Starting Your Garden
Q. “I’ve never had the opportunity or space to really garden and now I do…but where to start? It seems huge!”
If you’ve never gardened before, or if you’re overwhelmed at the mess before you, I have a tip that might help. Think of the yard or garden sections as separate “rooms”, and tackle only one room at a time. Maybe this year you’ll get one or two rooms done, and that’s progress. Start small so you don’t get overwhelmed with the job before you…and don’t be afraid to amend your plan at any time. It’s YOUR garden. YOU decide how this goes; HOWEVER, good advice from a seasoned “dirt” girlfriend is priceless. You might throw the garden together, dismissing specific plant needs, zoning requirements, mature size, all the while thinking “they’re all plants…they’ll grow just fine together”. This is about as true as saying all people can get along, and we KNOW that’s not true.
Let a small idea lead you to do some research. Are you looking for a rainbow of color, or a 4-season garden, or a place wildlife will come, or a quiet oasis to sit and muse? Where will this spot be? Is it shady/sunny? Do you have children/pets that frequent the yard? High traffic areas aren’t good locations for a garden. If the spot you’re looking at won’t work, is there another place that will better fill the bill?
If your lot is heavily wooded, boggy, rocky, steeply sloped, consider creating a naturalistic garden. Use the elements that already exist as the backbone of your plan. Containers used in strategic places can enhance dimensionality and interest. Use old logs and rocks as edging. I’ve even had a couple loads of large chunks of concrete dumped – free – and used them for edging. Think ‘recycle’. Vegetable gardening is also possible, in all but the shady locations, by planting in the bags of garden soil or using containers.
Draw a rough plan and keep it less than 50 sq. feet. Tackling a larger project may completely intimidate you before you’re half-finished and turn you off to gardening, period. How much time and money can you invest in this? Keeping it simple and realistic will help with success. Include all the elements you’re looking for in this “room”. This is dreaming on paper and it’s FREE. Familiarize yourself with the site conditions. Make a list of the kinds of plants you’d like to include, even if you don’t know their names; sometimes a good description will help a lot when talking to a nurseryperson. It’s good to start with dependable, easy plants, instead of the more exotic or non-native ones which can be quite temperamental. Again, keep site conditions and plant requirements in mind.
Once things are planted remember to water correctly and regularly…and be patient. Memorize this old adage about new plants: “first year it sleeps…second year it creeps…third year it LEAPS”! It takes time to put down strong roots; the plants are alive and need the same things we do: air, food, water. Success will have you planning another “room” in no time.
Sherri Ottinger, The Tennesee Dirtgirl
