My neighbor called my vegetable patch 'too neat' and it made me think

I was showing off my raised beds in the backyard. Everything in perfect rows. My neighbor, an older guy who grows food, just shook his head. He said, 'Plants are messy. They grow wild. You're trying to make them behave.' He pointed to his own garden, all mixed up. It hit me. I was gardening for looks, not for the plants. Has anyone else had a moment that changed how they garden?

4 comments

4 Comments

susansingh3mo ago

Oh man, that hits home. I used to get so stressed about keeping everything perfectly spaced and weeded. Then one year my "perfect" tomatoes got wiped out by bugs, while my messy herb corner just went nuts. I realized I was basically being a control freak for no good reason. My garden looks a bit wild now, but everything actually grows better. Your neighbor has a point.

paulw533mo ago

Wait, did the bugs actually go after the tomatoes because they were neat? I always figured pests just like certain plants more. My neat rows of beans get hit every year, but the messy squash nearby is fine. Maybe it's less about neatness and more about mixing things up so bugs get confused.

john_fisher1mo ago

Used to think the neat rows were the only way to go, figured that's what "real" gardeners did. But last season my wife threw some old bean seeds into a patch of weeds by the fence, and that patch outproduced my prissy, perfectly spaced rows by a mile. The messy spot had way fewer bugs too, so I guess the bugs just get lost in the chaos and give up. It stung my pride a little, but now I'm all for letting things grow however they want.

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the_olivia3mo ago

My third year gardening, I lost almost all my lettuce to slugs because I had it in one big, tidy block. What @paulw53 said about mixing things up is exactly right. The next season I planted my lettuce in small groups all over, tucked between onions and herbs. The slugs couldn't find it all. Letting things get a little messy creates a better home for good bugs that eat the bad ones. My yields are way higher now that I stopped trying to be the boss of every plant.