Planning For Your Spring Garden
Learn how to prepare and plan for your spring gardening season to have ultimate success this year. The planning it takes to have a successful garden and the maintenance until seeds/seedlings go in the ground (or raised beds).
What will you plant this spring?
When planning for your springtime garden the first thing to figure out is what you will plant this year. Figuring out your zone is very important, and I talk about that a little more here in my How to Start a Garden for Beginner post.
Depending on if you had a garden the previous year will determine where and what you will plant. For example: You don’t want to plant tomatoes in the same place year after year because it will be depleted of nutrients (tomatoes need a lot of them). Nutrients like phosphorus, potassium and calcium. So, it’s a good idea to plant nutrient fixing crops like legumes (beans and peas) in place of tomatoes.
Crop rotation is what this is called.
Get my Springtime planting guide here!
Will You Start Seeds Indoors?
Depending on how dedicated you are will depend on whether or not you want to start seeds indoors. This is something I love to do because in the midst of winter it gives me the little light of Spring around the corner.
This is also a way to save some money if you didn’t want to spend too much on plant starts from a nursery. I have done this many times – both ways work well. Just varies depending on your circumstances.
You don’t have to have fancy equipment to start seeds indoors you could use something like an egg carton if you wanted to.
I personally like to start some seeds indoors but not all. Others I will direct sow into our raised beds. I also may have to buy some starts from the nursery depending on what seedlings make it and which ones don’t. Gardening is a learning experience always.
Prepare Your Space for a Spring Garden
Planning your springtime garden means preparing and that is so important for a successful season and harvest. If you intend to start seeds indoors then be sure you have space for these plants that will get bigger over time. Also, you’ll want to be sure you have your garden space prepared and ready to plant when seedlings get ready to go out (weed paper, drip tape, fresh compost, etc.)
This also means that you’ve amended your soil. If you aren’t sure how, there are different cover crops to try, or you can add fresh compost to the top of your soil to amend it of nutrients that may be missing from previous garden seasons.
One thing I do each year is a rough sketch of my garden area on two sheets of paper. I map out what was planted where last season and where I plan to plant new crops this season. That way everything is rotated for optimal success based on soil needs for each plant.
Soil Testing/Amending the Soil
This is something I have known to be very important but haven’t always taken the time to do as a busy Gardener. I am going to be more conscious of what my soil needs this year and see the difference. If you have the ability and are able, I highly encourage you to not skip this step.
You can get a pH soil testing kit from amazon pretty reasonable. A good thing to look up is if the plant your planting likes an acid soil (3.5) or an alkaline soil (8.5). Neutral soil is considered about a 7 and optimum for most plants is 6.5.
Adding organic compost or organic topsoil can help add nutrients back to the soil. Something else to think about is what I mentioned earlier about the crop rotation. Let your plants do some of the amending for you!
You can apply an organic mulch to clay or sandy soils in the winter to help with amending your soil. This mulch that is layered on the surface will later be incorporated into the soil by worms and other insects. This will help it to decompose and release plant nutrients into the soil over your growing season.
Anyone Can Do Spring Garden Prep
Don’t let the lack of space hold you back from trying to start some plants. Even a window seal can hold some good sunlight for seedlings that you’ve started. Try to start some herbs to cook with in your kitchen. Basil, Rosemary and green onions are good to start with.
When planning for your springtime garden, something cool to have but you certainly don’t need in order to be successful are an indoor shelf to hold your seedlings if you plan to start some indoors.
Grow Lights to help aid in growth for seedlings. Now, speaking from experience I have done the bigger grow lights and it can take up a lot of space and be a pain to set up sometimes. This year I plan to use these which includes a grow light in them! Perfect for beginners and super simple to set up.
Grab some popsicle sticks from the dollar store to label your seedlings with. This is a cheap and easy way to keep everything sorted and organized. You’ll be glad you did this when it comes time to plant in the garden.
Planning Your Garden for the Season
Planning when starting a garden is something that will set you up for success. It is easy when you start a market or vegetable garden to get overwhelmed by all you want or hope to do. I am here to tell you (from experience) you can’t do it all and when you take on too much you will more than likely fail and become discouraged.
To help with this, because it is something exciting, start small and make a list of things you and or your family like to eat. Easy things to start in your garden would be things like cucumbers, tomatoes or squash plants.
Get the kids involved. Especially if they are old enough for chores the responsibility of helping in the garden will give them a sense of accomplishment and pride. Even little ones like to get their hands dirty and help plant and water, they just aren’t as independent to do it themselves.
Use my Seed Starring Planner (for FREE) to start planning your garden! You can get it here. 🙂
Failing is a Part of the Process
Don’t be too upset when on your garden journey you have a lot of fails. You aren’t expected to know it all or to get it all right especially in the first season. I have had lots of failed attempts in the past, but that didn’t keep me from trying again and again.
There is something so rewarding about planting, cultivating and then harvesting. The way the land gives back when you nurture the soil. Truly one of my favorite things God gives us.
Even my children, as young as they are, love to help me in preparing for springtime planting.
Springtime is one of my absolute favorite times of the year and planning and preparing for my spring garden are something I look forward to each year with excitement. I hope you are able to plan for a successful year in the garden.
Happy Planting!
Be sure to check out my other posts on Gardening!