"Tim" wrote in message
...
My question is this, what direction should I lay out the long side of the
beds, E-W or N-S? The area is bordered on two sides by trees and lawn on
the other two sides. The trees are far enough away to that their shade
isn't a consideration, but work wll as a windbreak.


The usual thing is to run them NS, this way the plants all get equal sun on
each side. If you run them EW the north side of the row gets less sun in
the northern hemisphere and the south side less in the southern. This
becomes more of a consideration in winter and the further from the equator
that you are.

As well as sunshine also consider drainage. If your soil is not well
draining and the slope is slight it might be worth going some other
orientation away from cardinal points if it puts the rows down slope and
improves the drainage. I am assuming this court was in fact level so this
may be important. The soil underneath could be natural, building rubble,
imported fill or any damn thing so wait until you see it and can dig some
test holes before deciding on this issue and others.

David