Selecting & Choosing Seeds, and Preparing the Garden

Each spring, we all go through the same renewal of spirits from winter and get the urge to plant a crop of something to put on the table or look at on the mantle. Its an annual thing that is sort of like poison oak - scratch it and it gets worse! I've been doing this for most of my life and I have always enjoyed the process. You will too!

The gardening process should begin with a selection of ground or planting sites. The garden itself is usually in the backyard. The other planting sites can include the edge of the front lawn because the color from the flowers, roses and decorative plants helps to cheer up the appearance of the home. You should also have an array of flower pots for a small geranium, up to a 10-25-gallon pot that holds azaleas, roses or other larger plants.

Let's begin by locating the back yard garden. Select an area about 6 feet wide an 10-12 feet long. It should be in full sun - that is the sun strikes the plot from no later than 10 AM and stays through 5 PM. If it has a slight slope one way or another, that's OK, but more level than slanting is better. Put a small stake in each of the four corners.

Next step is to prepare the ground. The purists in the gardening ranks would tell you to hand spade the ground to the depth of the shovel blade and rake out the lumps so you have a minimum of 4-6 inches of loose soil. I prefer to take out my garden size rototiller and work the ground over in both directions. It's OK to have a neighbor come over with their rototiller (if you don't have one) and work the ground down to an easy to handle consistency. I also have a "hard" rake to smooth out the ground, break up the clods and straighten out the edges.

Now is the time to go find a piece of paper that will be your diagram for how you planted each different plant. As you plant each item or row, mark the location on your diagram and save the empty seed carton for later reference.

Get a bunch of small stakes and a length of string reaching from one end of the garden to the other. Put the first two stakes in and connect the string to the end stakes keeping it taught enough to not touch the ground. Sometimes it's helpful if you put a temporary stake in the middle of the row to keep the string out of the dirt and keep the rows straight during planting. Use the string on each row to keep the planting aligned with other rows. Read the planting carton instructions on how many to put in each row and how far apart the rows should be. You can always plant 2-3 different plants in each row. I try to break up the garden by using plants of different color in the rows. Really improves the gardens appearances. ( 2-3 feet of carrots, 2-3 feet of lettuce, etc)

What plant goes where? It doesn't really matter, but let me give you a few things I always like to do for garden efficiency, bug and bird control, and appearance. Don't forget to leave room for irrigation between the rows. You can hand water the garden more efficiently if you water by rows as much as possible.

A. Plant marigolds in one row completely around the garden, separating them by 6-9 inches apart. Marigolds are a great natural bug barrier. They also look nice and will surround your garden with good, attractive color.

B. Plant the row crops, ie: carrots, lettuce, and bush beans in one section. Remember to mark them down on your Garden Diagram. Remember that carrots have green tops, lettuce is yellow, beans have a lighter green and mix your colors up a bit.

C. The corn and taller plants should go on the side where the sun is when it is at its hottest. This will shade the garden somewhat during the hottest part of the summer. Plant the type of corn that produces corn that you eat - not 8-9 foot tall field corn used for feeding the cows. Plant a row down the entire sun side for maximum effect.

D. You can plant the cucumbers, pumpkins, and vine plants in between the corn plants, or put them and the beans together. They like each other and will occupy the area fairly efficiently together. Easier to water them.

Follow the directions on the cartons for watering. Increase or decrease watering according to heat and other environmental conditions - use your own judgment. Most of these plants will not require fertilizer, but if the ground is poor (light colored, slow growing plants need fertilizer) use what is recommended on the carton or by your friendly hardware store that sells flower bouquet and vegetable fertilizer.

Let's talk about flowers for a bit. If you have some large pots, I try to put in larger flowers. Angel Trumpets are very pretty and grow practically anywhere they can be in the sun and get lots of water. Miniature Roses, surrounded by pansies, nasturtiums and the like look very well. Put the larger plants in the middle and work toward the edges with smaller plants. Use pots on the porch, the corners of lawns, gardens.

Roses need some area for roots, sun exposure and they love lots of deep watering. Keep their toes wet! Roses you purchased and planted this year will give you some limited flowers this year. If properly trimmed in mid to late winter (depends upon how cold a winter you have) the second and subsequent years should yield continuous blooms from spring to fall.

Don't overlook small azaleas, rhododendrons, and other shrubs for permanent places in your front yard. They are beautiful during the season and perk up the appearance of your home.

A good trick is to drive by your home and imagine what plants would look nice. Or, walk across the street and see what your neighbor sees! These tricks will give you some inspiration for spring planting of your garden and flower areas.