Location matters when it comes to starting a garden. Not just in terms of where you’ll place your garden for optimal sun and shade, but also the region and geographic location in which you live. Of course it is possible to have a garden all year round indoors in a greenhouse, but not all of us are so fortunate to have such a set up. So if you’re wanting to make the most of your location, here are some tips and advice for when to start planting a garden.
When to Start Planting a Garden: Tips for Beginners
Timing plays a very crucial role in planting. Any experienced gardener can attest to this. That’s why most gardeners plant during spring. Springtime is the time of rebirth, rejuvenation, and renewal to the every living organism, including plants.
It’s the most opportune time to start a home garden and plant seeds.
You don’t need to rush planting if it’s already planting season. There are some other things you need to handle before planting, like your space and soil. If you consider yourself a novice, you need to ask yourself first – what do I want to plant and how many do I want to plant now?
Planning your space
Having a good plan before planting is a wise move. The last thing a gardener wants to see is their efforts and time go to waste. It is always a good idea to figure out the location of your garden ahead of time so you have a sufficient amount of space.
Is the available space desirable to achieve the number of plants you aim to plant? You may create a simple sketch of your space. You may also determine the movement of the sun in order to have an idea what time of the day your spaces are exposed to sunlight. Because some plants need sunlight more and some need less, you can decide where to plant them.
Checking your soil is also an important step before planting. Is your soil conducive for the kind of plant you plan to grow?
Most soil is rich with compost, which can be great for planting. On the other hand, there is soil that needs extra attention. If you are using the same soil for some time now, perhaps you need to replace it. As the soil is constantly planted and used, the nutrients present gradually deplete. Experts will always say that even if you did everything to ensure for a good harvest, if you overlooked your soil, you are more likely to fail.
Prepping the Garden Area
As soon as you have ironed out your plans, it is time now to take a closer look on how to prepare your garden for planting.
Remove unnecessary weed grass – remove sod that obscures the area of your soil. Some prefer to dig it out and some prefer to use chemicals. Either way, there are technically no good or bad methods in this department. What is important is that your soil is free from weed grass.
To raise or not – a raised bed is a great strategy to improve the soil. Usually, experts use raised beds if they have poor soil. Raised beds are commonly built out of non-pressure wood, providing tremendous benefits to your plants.
Digging – digging your soil from time to time loosens the soil itself so that roots can easily penetrate under. Before you plant, give your soil a quick spading. You may also add organic matters when digging your soil for optimum results.
A successful vegetable garden plot does not need to be big. A small, well-tended garden will grow as much or more produce than a larger one that the owner cannot keep up with. Backyard gardeners should choose a sunny spot where water is readily available. Most vegetables do best in full sun if possible, but at a minimum, your garden should get at least 6 hours of sun a day.
Try to select a spot with good, rich soil.
how to determine what to plant in your garden
It is also very important to know which plants you should plant beside each other and which are in good agreement with each other. For nutritional and energy value of plants, it is important which way we take care of them, how much love, attention and positive energy we are sending to them. In order to have healthy plants and nice garden, we recommend that you stick to these rules. And if your garden is spacious, you can combine the placing of plants, for example in the middle you can plant trees, and around them fruits and vegetables.
Planting fruits – planting can be done during the autumn, the winter and early spring. It is important that you should not plant fruits in frozen and too damp soil. The autumn planting should be given priority because the planted seeds grow better, and during the winter they are forming a stronger root system and grow faster in the first years after planting. The big drawback of the autumn planting, especially if seedlings are not fenced, is a large possibility of theft seedlings. In these terms, rabbits and field mice can damage the truck of seedlings, and get them dry. Therefore, the autumn planting needs protection, which can be mechanical and chemical.
Good results give and later winter planting, especially if the seedlings are prepared for planting with shortening of the root system and if they were good foisted. Late spring planting is not recommended. Without root absorption, late planted seedlings are very sensitive to drought, especially if in the spring blow hot and dry winds. The need of watering seedlings are big, they have difficult growth which later is reflected on the yields.
Planting trees – you can plant trees early in the spring or in the autumn. When the conditions in the spring are favorable, the seedlings should be planted before flowering and leafing. Autumn planting can begin after the leaf fall, when weather conditions permit it, usually in November. At higher altitudes and colder zones, the planting begins later in the spring and ends in early autumn.
Planting vegetables –when you are planting vegetables, it is different for every plant. Some vegetables you can plant in the autumn or in the winter, and some in the spring or in the summer. It depends on the type of vegetable. In the summer planting, you can opt for some vegetable crops: late tomato, cauliflower, green beans or carrots, and plant species whose growing season ends in October. For the autumn – winter planting, preparations begin at the end of August and beginning of September when you seed lettuce, onion, radishes, and in November you seed spinach. March is the month when winter goes, and you can already plant the earliest cultures (radish, carrot, parsley, peas, and early potatoes).
As you can see, creating a plan for your garden is crucial when it comes to when you should start planting. It’s not too late to start planning your garden.
Kori
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