Want to get growing this spring but you’re not sure where to start? With the growing popularity of gardens and especially victory gardens in the last few years, you’re not alone with the urge to grow. Luckily, planning your garden or even your victory garden doesn’t have to be complicated or intimidating. After all, we should be getting joy out of our gardens, not stress. Gardening can be great for mental health, giving you a way to reconnect with nature, and hopefully giving you some healthy fruits and veggies at harvest time. You’ve already started the first and most key step, planning ahead! Here are a few basic tips and tricks that might help you with getting started and making the most of your garden.
First off, where you live will help you decide where and how to plant your victory garden. If you have your own yard but maybe not enough outdoor space to comfortably plant directly in the ground, try a classic raised garden bed. Using a raised garden bed is also a way to control the soil you’re starting your plants with. In smaller spaces without much or any of your own dedicated outdoor space, like apartments, container gardens or indoor gardens are the way to go. There are some helpful tips from the Rural Sprout on building the best container garden.
When it comes to plotting out where your garden will be, think about how much sun or shade that area has. Think about how any existing plants, like a vine or tree nearby, may grow or flower over the year and possibly affect your potential victory garden’s home.
Also think about how you want to water your garden. You can try hand watering or using an automatic drip irrigation system, which we think is the easier option of the two since it requires less long-term effort. Consider how close you will need your system to be to your main water source. We recommend placing a 8 inch DEEP DRIP® Watering Stakes on either side of each of your plants, whether you hand water or use drip irrigation in your garden. You won’t need to water as often, and your plants will be set up for success with deeper, healthier roots. Pick up our stakes on our website, Amazon store, or at your local Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, or Hardware store.
Keep in mind your containers’ size when you are planting. Shallow root plants, like most herbs, work well in smaller spaces while leafy veggies will need more room. Plan your garden with their neighbors in mind. We’ve talked about companion planting in the past but planning also applies to keeping certain plants apart. For example, Strawberries pair well with beans and spinach but not cabbage. So, do your research before planting, we like this resource from homestead and chill.
There are other things to keep in mind when planning your garden like making sure you have room to get between your garden bed(s), planting non-invasive species, and finding the right soil. But these tips should be helpful to getting the ball rolling and you can always check our Get in the Garden Pinterest board for more great articles!
