With all the changes that 2020 brought us because of COVID, an increased interest in gardening and growing was one of them. Boy, do I wish I had thought to buy stock in Tractor Supply. Their shares went through the roof.

With lots of new gardeners taking to the internet, I want to pass along some gardening tips to help guide those who are just starting out. In just a few weeks we will be releasing our Cutting Garden Boxes and I thought it would be a great time to share some tips to get you going.

1. Pick the right site

If you are planting a garden for the first time, choosing the right location is important. I could dedicate an entire blog post to just this topic alone. I think most important is making sure your location is easily accessible and in an area where you will be able to enjoy the beauty you’ve created. Here are a few things to consider when picking your spot.

· How much sun does this area get each day?

· What does the soil look like?

· Is it close to a water resource?

· Do you have deer or rabbits you will need to plan for?

Some of you may choose to start your first year with container gardening. If so, you should check out my upcoming container gardening workshop with Jay Huck on April 24th.

2. Start small

I am not one to talk, but I speak from experience when I say once you catch the gardening bug, I promise you it can get out of hand quickly. It starts out with a few tiny little seed packets and then the next thing you know you are leaving the garden center trying to sort out where you are going to put 300 sunflower seeds.

Keeping it simple, especially in the beginning, will build confidence and keep you from getting overwhelmed with too many new plants to learn. Start out with a few of your favorite flower or vegetable varieties and expand in the following years. Seek out plant varieties that are on the ‘easy to grow’ list and find seeds (like our seed boxes) that you can sow directly into the soil. For now, skip the fuss of starting seeds indoors and make it a goal to tackle that skill in future years.

3. Build confidence with your seed and plant selections

There is nothing more frustrating than planting seeds in the garden and patiently waiting, expecting to see happy little plants pop through the soil and then nothing happens. Trust me; I speak from experience here when I say to start with easy to grow seeds. What I qualify as an easy to grow seed is one that can be direct seeded (directly planted) into the garden. Many plants require their seeds to be started indoors weeks before you can plant them outside. For beginner gardeners, I recommend if you want to grow those particular plants, I would purchase them from a garden center in a 4” pot or a 6-pack. Examples of those I recommend to purchase as plants are tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, snapdragons and statice, to name just a few. All of the varieties that we offer in our cutting garden boxes can be directly planted into the garden.

Plants you CAN direct seed with confidence.

● Sunflowers

● Zinnia

● Cosmos

● Marigolds

● Celosia

● Amaranthus

● Calendula

● Bachelor’s Buttons

● Bush Green Beans

● Lettuce

● Cucumber

● Melon

● Spinach

● Squash

4. Keep track of your seed packages

I love using an old 4 x 6 photo album to store my seed packets for my garden. I can see what seeds I grew from year to year and where I sourced them from. This is also a great place to save seeds if you have leftovers from year to year. It also keeps the seeds dry and organized.

5. Give your soil some love

When I was in college at Ohio State, Professor Still used to say, “Plant a $50 hole for a $10 plant,” and that always stuck with me. First things first with any new location, I recommend doing a soil test. This helps you see what types of nutrients your soil has and what it might be lacking. Regardless of what your soil looks like, I recommend adding at least 2” of compost to the planting areas. Adding organic matter, such as well-rotted leaves or composted horse manure, helps improve the soil by reducing soil compaction, allowing increased flow of air, water and nutrients to the plant roots. Happy soil = happy plants. Happy plants are healthier plants and less receptive to insect infestation and disease.

6. Learn some gardening lingo

Here are a few basic horticulture vocab words to help you wow your friends.

Hardiness Zone - A hardiness zone is a geographical area that is defined by temperature ranges. This range is important because it indicates the coldest temperature and USDA zone in which a plant can survive. For example, Southeast Ohio is Zone 6b. This means we typically have a minimum average temperature of -10 degrees to 0 degrees Fahrenheit.

Deadhead - Removing spent flowers for aesthetics, to prolong bloom for up to several weeks, to promote re-bloom or to prevent the plant from going to seed.

Perennial - A plant that comes back year after year in the garden. These plants die back to the ground but will grow back again the following season.

Annual - A plant that completes its life cycle in one year. It blooms, produces a seed and dies when it is frosted.

Bolt - A term to describe a plant that goes to seed prematurely, typically induced by excessive heat.

NPK - An abbreviation for the three main nutrients that have been identified as absolutely necessary for plants: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). These three are also known as macronutrients and are the source of the three numbers commonly found on fertilizer labels.

Self-Sow - To drop viable seeds to the ground. In some varieties, often annuals, if seeds are allowed to drop, those seeds will germinate, perpetuating the variety. The subsequent seedlings are often referred to as "volunteers."

7. Keep a gardening notebook

I love keeping a gardening journal because it helps me keep track of how my season went. I note things like significant weather events, last frost dates, disease and insect issues, and harvest dates. I also like to jot down ideas for the next season or crops I want to try. I have many gardening tools but my journal is my most valuable resource. I also enjoy reading back from year to year to document my successes and challenges.

8. Weeding

Grab your cup of coffee and head outside in the cool hours of the morning and enjoy having your hands in the earth. To me, one of the most enjoyable aspects of gardening is the quiet time I get outside keeping my beds weeded. Keeping the garden weeded is important so your crops don’t compete with the weeds for nutrients, water, and sunlight. When weeds are left to take over and they grow faster than your plants, they can begin to smother out the plants you are trying to grow.

9. Stay close to a water source

If this is your first time planting a garden, one piece of advice I like to give is to make sure you are close to a water source. Whether you are planting in the ground or you are planting in containers, having easy access to water is important. It can be frustrating and back-breaking to lug water back and forth in the middle of summer. Keeping your plants adequately watered keeps them thriving and healthy.

10. Have fun and accept that you will kill plants

Trust me when I say I kill lots of plants but I have accepted that trying something new means there is failure involved. One thing I love about my garden is that I get to share the fruits of my labor with my friends and family. I have the most fun when I am staying curious about my failures and wanting to learn about this new plant I am growing. When I first started my farm, I gave myself very little grace to learn something new but now, years later and with thousands of plants killed, I am happy to say I have eased up a bit on myself. So whether this is your first time planting a garden or a container or if you have been doing it for years, remember to focus on the wins and have fun doing it.

I am looking forward to this upcoming year and getting my hands back in the soil.

Think spring,

Lyndsay

Floral Musings

My Top 10 Gardening Tips for Beginners