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| The holy grail of gardening. |
So, in no particular order: The Thursday 13 things I need to remember next planting season when I'm all optimistic and excited for a bumper crop harvest and not thinking straight.
Dear spring gardener self:
1. Get your watering plan in order. Now I have the California drought water restrictions to partially blame for inconsistent watering midway through the season, but before that? I still had hit or miss watering here and there. Turns out veggies do not like that one bit. Evenly moist is what they all need. Had I, I don't know, fixed the drip irrigation I broke last year, I could have prevented uneven watering and saved myself from a lot of dead plants. Hrm.
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| Way too close together. |
3. Growing tomatoes in partial shade is a fool's errand. You know it. You know it. So stop trying to do it already!
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| No wonder things did not grow in this raised bed. I had several stinkin' trees stealing all the water and resources. |
5. Nip pest problems in the bud early. They won't just go away, until they've eaten everything, of course. And for heaven's sake, find some way to deal with those caterpillars that descend from the oak trees already.
6. Mulch everywhere. Everywhere. It saves water, looks pretty, and helps tamp down weeds.
7. Sometimes it really is too late to start seeds. Case in point: Those pole green beans that didn't start flowering until October. Umm, no. There's a planting calendar for a reason!
8. Easy on the tomato pruning. Now on the one hand, you don't want to have bushy green plants with no fruit, and pruning helps channel the plant's energy into the right places (see THIS post on pruning). However, all that sun scald you dealt with was exacerbated by vicious pruning. Ease up!
9. Magical thinking doesn't make azaleas come back to life. Dead is dead, Shawna.
10. Except when plants are only mostly dead. One of those dead azaleas was actually just shell shocked but further testing revealed that life still flowed beneath the crinkly brown leaves. (Tip: To test for full death, bend a branch or two. If it snaps and the inside is all brown, your plant is fully dead. If it bends, or if the inside is still green, congrats, your plant is only mostly dead.)
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| This is what happens when you don't water right. A single, stunted cucumber. |
12. Always bird proof and squirrel proof. Those dug up plants and holes scratched all over the yard? They're courtesy of birds hunting grubs and squirrels stupidly burying those acorns you forgot to pick up. Protect the plants you care about!
13. Weeding is not optional. No matter how much you want it to be. And it's a TON easier when the roots are wee, so stop ignoring it.
Any gardening tips you'd tell your spring gardener self?
xoxo,
shawna
Other Green Thumbs posts:
- Tips, tricks and warnings for growing tomatoes
- 6 tips for keeping mosquitoes away from your yard
- 5 tips for keeping your garden alive during drought
- Front yard veggie gardening
- The number one rule of gardening
- Prune shaming
- The pursuit of perennial curb appeal
- Aerobic gardening dos and don'ts
- On being nosy, I mean neighborly
- No tomato left behind
Good tips to keep in mind for next year. My biggest problem this year was squirrels digging up the bean plants in a window box. Must plant marigolds with them next year. My T13
ReplyDeleteOh no! I'll have to try marigolds next year, too.
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