A BEGINNER’s GUIDE ON
HOW TO START GARDENING
HOW TO UNDERSTAND YOUR GARDEN AREA
For any gardener to begin on the right foot, there’s a few pieces of information that every gardener gets to learn in order to be successful. It may seem confusing at first, but I’ve linked a few resources that should help give you direct information by zip code so you aren’t guessing. A lot of this initial information has to deal with the climate where you live. For example, I live in South Carolina which is zone 7b-8a where it is much warmer than my sister in Vermont in Zone 6. I can start my summer/warm season vegetables in April, where she cannot plant outside until late May due to her colder temperatures.
KNOWLEDGE:
- Look up your HARDINESS ZONE.
The hardiness zone map is based on the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature, displayed as 10-degree F zones and 5-degree F half zones. This information helps you determine when you’ll plant certain plants. - Look up your region’s FROST DATES.
Frost dates refer to the average date of the last light freeze in spring or the first light freeze in fall. You want to know your LAST FROST DATE in the Spring because that is the last projected date you *could* expect a freeze (the date is not exact or guaranteed). This is helpful because it gives you a good starting point for planting warmer season plants that cannot handle the cold temperatures. In the Fall, this is known as your FIRST FROST DATE. It is the first cold day of freezing that can kill off your warmer weather plants. - Look up your region’s PLANTING CALENDAR.
This resource is super helpful because it gives you exact planting timeframes based on variety and stage of growing in relation to the weather for your area. NOTE: I am a very seasoned gardener and I still access these dates ALL THE TIME.
INITIAL Garden GROWING Logistics
For any
EVERY GARDEN NEEDS THESE ITEMS
- Light / Location
- Soil
- Water
HOW TO START PLANTING YOUR GARDEN
For any
EVERY GARDEN NEEDS THESE ITEMS
- Soil / Compost
- Seeds (what do you want to grow? What will you eat?)
- Spacing (Square Foot Method to start)
- Water
- Wait
BUILDING YOUR GARDEN SPACE
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:
- How big of a garden space do you want?
- How big is the space you have?
- Does the area get around 8 hours of sunlight?
- Does the garden receive any shade? During what times of day?
- Do you need to build a garden bed or dig for in ground?
- What is the soil like?
- Do you need to get soil or amendments to fix the current soil?
- What is the drainage like?
ARTICLES:
- Is Pressure Treated Wood Garden Safe? (from Fine Gardening)
- Can I Use Pressure-Treated Lumber? (from Week&)
- Seed Saving Techniques (from Sow True Seed)
- Soil Amendment Cheat Sheet
