Getting Your Vegetable Garden Ready for Spring: Part I
Getting Your Vegetable Garden Ready for Spring
Although Spring isn’t officially here, and won’t be for quite some time in some areas of the country, many people have already begun to think about getting their vegetable garden ready for Spring. They may even be salivating at the thought of tilling, plowing, and planting because they know, before too long, they’ll have fresh from the garden vegetables.
If you live in an area where there’s still snow, you may have to wait a little while longer until the snow melts and last frost has passed. However, you can begin to plan your vegetable garden even before you can start to actually prepare the ground. Make sure that you know when your planting season runs and which plants will grow well in your area.
How do you know what plants will grow well where you live? Check out the USDA zone map to determine which zone you’re in. Look at the back of the seed packet for a zone chart and which zones the plant will grow in. If you don’t have a seed packet, look at the nursery to find the correct zone, gardening books, or check on the internet to verify which plants will grow in your zone.
You’ve read up on which planting zone you’re in, so you have an idea about when it should be safe to begin actually planting. What can you do while you’re waiting for that safe time to begin? Where do you start?
Plan your layout
Begin to plan your garden by deciding on the layout. Where will it be located? Do you need to move it from last year’s location because of the amount of sun available during the day? Or will you leave it in the same place it was the year before?
What about the type of garden? Do you want to use rows, raised beds, square-foot, or some other type? If you make this determination now, it will be much easer to plan the layout of your garden. The type of layout will also help you to decide what type of watering system you’ll need – whether you can use a regular sprinkler, a soaking hose, or some other type of watering system.
Measure out the area you plan to use for your garden. Mark it with stakes and string, if you like, so you know exactly how much room you have available. Draw it out on a piece of paper and actually draw out where you want the plants to go. When you make the plans, remember to figure out the space needed based on the size of the mature plants, not on how many plants you can get into a specific area when they are seedlings.
By creating your garden layout before you begin working the ground, you’ll also have a better idea of what seeds or plants to get, how much fertilizer you’ll need, what type of weed barrier is needed, and any frames for climbing plants or tomatoes. This will help you to purchase only the items that you will need for this year’s garden and not spend too much money.
