Do you love gardening? Do you love digging in the soil, the smell of plants in the sun, and watching a bee pollinate a flower? There is nothing better than eating fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs that you have grown!
If you have successfully grown vegetables, fruits, and herbs in containers, you might feel ready to try a small garden plot. With a bit of planning, you can have success with that too!
Planning is the main key to success. It can be so easy to buy more plants than you can fit in your garden plot or a vegetable your family doesn't like to eat. Now is a good time to consider these practical tips if you are thinking about having a small garden this season. Our tips are broken up into four sections:
- Location
- What to grow
- Caring for the garden
- Protect your plants
LOCATION:
Where could I have a small garden plot in my yard?
Try 5’x5’ as a manageable size for your first year.
Add a path through the plot OR create multiple small beds so you can reach all parts of the garden.
In that location, do I have enough sunshine for vegetables or should I plant herbs that will tolerate low light?
To grow vegetables, you will need to have your garden in an area that gets at least 6 hours of full sun (from noon to 6:00 pm) if you want the plants to produce a crop you can harvest.
Will I plant directly in the ground or build a raised bed?
Always make sure the soil is safe if you are planting in the ground by doing a soil test. It is very important to know if there is something unhealthy in your soil and you shouldn’t plant there. Yes, it’s an extra step but safety is important.
If your soil has no nutrients the plants won’t thrive and you will have a disappointing harvest. Healthy soil produces healthy plants which produce healthy food.
For information on testing your soil: Soil Testing and Soil Testing Labs
Is an outdoor faucet for water near your garden?
An outdoor source for water is critical to gardening success. Make sure you have an outdoor faucet available.
When you are deciding where to put your small garden plot, think about how you will get water to it. If you will need to use watering cans, keep your garden near the faucet. If you will be using a hose, make sure it is long enough to connect to the faucet and reach to your garden. Watering your garden should be simple and easy.
For more detailed information take a look at this video: Starting a Vegetable Garden
For more information on building a raised bed: Building Raised Beds for Vegetable Gardening
WHAT TO GROW:
For your first garden, stick with your favorites.
What vegetables do you and your family usually eat? What do you use in your favorite recipes? Make a list. That list will help you resist taking home unusual choices when you go to the garden store. Imagine, buying an unfamiliar vegetable, caring for it all season then discovering your family won’t eat it!
Plan for the size of the garden you have.
Planning is critical because it helps you to resist buying more than you can fit in your garden space. At a garden center it is easy to purchase too many plants. The glossy seed displays are enticing. And the fresh, tiny seedlings at the garden stores look so small. Surely, they couldn’t become “plantzilla”? Those cute seedlings grow, and grow, and GROW! Overcrowded plants do not produce well. Planning allows you to grow food you will eat, in a quantity you can manage based on your time and garden space.
Grow vegetables that are easy to care for.
Some of the easiest vegetables to grow are bush beans, dwarf cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, summer squash, potatoes, onions, Swiss chard, kale, spinach, and lettuce.
Place taller plants or plants that will climb on a trellis on the north and west side of the garden so they do not block sunlight to the shorter plants.
Find more information here about vegetables, fruits and herbs: Food Gardening
CARING FOR THE GARDEN:
How much time do I have to spend on my garden?
Keep your garden small so you can manage it. Be realistic and honest with yourself. Do you have a few minutes daily to check the garden during the week to pick vegetables as they ripen? Will you have a couple of hours on weekends to work on weeding, harvesting, and other garden tasks?
Am I available to water it?
Simply watering the garden routinely after you plant it is the number one thing that will make it a success! 80% of failed gardens are due to lack of water.
Consider how your garden will be watered when you are on vacation or away from home for a week or two. Do you have a friend or neighbor who could help you? Share the harvest with them as a thank you.
PROTECT YOUR PLANTS:
Your neighborhood wildlife likes gardens too!
Be aware that there may be wildlife in your neighborhood that wants to enjoy your garden too. At night you may have deer, rabbits, groundhogs, squirrels or other small animals visit your garden for a midnight buffet! To protect your garden, you can construct something as simple as a deer mesh enclosure around or over your garden plot.
Diseases and insects.
There are also many other plant problems that you may encounter, such as a caterpillar eating the leaves on a plant or a disease causing an issue. You can find great resources on these topics provided by the University of Maryland Extension:
For some ideas for garden fencing take a look at this video: Fencing for Your Garden
For help with garden problems scroll down to the Vegetable Problems section of this page: Vegetables for the Home Garden
To learn more about home gardening, or to find answers to your questions, the University of Maryland Extension Home and Garden Information Center is always available for you online. You can find articles and how-to videos about every gardening topic as well as local gardening classes. Happy gardening!
