It's All Planned Out!
Planning a garden, sometimes, can be the hardest part of the whole experience. You can measure and try to visualize but you don't get the full picture until you actually have growing plants in the garden!
If you are new to this gardening experience, here are some tips on what to take into consideration when you are planning out your new garden.
Choose a location: The first step in planning a garden is to choose a location that gets plenty of sunlight and has good soil drainage. Look for a spot that is easily accessible and close to a water source. Consider the size of your garden and how much space you have available.
Deciding what to grow: Consider what vegetables you and your family like to eat. What herbs do you like to use. Do you want a flower garden too? Some easy-to-grow vegetables for beginners include tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and green beans. Easy to grow herbs include basil, dill, and chives. Some flowers that can be mixed into the gardens are marigolds, nasturtium, and calendula. They help attract beneficial insects as well as repel the bad ones.
Plan the garden layout: Once you've decided what you'd like to grow, now you need to decide in what type of garden. You have many options from raised beds and containers to part of the landscaping. Do you want to plant in rows or mix things in a container. Take into consideration that you need to know how much space your plants will need.
Soil Preparation: Clean out the area where your garden will be placed. For an inground garden, remove weeds and debris and work the soil to a 6-inch depth and add compost. A raised bed or container can be filled with garden soil and compost to give your plants a healthy start.
Consider plant needs: When planning out your garden, leave lots of space or provide trellises for those vining plants or plants that take up a lot of room. Vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes, and melons need quite a bit of room to thrive. Remember that having trellises will actually open up more space for you to grow plants underneath vining plants.
Maintenance: One thing that people will forget is the continual maintenance of a garden. Planning out a certain time of day to check on your plants to see if they need water, fertilizer, or you need to pull weeds will help your garden thrive.
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