I've always loved digging in the dirt for as long as I can remember.
When I lived in Southern California I used to go out in the evening
and dig in the dirt.
I can remember the warm brown dirt in my hands and thinking how I love the feel of it!
I don't quite have a love affair with the dirt I currently have. The thick red clay dirt we have has a lot of rocks and is hard to garden in.
The first thing I've learned about gardening is that having good dirt is
so important, otherwise, nothing is going to grow. One of the first
things you MUST do when you start a garden is to assess your soil and
amend it as needed. What you need to amend the soil with will depend on
what type of soil you have.
The second thing I've learned about gardening is that you need a good book or two to help you along. You can't do this yourself.
Get a great book for your area. When I was in SoCal, Sunset had the best books. Here in the South, it's The Southern Living Garden Book.
I studied Southern Living's gardening book when I was planning my flower garden more than 10 years ago.
For vegetable gardening, I recommend The Self Sufficient gardener. There
are a bunch more, and it's helpful to have more than one book.
The third thing I've learned about gardening is to make a plan for your
whole garden even if you aren't going to plant your garden all at
once. If you're doing it yourself, start small. Take a small section of
your yard and fill it in with plants that will do well in that location.
That's how we did our yard. First we did the front beds closest to the
house, then the side yard, etc. It took several years to do our whole landscaped
garden, but it was an enjoyable process.
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I made this landscape plan myself when we first moved in. |
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The fourth thing I've learned about gardening is to plant shrubs and
flowers that grow well in your part of the country. Also, if a plant
calls for full sun, then don't plant it in the shade and if it likes
shade, don't plant it in the sun. Sounds simple enough! Following this
rule will make your life so much easier.
The fifth thing I've learned about gardening is no matter how well you
plan, amend and water, some plants just won't make it. Or, you'll plant
two plants that are exactly the same, and plant them at the same time,
and one will do well and the other will be tiny. I've planted 5 of the
exact same shrub, prepared the soil the exact same way and watered them
the same amount, only to have one of them keel over after a year. Don't
blame yourself if this happens, just go get another plant to fill in.
That's just the way it is.
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Two zucchini plants, planted the same way, the same day, with the same soil prep. The one on the left is large and the one on the right is so small you can barely see it. |
There are so many other lessons I've learned about gardening in my more
than two decades of digging in the dirt, but I still consider myself a
novice. There is so much more to learn!
Fall is the best time to plant a landscape in our area because plants and shrubs don't have enough time for roots to establish before Summer if planted in the Spring. So if you live in an area with a hot summer, now's the time to quickly plan out what you want to plant in the Fall. It will be here before you know it!
Don't know about you, but I'm glad that the HOT weather has passed and is a little bit cooler. I've started planting some things for our Fall veggie garden. So far I've planted snap peas, lettuce, radishes and carrots. Everything has popped up and started to grow. I will also plant some broccoli and try some potatoes. This will be my first Fall garden and I'm excited that my seeds have already started to sprout!
Anyone else planting a Fall veggie garden?
Any tips?
Pam
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