Get kids and loved one interested in gardening by creating a pizza garden!Creating an Italian masterpiece is as simple as running out to the yard to pick fresh toppings for your pizza from a productive, pie-shaped bed.
What to Plant in Your Pizza Garden
- Oregano. A pizza essential, oregano is a beautiful perennial herb that’s easy to grow in the home garden. …
- Tomatoes. Tomatoes are an excellent choice for nearly all small gardens because they’re extremely productive. …
- Jalapeño Peppers. …
- Banana Peppers. …
- Mushrooms. …
- Basil. …
- Thyme.
Materials Needed
- a sunny spot in the yard with well-drained soil
- edging for “pizza” outline (metal, plastic or wood)
- seedlings of your favorite toppings: tomato, bell pepper, chives (or onions), rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley
- compost
- water
Choose a site that offers full sun. Decide how many of each kind of plant you want to grow, based on their spacing requirements (below), and outline a circular bed that will give each enough room. The bed created here is 8 feet in diameter.
Check the tag that comes with each transplant for specific guidelines. Here’s a rough idea for how much space to allow for each plant:
Tomato: at least 2 feet; for larger varieties, 2-1/2 feet
Bell pepper: 12 to 15 inches
Onions: 4 to 5 inches apart
Basil, rosemary: 15 to 18 inches
Thyme, oregano: 10 to 12 inches
Remove weeds and dig in plenty of organic matter like finished compost. If your soil is very dense or hard clay, consider using a raised bed and fill it with a combination of bagged garden soil and compost.
A flexible metal or plastic edging works well for the outer edge. Wood pieces do fine to define the “slices” of the pizza
Start planting
Give the tomato plants the most room. Here, we let them each have the entire “slice.” Place up to three of the other plants in the rest of the sections.Plant the transplants at the same depth as they were in their containers, and firm the soil around the roots. Top-dress each plant with a handful or two of compost.
The exception to the planting-depth rule: Plant tomatoes a little deeper than they were in the pot, or better yet, if the main stem is still very flexible, bend it gently, lay the root ball on its side in the hole and also bury a bit of its stem, letting the stem curve upward till the rest of the plant is pointing straight up. Burying part of the stem in this way—sometimes called trenching—causes the plant to produce more roots and makes for a more vigorous plant.
Water the plants and check back frequently to make sure that the plants receive adequate moisture. Tomatoes need more water than the other plants, followed by basil and peppers; rosemary and thyme will need less water. To reduce the chance of foliar diseases, water the base of tomato plants and avoid getting water on the leaves, especially if you’re watering in the evening.
Growing a pizza garden is a great way to get children outdoors and motivated to plant and eat vegetables & have fun with planting & growing!
