Transform Your Dream Garden to Reality

Recognizing that gardening is a much dreaming as it is doing is the first step toward bringing your dream garden to life. It's not that we don't "do" a lot; it's just that dreaming comes first and the doing comes later. For most of us, the dreaming of next year's garden begins long before harvest - yet we keep it curtailed until the seed catalogs arrive in January. Once the catalogs are in hand, it is time to transform those dreams into plans.

Compose your dream list
If you are like me, you probably didn't write down your brilliant ideas for next year's garden. Maybe you thought it was too soon. Maybe you felt a little silly planning before the snow fell. Maybe you thought you'd remember. Chances are with a little brainstorming you can recover at wisp of memory to build new dreams of the perfect garden. Go ahead. Take some time to dream of your perfect garden as you browse through those seed catalogs. Don't worry about plant requirements or planting zones, yet. Get your garden dreams down on paper first so you know where you want to go.

Narrow it down
Take a look at your dream list. Consider the plants you've included and take a few minutes to look up the growing requirements. Check the days to maturity, soil and light required and their hardiness zones. Consider whether you can provide what the plants need to thrive. If your dream plants don't match your environment, take the time to search for similar plants that do. Matching your plants to the site and the climate goes a long way toward raising a successful vegetable or flower garden.

Available space
I don't know about you, but space is always an issue for me. Somehow, the newly tilled soil always looks like it will hold many more plants than it can actually support. Take the time to consider how many plants you can reasonable grow in your allotted space. Read plant descriptions carefully to determine the proper spacing for each plant. With the exception of planting a cutting garden - following the recommended spacing produces the biggest and healthiest plants. Trying to squeeze in a few extra plants often results in poor growth and decreased yield.

Sketch a diagram of your garden
Now, if you are accustomed to simply drawing a rectangle and jotting down plant names, it's time you stop. Draw your garden to scale allowing the proper amount spacing between plants. This gives you a better idea of how much you can actually plant. If you are artistic, sketching individual plants allows you to "see" what your garden will look like.

Order your seeds
If you are like me - and I suspect you are - it's tempting to put off ordering seeds until later. From my experience, later never comes. Spring arrives and I find myself saying, "I'll buy those next year." Do yourself a favor and order your seeds as soon as you make a decision on what you want to grow.

Don't be afraid to experiment with a plant or two. I like to try a couple new plants each year - just for the fun of it. Sometimes plants surprise you and thrive in climates or locations the experts tell you they will not grow.

Other Work by this author:
Bird Feeders Liven the Winter Garden
Ice Sculptures Breathe New Life into Winter Gardens
Decorate a Maine Winter Garden with Garlands and Wreaths