As we stare outside it is hard to believe that soon enough the snow will melt, the ground will thaw and your spring bulbs will start cracking the Earth’s surface. Which makes now the perfect time to take advantage of these lazy, cold winter days and start planning your warm weather garden, be it a simple herb garden or a four bed vegetable garden.
Below are a few friendly tips to help you get started with your warm weather garden:
- Design your garden space or have Sparrow and Brambles help you.
- Research what planting zone you are in to know when your estimated first and last frost dates are to help you figure out the best time to put your plants into the ground. To find out your zone visit planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/
- Look at seed companies’ catalogs to decide what you would like to grow. Keep in mind if this is your first garden, start small, learn and progress each year. A few seed companies that we love are:
Also, if you don’t have time to start your own seeds your local nursery or farmer’s market will have plenty of seedlings for sale this Spring to transplant into your garden.
- Another thing to keep in mind while researching seeds is to consider adding some native flowers to attract beneficial pollinators like bees, butterflies and birds. Some of our favorite beneficial flowers here at Sparrow and Brambles are:
- Butterfly Milk Weed
- Bee Balm
- Black Eyed Susan
- Indian Blanket
- Cornflower
- Wild Sunflower
Adding these flowers and inviting these critters into your garden will help keep your plants healthy and strong as well as creating less work for you in the long run.
- Once you have your garden space designed and all your plants selected make your way over to the Farmers Almanac where you can learn proper spacing for your plant rows and how many plants you can fit in a certain space with their easy to use garden planner.
Planning ahead now will make for a better less stressed you which will then make for a better, less stressed garden. Happy Planting!