Simple Tips for Gardening

Spring has sprung again and for most of us that means that we turn our attention to our garden. Like I said in the descriptive overview you could spend your entire life reading about gardening and never learn all there is to know on the subject. I have worked in the garden since I was old enough to walk and I still have no luck with corn or carrots. This year I have a different strategy for my garden.

Gardening should be approached with a plan, for years I just laid out rows and planted seeds as I came to them. This year instead of just hoping for a great garden, I am planning for a great garden. There are three basic types of gardens, rows (traditional), raised beds and potager. I am going to use a combination of the three in order to optimize the yields from each planting. What you plant and how you plant it should be where you start when you plan your garden.

A traditional garden works for most plants and 99% of all commercial vegetables are grown this way because it's efficient and it works. The raised bed type of garden is very useful for carrots and root crops because they are typically laid out so that you can reach everything in the bed without walking in it. When you walk in a garden you compress the soil making it harder for root crops and it makes watering less efficient. A potager garden is where you plant vegetables, herbs and flowers all together to enhance the look of the garden.

I have also been researching companion gardening where you plant species together to support each other. The most famous of this type is the squash, corn and bean combination taught to the pilgrims by the indians. The squash provides shade for the roots of the corn and beans while the corn makes a natural trellis for the beans and the beans provide nutrition back to the soil. Tomatoes and marigolds are also often planted together as the marigold supposedly repel aphids. Some gardeners plant marigolds throughout their garden for this very reason. There are hundreds if not thousands of these combinations, see the gorghanics link in supporting links for this article for more on companion gardening.

Where I live in the south we have red clay under our topsoil, this clay is HARD and a lot of work must be put into the garden before the first seed or transplant can be planted. Each type of plant needs different soils, acidic and nitrate levels. I like to start by tilling the ground obviously but I go back and add manure along with compost throughout the entire garden before I do anything else. I also have raised beds built with no local soil just a mixture of compost, manure, potting soil and loam (loam is a mix of clay, sand and silt in a 20-40-40 mix) which you can purchase anywhere. I also place a barrier between this layer and the original ground usually with old newspapers so that they will self compost after the season and I don't have to remove them.

To plan your garden you first need to decide what you want to grow, my first garden I bought enough seed to plant twenty acres. It is easy to do TOO MUCH, keep your first garden simple for best results. Learn what plants work well with others and then lay it all out in a notebook before you start digging, that way you can optimize your plan before you actually put a shovel in the ground. Try to plant your garden where it has plenty of sun, putting your garden in the woods isn't going to produce as well as one in a field. There are some plants that do well in partial shade so once you buy your seed read the package then go on-line and confirm the planting suggestions.

There are hundreds of methods to increase yields, I had an uncle who placed black garbage bags filled with water around his tomatoes so they could release their heat to the plants at night. I have no idea if it actually worked, but he did it for years. There is also no need to purchase cages for your tomatoes, beans or other climbing plants. If you have a creek or river near where you live you can harvest bamboo and build natural cages that can be used for years before you compost them. Just do not wipe out an entire bamboo crop, you will need more eventually and we don't want to wipe out another species in America.

Soil testing, fertilizer and pesticides are the next topics in this article. Once you have planned your garden and worked your soil, test each area and treat to optimize your yields. You may need to add nitrogen to one area and lime to another but without testing your spending your money and taking a chance that your plants will grow. If your not going to plan, test and treat your soil, you might as well go to the casino. You can find organic fertilizers and pesticides at almost any hardware store. I like to use insecticidal soap which is an organic pesticide but must be applied after each rain. You also will want to wash all of your produce before you eat it no matter how "friendly" or organic your chemicals are.

Keep animals out of your garden and raised beds by putting up a small fence. I use a two foot high plastic fencing and posts that I cut from salvaged dunnage, this will not only keep your vegetables from being eaten by those cute little bunnies but it could also prevent your pets from eating a toxic snack and dying. There are a lot of plants out there that will kill your cat or dog if they are allowed to munch on them. If you cannot put up a fence because of restrictions or whatever, there are websites out there that will tell you what is toxic to your pets. Good planting and once again, before you start, do your homework.....