A delicious or beautiful summer garden of vegetables and/or flowers, starts with planning and picking out seeds and plants now. Whether you shop for seeds or plants from a catalog, online, or garden center, it can be an overwhelming task deciding what to plant. Here are a few tips to keep seed or plant orders manageable and not let your eyes and imagination get bigger than the time and space you have to plant.
It’s not necessary to plant everything from seed. Planting from seed allows some personal options, the possibility of having an abundance of something, or finding something a bit unusual that you’d like to try. Annual plants are usually available from garden centers at reasonable prices foregoing the cost of seed, starting soil, containers, lights, and water that is needed to start seedlings on your own. Many of the seed retailers also offer plant offerings so if only one or two plants are desired, it might be more economical to purchase the plant than the seed.
Plant what you will eat and/or preserve in the vegetable garden. While the home garden is a great opportunity to broaden the vegetable and fruit palate, planting vegetables and herbs that are not favorites is not in your best interest. Be sure to consider space considerations; some plants like pumpkins and squash require a lot of space. And remember, it doesn’t take too many plants of anything to fill your needs.
Try something new. Each year, save space to experiment with a new edible or flowering plant or a different variety of something familiar just to broaden experience, knowledge and palate, if edible.
Include some pollinators. Adding a few beneficial flowers to the vegetable garden will boost your edible yields and may also provide some natural pest control. Zinnias are easy to grow, add lots of color, and are a favorite of bees and hummingbirds. The choices in zinnia varieties seems to be every expanding, too.
Care for unused seeds. Seed packets may contain more seeds that needed. Most seeds can be stored for one or two years and still produce great results in your garden. The key is to store them properly. Seed Savers Exchange offers some great tips for storing seeds. Another alternative is to share them with friends.
If you would like to receive some seed catalogs or are looking for something specific (organic, heirloom, etc.), here is an online source to help get you started with your spring planting:
10 Seed Catalogs Every Gardener Needs
Enjoy the season! It will soon be time to start those seeds under lights.
Reviewed and updated 6/2024, mg.
