You have probably already done some of the work necessary to create a successful garden. Unless you’re reading this series for entertainment purposes, or perhaps on your lunch hour at work. Don’t worry, we won’t judge.
Once your garden is ready to go, it’s now time to plan what you want to grow. As with all things, it’s important to take care not to simply grab a few seeds or starters from the store and stuff them into your garden. This is unless you don’t want a huge mess.
Here are some things to consider when selecting plants:
Veggies to plant
You should consider these factors when deciding what type of vegetables to plant.
What space the mature plant requires, how tall it will need to grow, and what amount of sunlight it needs?
These seem like simple, common sense advice, but they can also be easy to overlook when purchasing a lot of seeds or small starters. Many gardeners start out buying more seeds than they can use.
The best thing about plants is their ability to grow. This is quite shocking but bear with me. Some plants remain small while others expand and take up much of the garden’s space. Zucchini, for example, can take up large amounts of space once matured and can easily choke other plants. You should plan accordingly.
The direction of the plant growth
Many plants can also grow vertically or climb. Both benefits and drawbacks can be found in this arrangement. Although vertical plants require less ground space, the upside is that they can shade other plants in your garden and rob them of the sunlight that they need to thrive. Plants that are more sun-dependent or that can thrive in partial shade should be placed near vertical plants.
You will need to provide support for many vertical plants, as they can become difficult to find later in the season.
Plan
It’s time for you to play the role of an amateur bank robber. Grab your graphing paper and pencils and devise a foolproof plan. (Please don’t rob actual banks).
On graph paper, draw your garden. Once the plants have grown in, you can begin filling them in. Do some Googling to see how large each plant will be once it matures. It’s not uncommon to end up with less plants than what you had hoped for. Your vertical plants should be aligned to reduce the amount of shade they produce.
Finally, you should identify any climbing plants. Make notes in the margins about any support you need to buy or build.
Now, it’s time for you to get dirty. Don’t be too excited. This is dirt, dirty, and in the dirt. This isn’t the kind of blog you would expect.
