Do not locate your vegetable garden within six feet of hedges, shrubs or trees. Not only do these larger, more permanent plants compete for light, but they also gobble up nutrients and water necessary for healthy vegetables.
The major consideration for garden location is sunlight. All vegetables require some sunlight; the most popular vegetables require full sun. “Full” sun means at least eight hours of in-tense, direct exposure. If such exposure is not received by crops such as tomatoes, peppers and squash (vegetables that contain seed), the plants grow spindly, they have weak stems, drop blooms and are generally nonproductive. There are some vegetables which produce passably in the shade such as: greens, broccoli, cauliflower, root crops (carrots, turnips) which do not produce a fruit with seed.
If your new garden site was previously covered with grass you have to be sure to remove all the turf. You can not dig or till this existing grass into the garden soil and get rid of all of it. Even a well-tilled, pulverized garden soil will contain enough bermuda grass sprigs to cause troubles for years to come.
Once the sod has been removed, the garden area should be shoveled to a depth of 10-12 inches. Rototillers, when used in a new garden area, will not penetrate adequately. Rototillers can be used to loosen and mix shoveled areas.
The addition of fertilizer is the next step. After all ingredients have been added, mix the soil thoroughly and prepare beds on which to plant rows of vegetables. Pile and firm the planting beds then pre-irrigate the entire garden area by wetting with a sprinkler for at least two hours. Al-low the area to dry for several days and it will be ready to plant.