Now’s the Time to Plan Your Garden

 

 

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned gardener, having a plan is important for three reasons.  A plan will help you decide what you’re going to grow this season. Planning your garden now will help you achieve the most from the space and location you have available A plan will also help you apply lessons – good and bad, from past gardening experiences.   

When deciding what to plant this year, it’s always good to grow what you’ll eat. If you don’t like beets or broccoli, don’t plant them. Once you’ve made your list of crops to grow, the next question is whether to direct sow, start your own seedlings or buy rooted starts from your local independent garden center. The best choice may be a combination of all three. 

A plan helps you map out the garden for the full season, from cool spring to warm season crops, then back to cool weather crops in the fall. Lettuce, spinach, cabbage and radishes can be planted in early March. Corn, tomatoes, peppers and other warm weather crops need to be planted after Mother’s Day. Or earlier if protection is available. By the time August gets here, you’re ready to replant cool weather crops for fall harvest. This is called succession planting and following this plan will optimize the amount of garden space available as well as the length of the season. 

 

Each season brings its own share of successes and failures. For example, last year’s tomato crop suffered from the heat most of the season. Lesson: You may need to supply some afternoon shade for your tomato plants. In seasons past, insects have been a problem. Lesson: Make plans this year to clean up the garden thoroughly before you plant. All this does is emphasize the importance of keeping a log during each gardening season. Taking pictures and writing things down is an easy and provides valuable information when it comes to planning your garden.  

Plan the garden on paper first. Draw a map showing the arrangement and spacing of crops. Arrange crops from tallest to shortest, North to South. Group plants by the length of their growing period. Plant spring crops together so that later crops can be planted in these areas after the early crops mature. Finally, practice crop rotation. Try not to plant the same vegetable or a related vegetable in the same location year after year. This is particularly important with tomato and potato crops.  

An effective plan will help your garden flourish while allowing room for changes as the season progresses.