How to achieve a beautiful back yard
Imagine growing, serving – and eating – plump juicy tomatoes, crisp green lettuce, and tiny crunchy carrots that have a fresh taste unlike any from the supermarket. Producing vegetables in your own garden can be extremely satisfying, but it does require some knowhow: Mother Nature often needs a little help to create the ideal growing conditions. While you can’t change her plans for the weather, there are many steps you can take to help your plants reach their fullest potential.
Denise Mlazgar of the Regina Horticultural Society (RHS) says that, first and foremost, you must choose a good location. “You need an area that would receive a minimum of eight hours of direct sunlight a day,” says the RHS’s past president and member of the board of directors.
The second consideration is soil. Regina’s clay soil is not ideal, especially for root vegetables or tubers, so Mlazgar recommends lightening it by working in a six-inch layer of compost or well-rotted manure every year. “Good soil grows great vegetables,” she says.
For raised beds or containers, she strongly discourages using the soil from your yard but recommends instead a mixture of equal parts topsoil, perlite, compost and peat moss, or use a commercial product such as Pro-Mix. “It has all the components, so it’s ready to use. It’s a bit more expensive, but it’s well worth it in the end,” she says.
The best soil helps to retain moisture while allowing drainage in a way that’s beneficial to roots. Determining the water requirements in a good soil – regardless of the weather – can be done with a simple test. “I put my finger in the dirt,” says Mlazgar, “and if it sticks to my finger, I know that it’s wet enough, and if it’s dry and crumbly, I water.” She recommends watering early in the morning so that the plants can use the moisture throughout the heat of the day. Also, plants that are damp overnight are more susceptible to fungus and blight. Use of a mulch, such as grass clippings or wood chips, will help reduce evaporation.
Once the location has been determined and the soil is ready, it’s time to plant the seeds. Plants that require 75 days or less to harvest can be planted directly into the soil and will have time to ripen during Saskatchewan’s short growing season. Those that require more, such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, tomatoes, peppers and celery, should be started indoors.
“As far as what to plant,” says Mlazgar, “grow what you like to eat. Read the package – it will give you lots of information as to whether it’s a kind that you would like, days to maturity, how deep to plant the seeds and how far apart to put them.”
Cool season vegetables, such as beets, carrots, peas, parsnips, spinach, onions and those in the cabbage family, can be planted from early to mid-May while the ground is still cool. Warm season crops, such as beans, corn, cucumber and squash, will get a better start in warm soil, so it’s best to wait until at least the May long weekend to plant them.
Although Mlazgar considers seed packages to be a valuable resource, experience has taught her to disregard one piece of information provided. “You can space your plants much
further apart than they say.” Planting them close together creates more work later because they then have to be thinned out, she says.
Rows can also be fairly close together as long as you can access your plants. Alternately, they can be planted using “square-foot” gardening, which involves planting in patches rather than rows. This can be very appropriate when planting in raised beds.
Another handy tip for planting in small spaces such as pots is to select determinate tomatoes (which grow to a certain height and then stop growing and produce fruit) rather than the indeterminate varieties (which never stop growing and require pruning in order to help them produce fruit). Also, determinate tomatoes can often be harvested earlier.
Further space-saving can be achieved by training vine-like plants, such as cucumber, peas, squash and melons, to climb up netting or trellises.
No matter how much space is available, it will help to reduce competition for nutrients and water. Planting your garden away from trees, removing weeds without delay, and thinning crops that look crowded will give your plants their best chance to thrive.
By following the preceding tips, in a few short months, you could soon be enjoying produce that might even make the Jolly Green Giant envious.