardening. For this article, we can think about this as almost a baseline for other methods. This can be either tilled or no-till, usually involves nice neat rows of produce. Can be large or small plots. This type is also generally what people start with when they start their gardening journey because its simple and the cost to start is relatively low compared to other methods. This is actually how I was taught by my grandmother who has for decades now had one of the biggest gardens I have ever seen.

No-till

Just what it sounds like, you don’t till the ground before you plant. Usually combined with other methods because it exists naturally in a lot of other gardening systems. For example, raised beds aren’t typically tilled, greenhouse plots and hügelkultur hills usually aren’t tilled. I’m not saying that it doesn’t happen in those scenarios, but it’s not the norm.  

Permaculture

This is as much a type of gardening as a philosophy of how we manage our lands and our animals/people. When implementing permaculture principles in the garden or even in your front yard landscaping, one has to think about the whole garden system and make sure that everything works together to essentially make a functioning ecosystem in whatever area you are cultivating. This is the method I choose to use around my house, and in any landscaping that I install/maintain. It’s a lot to put together at first if you plan it out well, but if you plan it well, your garden will almost run itself.

Back to Eden

This is a gardening method pioneered by Paul Gautschi over in the northern peninsula of Washington state. It’s very similar to permaculture in that the Back to Eden method works with nature instead of against it. It’s a blend of organic, no-till, permaculture, and lasagna gardening.

Raised bed gardening

In general, raised beds are pretty much what they sound like. They are garden beds that are elevated from the rest of the garden floor. Usually in some sort of wooden or metal box, I’ve also seen a few wheelchair accessible raised beds, and I absolutely love that they can let more people garden. Even the raised beds that are on the ground and just in wooden boxes are beneficial if gardening directly on the ground hurts your back.

Lasagna gardening

If you are implementing this method, you are going to most likely be doing raised beds, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be in a raised bed situation (like in the Back to Eden method). You layer several layers into your bed, generally starting with bulky items, and finishing with soil or mulch on top.

Straw bale gardening

Did you know that you can sow your plants directly into a straw bale? You put out the straw bales, then plant (usually starts) directly into the straw bales. I’ve heard mixed reviews from people that have tried it, but I personally feel like this is a very man-made way to garden, and lacks some elements that I like.

Hügelkultur

I love the concept of this, but I have yet to actually try it out. Hügelkultur is a raised bed, but instead of making a wooden box, start our on the bare ground and basically make mounds as your beds. You start with big branches and twigs, and then keep piling that up until you have sort of a pyramid shape. Then you directly plant into that. It’s a newer concept to me, but it has been around for centuries in Europe.

Vertical gardening

              This can take several different forms, I’ve seen a few towers in people’s backyards, I’ve seen people using gutters to garden on the side of their fence. I have also worked in a facility that does hydroponic vertical farming, and there doesn’t seem to be a limit to how high these vertical systems can go.

Container gardening

This as a method that can also take several different forms. It can be just a few tomatoes in a few 5-gallon buckets, or some actual gardening pots that you plant. The point is that you put your plants in a container.

Hydroponics

Hydroponics is a system where instead of soil, your use water. This can also take many, many forms. There are

Aquaponics

Aquaponics is sort of a type of hydroponics that involves fish. So, you’ll have the same basic hydroponic setup, with some sort of containers to grow the plants in, as well as a water reservoir somewhere close by, but instead of putting nutrients in yourself, you have fish in the reservoir tank that provide all the nutrients for the plants.

Cold frame/greenhouse/tunnel systems/hoop houses

Any place where there is a covering over the garden, whether that is plastic board or sheets or glass. The covering helps let the light and warmth of the sun in, but doesn’t let much of it out. F you google greenhouses, or greenhouse sunrooms, people have gotten creative, and some of these are really beautiful.

Native planting

I do a little of this in my own landscaping, the idea is that the best plants suited for your environment are the ones naturally found in your habitat. These plants should also be the easiest to care for and require very little, if any, extra watering. For example, in my area, the beauty berry bush is native, and because it is already suited to this habitat, people that have them, don’t do any maintenance. Native plants, in addition to being eco-friendly, are the best choice for people that want a beautiful garden or landscaping in their yard, but don’t have any time to take care of the plants.

Companion planting

You may have heard of the three sisters planting method, that is actually a type of companion planting. There are several other ways to go about this though. Plants give off chemicals in the soil and they interact with whatever other roots are in the soil. Most of the time, these interactions are neutral or even beneficial. Sometimes however, they have a negative interaction called an allelopathic interaction that will hurt or even kill the other plant. What we are going for of course is plants that benefit each other being planted together.

Edible landscaping

I am such a fan of edible landscaping. Especially if your yard isn’t that big. You can absolutely put things in landscaping beds that look attractive to passersby, but that are also edible. I’ve seen blueberry bushes, kale and lettuce, edible flowers, just to name a few.

Square foot

 This method uses either traditional in-ground beds or raised beds. You essentially make a grid in your bed and plant 1 plant per square foot. It can save space for some crops, but if you need extra space for other crops, you can allow for that too. This method is also extremely beginner friendly because the square foot spacing gives plenty of room for most types of plants, and is pretty straightforward.