As spring finally kicks into gear here in Colorado, it’s time to think about planning a garden! Last year felt uncertain…. certain we’d be home, uncertain as to what plants we’d be able to get. This year things are more stable and I’m being more intentional in planning what I’d like to grow.
Whether you’ve never had a garden before or have one every year, here are my top tips for planning your garden and I’m sharing what we’ll be growing this year!
Garden Tips
Location! Location! Location!
You’ll need to determine where you’re going to plant your garden and location is key! Find a place thats going to get full or partial sun, typically you need at least 6 hours of sun per day. Our garden gets full sun and runs along a fence in our backyard.
A garden that’s visible from your house will be tended to more often as it’ll be more top of mind. You’re also want to ensure there’s either a sprinkler/sprinkler line nearby or is close enough to a water spigot for easy watering. We have a sprinkler in each garden bed so they get watered when the sprinklers go off a few times per week. We often supplement with a good watering from the hose or rain barrel as Denver can get very warm and very dry.
And finally, find a place where the kids won’t kick a soccer ball into it or were dogs won’t disturb your plants.
Build Your Garden
Gardens come in all shapes and sizes! You can plant a garden in planters, in a raised bed or just find a dedicated spot in the ground and decide it’s a garden.
We started our garden using whiskey barrels. Unfortunately, the wooden whiskey barrels we inherited with our house were old and fell apart, so we replaced with plastic whiskey barrels. We also used gardening method called Square Foot Gardening which requires a minimal amount of soil. We do not recommend this as we think many of our plants didn’t produce due to the soil being too shallow and too hot. Even with excellent help from our favorite little garden helper (pic above), we just didn’t have a great harvest that year!
However, using wooden whiskey barrels or even plastic whiskey barrels with deep soil will work well as a container garden.
The following year, my handy husband built these raised garden beds out of cedar. They’re lined with weed barrier and filled with organic garden soil and topped with compost. If you chose to build raised beds, cedar is a great choice for the wood. Pressure-treated wood should not be used as it can seep into the soil and contaminate your plants over time.
Fill ’em Up!
I recommend using organic soil as a base. Using compost as a top layer ensures extra nutrients for your plants. If you’re using soil from the ground, turning over the soil and adding a bag of compost is a great way to get your soil ready for your plants.
Home improvement stores tend to have the best prices on organic soil and compost. Speciality garden stores also have organic soil, but it’s not typically necessary to spend the extra.
You’ll also want to get a little bit of fertilizer to use throughout the season, and yes, that too comes in regular and organic formulations. One bag lasts quite a while, so i recommend buying the organic fertilizer for vegetables and flowers.
If you use organic all the way, it’s a little bit more expensive, but you’ll be eating organic produce all summer!
Critter Proofing!
Chances are, you probably will have to critter proof your garden at some point. If you have a raised garden or a container garden, you’re already eliminating some critters.
We had what we think is a vole problem last year, a critter was digging a decent sized hole in a garden bed each night. I had to replace my cucumber plant because of it! After trying a sparkly ribbon, a toothpick fence and sprinkling cayenne pepper on the plant and soil, I purchased a Solar Mole and Gopher Chaser. It emits a sound often enough to keep the critters away and worked like a charm. If it was totally silent in the backyard you could hear it, but most of the time we had music or people talking and it didn’t bother us. Highly recommend! Purchase it here!
Some people fence their gardens to keep critters out using chicken wire or other materials. I’ve given up growing strawberries in my raised beds garden as critters get the berries before they’re ripe so if I grow them this year, I’ll pick a different (elevated) location. Chances are, you won’t know who will be visiting your garden yet, just something to keep in mind as you’re planning.
Plants! The Fun Part!
First, determine how many plants you have room for. Most plants need between 6″-24″ between plants, depending on the plants. Something to look at as you research/plant is how much space is needed. I’ve learned that I can plant about 4 different types of vegetables in each of my raised garden beds.
Next, what do you like to eat?!? Don’t plant things you don’t like to eat! I don’t love tomatoes, but I do love salsa. And my husband likes a slice of tomato on a sandwich or burger. I’m planting a large, slicing tomato instead of cherry tomatoes this year. We like zucchini, we don’t LOVE zucchini so even though Costco sold a 3 pack plant of zucchini, we’ll weed it out and only plant one!
If you’re short on space, plan your garden with a friend or neighbor! You can trade tomatoes for zucchini, lettuce for peppers, etc. If there’s something you and your family love, make sure to grow it yourself and don’t rely on the trade.
You’ll also want to look up when is the best time to put plants in the ground. Here in Denver, it’s not safe to plant until Mothers Day! Here’s the planting zone guide!
The Burnt Salad 2021 Garden Plan
Here’s our plan for this summer’s garden! On the right is last years garden, what we planted and where we purchased the plants from (HD= Home Depot, and we have a neighborhood nursery called Nick’s). On the left is our plan for this year.
This is the plan of the “must haves” and what I learned from last year. While I make a plan, I usually leave 1-2 spots for things i discover while picking out plants. There’s always a wild card or two that I just can’t live without when I’m actually at the garden center!
I usually start with getting my plants at Costco or Home Depot first. They have the basics at a nice price. Then I find the remaining plants at a specialty nursery, which cuts down on cost. Some years, we start plants indoors, this year we didn’t and will have an instant garden!
We are excited to plant Mothers Day weekend and discover what fun things we can’t live without when we’re at the garden center. We have room for 2 wild cards this year!
I’ll be back with a “what we planted” post in May! Be sure to sign up for my mailing list so you don’t miss a post and follow me on Instagram (at) theburntsaladblog!
