The snow has melted, and you can see the first peeks of blooming flowers outside. Ah, springtime is here again. And you’ve got an itch to get outdoors that you just need to scratch. So what better way to get in the spring spirit than with some sun in your face and dirt on your hands?
Before you dig in, know that gardening is more a balancing act than an exact science. Abundant harvests develop with time, practice, observation, and trial and error, so it’s OK if you don’t get it perfect on the first try.
If you’re new to the soil scene, it can be tough to know where to start. What do you plant? Where you should you plant it? What tools you need? If you’re ready to start plotting, pull on your garden gloves and follow our guide to get growing.
Plan before you plant
Before you get knee-deep in dirt, figure out what you want to grow. If you love flowers, think about whether you want a bed of perennials or long-stem flowers to cut for your kitchen table. If you’d rather eat the fruits of your labor, consider what vegetables you like to cook.
“Part of a successful experience is growing something you really want,” says Lori Brewer, who works in outreach in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University in New York. “Don’t think you have to start growing peas. What if you don’t like peas? The answer: You’ll be less motivated to take care of them.”
Stuck for inspiration? Check out a seed catalogue. If you’re not picky, try something easy, such as leafy greens or pole beans, Brewer says.
New gardeners should start with three types of plants, such as tomatoes, basil and zucchini, or parsley, marigolds and eggplant, says Marcia Eames-Sheavly, youth program leader for Cornell’s Garden-Based Learning program in New York.
“Start small, do it well, and feel awesome about it, rather than bite off a huge thing that you’ll end up hating and not wanting to take care of,” Eames-Sheavly says.
Limiting your focus is a good strategy for beginners, agrees Brewer, who also works with the college’s Master Gardener Volunteers program, which provides successful gardening experiences for 7 million New York gardening households.
“This will allow you to get your bearings, and learn how to take care of those plants really well. Then next year you can expand,” Brewer says.
It is important to cultivate at least a few varieties of plants, especially as you learn about what grows well where you live. Planting a diverse crop will also help you figure out what thrives best on your grounds. Also, if you only plant cabbage, for example, you may find cabbage-loving worms take up residence in your backyard, and your whole garden becomes their dinner.
“Don’t grow a huge plot of the same crop because you could attract the pest for that particular crop. Mix it up instead, and you may find that a certain pest affects one plant, but not another,” Brewer says.
While choosing your plants, consider what growing conditions you can offer. Plants differ in their needs for sunlight, drainage and fertilizing. Tomatoes require eight hours of sunlight each day, while kale prefers part shade.
“Read the back of your seed packet, and it will tell you how much sunlight, how many days to maturity, how much water, how much shade, and how much space to put between seeds,” says James Ross, a longtime gardener in Danville, Ky.
And be aware that your options might be limited based on where you live. You might love olives, but they don’t grow well in cold northern states.
“You may really like avocados. But if you live in the northeast, that’s not the right climate for avocados, and it’s not a good crop choice,” Brewer says.
Plot your next move
To have a successful garden, planters must be in sync with their environment and seasonal changes. Get to know your backyard. Scout the areas that have good water drainage. Don’t plant in areas that get soggy, or fill with standing water after rain.
Make sure to evaluate your sun exposure, as most plants and flowers need six to eight hours of daily sunlight. Balconies and windowpanes are great spots to grow container gardens, particularly for herbs, leafy vegetables and tomatoes. But remember even balconies can have varying sunny and shady spots.
Sometimes you need to create a space, and you can do so with a small raised bed, a boxed-in planting area that sits above ground level.
“Small raised beds are a good way to try a few different types of plants in a controlled space, and a great way to involve family and friends,” says Ross, who’s also president of Community Garden Planters, a nonprofit in Danville, Ky.
Most bed kits range from $30 to $130 online and at garden stores, and they’re relatively simple to put together. Or make your own with four untreated two-by-fours, a drill, and weed cloth to line the bottom.
“You can save a lot of money by recycling (wood). Just make sure the wood is untreated,” Ross says. “Start with a small space in case you mess up. You have the opportunity to start over again, instead of plowing up half an acre and wasting time and money.”
Then it’s time do the math. Research how much space your plants and flowers need to mature, and draw a diagram of your future garden. Ross suggests a 4-foot-square bed, which makes it easy to divide up, and is your best bet for a plentiful bounty.
“You could do about 16 beets in one square, or 12 to 14 carrots, or four to five heads of lettuce,” he says. “You could even do cucumbers if you have a trellis framework.”
Life starts below the surface
Dirt is just dirt, right? Not so, Ross says. Soil is a key ingredient in every garden’s success. “You can buy expensive seeds, but if the soil’s not good, they won’t grow well,” he says.
Soil is made of mineral solids—stone, sand and a combination of clay, water, air and organic matter. Organic matter, also called compost, includes insects, leaves, and manure or a long-lasting matter called humus, which develops after dead leaves and manure have completely broken down.
Though it seems counterintuitive that life may burgeon in decaying leaves and dead bugs, they are the soil’s lifeblood. As it breaks down, the compost provides food for soil microbes, which help plants ingest nutrients. Dean Vidal, an organic farmer in Virginia, says compost is at the core of a great beginner garden.
“Microbial communities are the foundation of our food chain, which goes all the way down to single-celled creatures in the soil that break loose the nutrients that create healthy plants,” Vidal says. “We see effects of the microbes expressed in food (we grow).”
To test your soil for nutrients, contact a Master Gardeners program through your local cooperative extension. Getting help from these public educational networks can go a long way toward maximizing your harvest, Vidal says.
You’re looking for two critical pieces of information: compost ratio and pH, which measures the soil’s acidity, which indicates how it will react to water and fertilizer.
Testing is quick and easy. Collect a pint of dirt from 8 inches below the surface, and take it to your local extension office. A soil test can also identify heavy metals and chemicals, which could be harmful to your health.
Grow your odds of success
Ideal planting soil is crumbly but not sticky, and moist but not soggy, Brewer says. Touch the soil to develop a sense of texture.
“If you can’t imagine a tiny root trying to move through your soil, then you probably need to adjust it,” she says.
Plants and flowers have different fertilizer needs, and for some, even healthy soil just won’t cut it. That’s why many gardeners use fertilizer. Though deciding on fertilizer is a personal choice, the most common mistake—overuse—happens when first-time gardeners don’t do their research.
“Reading the fertilizer label is the most important thing,” Brewer says. “It can be hard to read the label, so people sometimes don’t take time to read it, and that’s where we get into trouble.”
It’s important to establish a maintenance routine, she says. Water plants and flowers in the morning so the moisture absorbs during the day and the excess dries before nighttime, when mold creeps in.
Ground vegetables usually need about an inch of water per week. Container plants and flowers need a little more attention. If they sit on pavement, they get hotter faster, making the water evaporate more quickly. Always make sure soil is moist, but never submerged in standing water, Brewer says.
You’ll also need to consider pest control. If you notice a pesky insect, first identify it. Before you drown it in bug spray, Brewer says to consider whether it is causing any trouble.
“Is this thing eating my plant? Is it causing damage? Is this damage significant enough to impact my harvest or bother me?” she says. “One insect is not necessarily cause for concern. If you see something, wait a few days and see what happens.”
And don’t forget about those annoying weeds you’ll need to pull. Ross says clearing out weeds is a huge part of regular garden maintenance.
“You want to put in at least three to five hours per week,” he says. “When it comes to weeding, you could do even 15 to 20 minutes per day to keep up with it.”
Happy harvest!
It’s the celebratory end of your garden journey, but remember that harvesting requires time and planning. Pick vegetables regularly, so you don’t end up with rotten plants.
Back in the kitchen, you have a few storage options. Onions, garlic, potatoes and winter squash can last for months in dark, cool and dry storage. Canning and preserving helps produce last longer, and freezing works just as well. Berries, blanched eggplant, basil pesto, shelled peas, stewed tomatoes and sliced peppers all freeze well for cooking later.
And before the first frost hits, clean and prep your garden for the cold. Most new gardeners think they can ignore the soil in the winter, but that’s not true. You can maintain its shape, structure and health with mulching or planting winter cover crops, which help revitalize the soil when prime season plants are dormant.
When the end of the growing season rolls around, you’ll be ready to rest, but your garden will be prepping itself for next spring.
And as you look toward years of healthy crops, set yourself up for success with your first venture by not biting off more than you can chew. Going overboard is the biggest mistake first-time gardeners make.
“It’s important to take it easy on yourself in the beginning, so you know you’ll follow through on the harvest next year,” Eames-Sheavly says.
Reap what you sow: The health benefits of digging up dirt
It’s not just about lifting flats and pulling weeds. Gardening helps flexibility, strength and cardiovascular endurance. And being in nature helps reduce stress and blood pressure. It’s also a great way for couples and families to spend time together.
In its Guide to Physical Activity, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute says 30 to 45 minutes of gardening offers the same benefits as a two-mile walk or five miles of cycling.
The Journal of Health Psychology reported a recent study that showed significantly lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol in people after they gardened for 30 minutes.
Another study published in the Journal of Clinical Nursing found that gardening programs in nursing homes resulted in increased socializing and decreased loneliness.
And when it comes to holistic health, Marcia Eames-Sheavly, youth program leader for Cornell’s Garden-Based Learning program in New York, says plants take the lead in almost every aspect of life.
“We are absolutely dependent on plants—every part of our lives, from what we wear to our food and oxygen,” she says. “The garden is a place where plants can teach us that lesson of interconnectedness.”
