Step 1 is to figure out how much sun you are going to get. The house, fence and trees may block a lot may block almost none. Step 2 is to order a truck worth of compost 3-4 yards aught to do. Btw don’t order the stuff that the uses organic matter from the city waste bins, that stuff sucks has glass and plastic in it and drys out if you look at it for too long. Step 3 order a couple yards of mulch ideally with manure mixed in for cover. Step 4 figure out irrigation. Drip irrigation doesn’t work well unless the plants are mature use spray systems and a timer. Step 5 figure out what you want to plant and how to manage pests, but the supplies ahead of time. You won’t have time to contain the problem otherwise
Awesome thanks heaps! I checked the sun calculator for our city, in the spring/summer, the backyard gets sun until the evening, but the winter/autumn the sun rises into the valley and drifts on a low angle so it'll get considerably less direct light. The fences would hide quite a bit I think, until midday. I actually once lived in this house (2012) and I know the garden worked when I was there, I just didn't know anything about it so didn't get involved - so there's some positive evidence that it can operate at the very least. Am looking into mulch, our landlord also offered to get that arranged as well, will converse with her to see what works out. Appreciate the advice! I'm wanting to fix the boundaries of each plot, it's old wood at the moment and I'm thinking about raising the edges up a bit more. I'll have to figure that out before I do anything else so will crack on before we move in.
rased beds are in my experience are a bit of a Nussance in the summer. They trend to dry out faster and require more constant watering. Also the edges 6” near the wood become unusable. Mulch is great you need I think around 2” to be effective. There are myths about it sucking up nitrogen- fake news, based loosely on fact. That being said if you Mix a nitrogen source in it will break down into useful stuff faster. In case you don’t already notice the internet is a wasteland of information on gardening and all the content is a mirage , but there are a few oasis of information. https://www.gardenmyths.com/ Is fantastic The university extension information is interesting but hard to consume at a small scale. The rusted gardener YouTube is ok. There are a few other sites I found that’ we updated mid 2000s, but there is just an ocean of crap out there. If you find any gems let me know.