‘Less lawn, more garden‘ is the goal of more and more suburban folks these days.  Specifically, people want to grow their own nutritious, chemical-free food.  If you don’t believe me, check out the Facebook pages for Grow Food, Not Lawns, Learn to Grow a Straw Bale Garden, and Chicken Forum.

‘Less lawn, more garden’ was my mantra long before it was trendy!  And, long before I had any ‘extra’ money to spend on the plans I harbored in my heart for my suburban lot.

Luckily, I was young, strong, and had lots of energy.

These days, I know a lot of ways to get started quicker, on a smaller scale at first.  ’Like’ the Facebook pages linked above to learn more, but you can get started growing vegetables and herbs in burlap bags, large buckets, or raised beds made from various materials.  The thing to keep in mind about container gardening here in the Denver metro area is that the sun is very intense, and we don’t get a lot of rain.  So a bit of afternoon shade might be better than full sun for containers.

I bought my house with an 8,000 square foot lot and no *HOA 20 years ago.  I got started right away creating ‘less lawn, more garden’ by putting a shovel to the sod, digging up large areas where there was plenty of sunshine and good drainage.

That first year, all I did was turn the sod over, exposing the roots to the hot sun.  That killed the roots, and over the winter freeze/thaw cycles turned it into some pretty good mulch.

If I had it to do over, I would plan out the actual beds and leave sod between them.  Then I could just cover the sod paths with landscape fabric and mulch or stones.  Less work – yes!

I also started composting right away, which doesn’t need to be a big, smelly pile that the neighbors will complain about.  See my post on Trench Composting for my favorite, least-work composting method.

The second year in my Arvada home I started the vegetable garden.  I did dig in about 3″ of purchased compost, as the soil wasn’t the greatest (lots of clay, very alkaline).  You can grow pretty much any vegetable you can think of in an Arvada backyard garden.  I’ve never had luck with pumpkins or watermelons as our season is short, but the numerous pumpkin fields around here prove it can be done!

In the following years I added plum tree, apple tree, raspberry bushes, strawberries, and perennial herbs such as thyme and lavender.

Still to come:  I am expanding my strawberry bed and adding a shrub called Honeyberry.  It’s a relative of honeysuckle, but has edible berries.  I’m still trying to get blueberry bushes to survive, but haven’t found the sweet spot for them, so I’m hoping the honeyberry will be a good substitute since honeysuckle does so well in my yard.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering – yes, you can have chickens in Arvada backyards – up to five of them!  And then, you have even more material for your compost pile!

Free gardening books. Mike the Gardener of AveragePersonGardening.com shared a link to download free gardening books from Kindle. Note: the books are offered for free the day of the writing of this post, be sure to check before downloading to validate that they are still free.

*HOA stands for homeowner association.  If you live in an HOA community, you may have restrictions on what you do with your lawn, sometimes even in the backyard.  Be sure to check first, to avoid calamity and fines.

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Arvada is a historic town about midway between Denver and Boulder in Jefferson County, Colorado. There are many different neighborhood styles and homes prices, all served by well-loved schools. Call me to talk about the kind of neighborhood you dream of living in. 

Read more about life in Arvada, Colorado.

How to buy a house Denver to Boulder.

I write posts on real estate issues and local events in the Denver metro area, especially those communities between Denver and Boulder, as a public service. My hope is to give people an idea of the ‘flavor’ of our community, in case they’re new or moving to the Denver area.

I am a residential real estate agent, happily helping folks buy a house or sell a house in the beautiful and friendly suburbs northwest of Denver.  Read what past clients have said about me.

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Copyright © 2013 Joetta Fort, The DiGiorgio Group