The Decision
Your first thing that needs to be decided is how big are you planning your garden to be? Are you going to rip up your entire backyard and go for it? Or are you planning on just using a few containers to plants flowers the first year to get your thumbs dirty? This is a major decision so the entire family should have some say in it just in case you want to recruit their help in the future. Believe it or not flowers are very important to a gardener because some can attract bees and hummingbirds to your yard. These are called pollinators and their job is to drink the nectar from your flowers then go to the next one and do the same thing. This is called pollination and is a requirement for most plants in order to produce a vegetable, fruit or even a flowering tree. Or are you planning on planting vegetables so saving money is the option for this garden? However, do not plant anything that your family will not eat. This will be a waste of money for you which is not the goal of the vegetable garden correct? Make a list of vegetable and fruits you buy for your family. This will give you a start then you can look up online each one and see what is required of them for planting.
Step 2: Look at your Exposure
Now I am not talking about you personally but your area of land planning for the garden. If you are just going to do container gardening this year this is also important. If you are planning on only using the containers on your porch there is still a need for sunshine here also. If you are planting vegetables, remember most of them need at least eight hours of sunshine. This is not true for New Mexico residents for the most part because we live in the High Desert, which means we have blasting sunshine and most of the plants need a shade of sorts in order to survive the desert life.
Step 3: Designate your Planting Area
If you are like me you will need to take a good look at where you are planning on the planting area. Like with anything you will need a plan. Is your yard an open canvas with nothing in it or do you have large trees that provide shade for your project? My suggestion would be to start with a small area the first year if you are planning on a vegetable garden of 4 x 4 plot of land. If you are just planning on planting flowers for those bees and hummingbirds are you going to put them in containers or under that tree? Flowers also have a require for sunshine also; you can get some that will grow and have a benefit as shade tolerant flowers. If you try to plant shade tolerant flowers in the open area with no shade they will die usually very quickly then you have wasted your money on them and might even give up the garden. Each plant will have a tag on them that needs to be read before you purchase them so you will know where they will go in your 4 x 4 area. The same goes for any vegetable plants you may purchase because you got a late start to your garden so buying the starter plants is the way you are going this year.
Step 4: Consider a fence
In my area of New Mexico, we have 1001 rabbits it seems like so this is a requirement here, however, you may be living in a city and have no critters to deal with. Well do not forget that neighbor's dog who will love to tear out your plants after you have them in the ground. Believe me this has happened with my own dogs when they decided they were tired of waiting for the pumpkins so they started to eat them (because I did not put up a fence in the beginning). This will save you from trying to kill your animals or pulling out your hair.
Step 5: Know Your Dirt
Here in my little part of Albuquerque, I have clay soil overtop of a black top since my home was built in 1941 it was originally a bar. Yes when I dig in the ground I have found old beer bottles, old coins and some really old items I am not sure what it is. With this in mind, I have decided to garden with raised beds because I do not want my vegetables, fruit and flowers to have any contact with the old soil. Since it was a bar there was a parking lot here so there probably is spilled oil and gas also in the soil.
However, if you do not want to have raised beds you can always fix your soil with compost from your local nursery or Soilutions. This company has various types of compost that can be purchased to fix your soil.
Mulch also needs to be considered here because not only will it break down into an organic material but it will help keep your plants cool in the summer along with moisture retention. You can usually ask at the nursery or even your local county extension office.
If you like the first five steps, come back for more later for another four steps. Now go outside and get a little dirty checking out your soil.
Ronda Z
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