Help with garden allotment

[Quill]

Bought a house there at the end of last year and it's got a south facing garden and I'm just wondering about what's the best way to lay it out, I've done a quick sketch below



Light grey represents paved areas, brown is grass/soil, the black square is a boiler house and then green will be growing areas. A is the garden as it stands currently, B has a long bed and then 3 north-south aligned raised beds (each bed made up of two back to back 1.2x2m beds), while C has the raised beds E-W. I have to leave a path up to the oil tank uncovered so that I can still get oil delivered.

Is there going to be much of a practical difference between B or C? I'd prefer B as it means I can get a decent sized shed in the top right corner. Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

[jennyjj01]

Bought a house there at the end of last year and it's got a south facing garden and I'm just wondering about what's the best way to lay it out, I've done a quick sketch below

Hi,
I'm no gardener, but a difference is that with 'B' is that you could take multiple routes through from the paved area, to the end of the garden, say with a wheelbarrow. But with 'C' you could only walk into the brown area from left to right until you reach the West boundary wall or fence, then you would have to back out the way you came?. Another downside with 'C' seems to be that you are getting less area for your shed and wasting more area in front of your oil tank?
Final downside with 'C' your planters will be closer to the shed and maybe shaded by it, sun predominantly from the south?

[Quill]

Hi,
I'm no gardener, but a difference is that with 'B' is that you could take multiple routes through from the paved area, to the end of the garden, say with a wheelbarrow. But with 'C' you could only walk into the brown area from left to right until you reach the West boundary wall or fence, then you would have to back out the way you came?. Another downside with 'C' seems to be that you are getting less area for your shed and wasting more area in front of your oil tank?
Final downside with 'C' your planters will be closer to the shed and maybe shaded by it, sun predominantly from the south?

Thanks Jenny, that's exactly what I was thinking, C definitely seems like a worse option. The gap between the beds is 60cm on the plan so should be enough space for a wheelbarrow too.

[Zedsdead]

It’s a B from me! Just works better

[Arzosah]

I'm late, but I'm voting B as well - I've been reading up on security arrangements and the line of sight shown in B means that more of the garden is visible from the house. Toe-rags really do use back gardens for access, often tramping across several back gardens in the meantime.

[ForgeCorvus]

So the long bed is on the east side and the house is to the north?

How shaded is the bottom of the garden?

It might be worth putting your shed near to the house and running the beds from the back

[Quill]

I'm late, but I'm voting B as well - I've been reading up on security arrangements and the line of sight shown in B means that more of the garden is visible from the house. Toe-rags really do use back gardens for access, often tramping across several back gardens in the meantime.

Good point about security!

So the long bed is on the east side and the house is to the north?

How shaded is the bottom of the garden?

It might be worth putting your shed near to the house and running the beds from the back

Yes exactly, it's quite shaded because basically there's a right of way for the neighbour's bins immediately behind it, then a slope with trees on it.