5 Things You Need to Know Before Starting Your Garden

Starting your garden can be hard to navigate, but not if you know these five things.

This is going to be our second year tackling a huge garden. And let me tell you – our first year taught us so many things! Here are the five things I wish I would have known before I started my first garden.

What zone I live in

The zone you live in is going to determine so many things. How long your growing season is and what thrives in your area are typically the two things you can determine the quickest based on your growing area. Your zone is also going to determine your start date! Don’t skimp on knowing this information – get to know what zone you live in!

This year’s frost dates

Some plants, like strawberries, asparagus and squash, are frost tolerant. But most seedlings aren’t. Almost anything I plant in the spring won’t be hearty enough to withstand a late frost. So I started making note of what my expected last frost date was and working my way backward to know when I needed to start my seeds.

The season’s last frost date is also key to know. If you have a great crop of something, chances are your plant may be hearty enough to tolerate a first frost. You may be able to cover your crop that’s not ready to be harvested and harvest it after the frost. If you’re cutting it too close to the end of your growing season, knowing your last frost date can also get you in the garden for that one last harvest. (The Farmer’s Almanac can help you determine that.)

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How to plant a seed

I direct seeded almost all of my garden last year (check out a few things we learned from that garden in this post). But what I didn’t realize was how finicky some seeds could be. Depth, the type of soil some seeds prefer and the amount of water they get all impacted my ability to grow strong, healthy plants. If this is your first rodeo, take an extra moment to read the back of that seed packet. (We love Burpee seeds!)

What needs shade

My okra plants grew to be well over 5 feet tall. It was incredible! However, it cast a lot of shade on to my pepper plants, which need sunlight to thrive. Because of my poor planning, my pepper plants didn’t amount to much.

The same is true for my corn and pumpkin plants. The pair work great as companion plants, because the vines of the pumpkins can weave through corn, acting as a sort of natural weed suppressor. However, my corn shaded my pumpkins.

Had I taken not of that in my planning stage, switching a few plants around would have yielded a much greater harvest. Learn from my mistake!

Space between plants is a guideline, not a hard and fast rule

I wasted an incredible amount of space in my garden last year because I put way too much stock in to what the back of the seed packets said to do. My corn was way too far apart, and I later learned, corn relies on its fellow plants to support itself. It’s supposed to be planted thick.

My carrots, on the other hand, were planted way too close together and had an incredibly hard time growing. I was able to grow quite a few carrots, but not to maturity because they simply ran out of room and began growing together. My harvest was deeply impacted because I planted my seeds too close.

I think that these nuggets of information don’t come unless you go through a growing season and know how crops tend to perform. But remembering that some rules were meant to be broken will help you remember planting guidelines are just that – guidelines.

Stick around!

Have you seen my other garden posts? Check out “Starting Seeds” and “Planning Your Spring Garden.” If you’d rather take a look at recipes or homemaking content, be sure to visit those tabs, too!