View Full Version : Already planning for next year's Garden
I thought this thread could be used to post how your garden might change next year in any way.
I bought for $23 a patio or deck "greenhouse" with a clear zippered cover. We're planning to put it up in one of our south facing windows this winter to start veggies for the garden. Each shelf is just the right size to stick a boot tray on to hold the flats and to take overflow water without anything dripping on the floor. What sold me on it was the fact that my cats won't be able to eat the tender seedlings, thus saving us replanting and frustration. We're also planning to put out more seedlings to get a jump on the season and to have backups in case our gamble was wrong.
goldensmom
7-8-11, 10:55am
After working in the vegetable garden and rock garden this morning, I came in and began planning for next season. I get tired by this time in the summer and need to look forward to keep me going. Come fall and I will be all rejuvenated again. No specifics yet but I pulled out my stash of Fine Gardening and English Garden magazines.
Yes, I'm already thinking about next spring, taking what I learned this year and refining things. I'm also thinking about my fall garden, what I want to plant and where. So I've been doing some research into seeds and also looking at my garden organization, sometimes I do not make as good use of my space as I could. I want to plant another tree, thinking a pomegranate, but still need to consider the location.
Jania our garden isn't as well mapped out as it could be as well. Next year we will have the entire garden rototilled and we will stake out beds with narrower aisles (which will give us some more real estate to develop!)
Thanks for this thread, Merski! This fall, I'm planning to prepare all my early-spring beds better, so they only need to be uncovered and planted come spring. I didn't get things like onions, peas, and beets started early enough this year, and now I'm regretting it.
We too have one of those little patio greenhouses -- three, in fact, since the company sent us three -- and we made good use of those this year. Be cautious with them, as they can get very, very hot in direct sunlight.
I'm also going to build a new bed for strawberries and other perennials - I mixed them in with the annual veggies this year, and it hasn't been a successful experiment.
I need to rearrange some perennials- big bare spots alternating with overgrowth of one or another species. I've also slowly changing the color schemes of a couple of the perennial beds. I'm partial to soft pastel flowers (pinks, lavenders, blues) and so that's what I'd started with. But I've come to realize that I really don't cut the flowers, just look at them from a distance (like when I'm getting dressed and looking out the window). Those pastels just don't look like much from far away, so I will be adding in some deeper/brighter colors to make the bed more visually striking.
Maxamillion
7-15-11, 4:14pm
I've already been thinking about what to plant for next year. I'd like to try growing garlic/scapes. I want to try corn again, but need to move it to a sunnier location than where I had it this year. Will also be planting tomatoes and squash again, even though I haven't gotten much from them this year...no tomatoes, not even any flowers on them yet. And all but one of my developing squashes rotted away with some sort of fungus. Also I'll plant some sort of pole bean. This year I planted zinnias for the first time, and they did excellently. The marigolds I planted also did well, but have been kind of late flowering. Everything I planted from seed, but next year I may buy a few tomato plants to get an early start before it gets too hot outside. I also want to plant yellow tomatoes and striped tomatoes.
it's winter here, our next season is SOON.
i got started yesterday -- clearing the side walk garden. My plan there is to put down newspaper (to kill weeds), then gravel, and potted plants. Can't decide which potted plants I want to do yet. I'm going mental, actually, deciding what to plant. It's south facing and nearly always in shadow. So, obviously shade tolerant. And, right on the coast, so windy and coastal. lavender does well, so i could just monoculture plant it all along the walk way (which would look and smell nice), and not have to worry about pots, BUt i thought that pots-on-gravel would add some interest.
i also got started on the back garden. essentialyl cleaning out the landlady's "junk" in order to use the space. The "greenhouse" will have DS's play area plus plants. Sandbox, swing, bench for free play (usually used as a play kitchen, but also moved around to become any manner of imaginary things), and several hanging and potted plants.
the open area has the hillside. i'm going to clear the weeds, replant the agapanthus, and bring in some native grasses to try and attract some native birds to the site.
in the covered area, I mostly want to keep it clean. we have a clothes drying wrack there, and I can use some of the shelves for storing gardening stuff. not that i have any (or much or any), but it could work for that anyway. But, the cover is accessible, and I talked with the workmen and asked if they thought I could put some plants up there. They suggested a weight limit -- possibly two "closed raised beds" (boxes) for veggies. It would get all day sun, though less in the morning than afternoon. It would be possible to grow veg, we think.
In the front of the house, which is the side walk, i want to put some planters as well. i'm thinking herbs here, too. but no clue. maybe I do lavender or roses or something. i just don't know.
anyway, those are big plans. Oh, and I want to keep bees on the roof. probably won't happen next season.
We're starting seedlings for the fall crop. We're a bit late on some things but hopefully we'll come out ok with frost cover. So far we've started cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi (both purple and green), and broccoli (I know, I know)
I'm installing poly tubing around the yard and running faucets up next to the beds. This is the first half of the project. Next year's project will be to install drip irrigation tubing and rain barrel catchments (and maybe sink a cistern).
We're starting to figure out next spring's rotation schedule.
Funny you should mention...during a very dull day at work (the project leader was on vacation and didn't leave enough work for myself and my only coworker), I started laying out next year's garden in Excel. It's not exactly to scale, but it's good enough for planning. I'm also trying to figure out what to plant for fall and where to do it.
One thing I want to be sure NOT to do is plant the same stuff in the same places. That's a mistake I made this year and subsequently don't have a zucchini yet, thanks to squash borers. I also didn't carefully inspect all my veggies for bugs, and had quite a battle with flea beetles and then hornworms on the eggplants. (A few eggplants managed to grow in spite of my negligence.) Cucumbers aren't doing so well either, although I've harvested a few and a few more are coming along. All squash will be moved to the other side of the house next year, where I've never planted any at all. However, the white "patty-pan" squash got huge and beautiful, and presents me with a new squash every day or two.
This past weekend I built a manure pile for next spring -- so it'll all be nice and mellow and ready to use. Smelly work, but wonderful.
This weekend our community garden is sponsoring a public walking tour of our little town's unique gardens, which should be fun. I'm part of the tour, so I get to talk about potatoes to my heart's content (I adore growing potatoes; 8 varieties this year) I've planted a fall crop of peas where the potatoes are getting rotated-to next year.
I will go back to Detroit dark red beets or early blood turnip rooted beets. Went with some cool looking yellow beets which look "Nuc-ular" in color.
iris lily
9-13-11, 10:49am
This is the time of year where I am harvesting lily bulbs. I love the harvest almost as must as I love bloom season!
I am planning for next year by moving bulbs from one property to another, trying to strongarm DH out of some land. He is very stubborn!
Last week I moved a raised bed and yesterday I broke an old bed down entirely to make room for a tree, or two! I can be so dumb when it comes to planting things, the sequence of plantings so I did come up with a new idea for my strawberries and melons. I want a bigger strawberry plot next year but will leave some place in the middle of the plot to plant my melon seeds. This way the melons will be started when the strawberries are being harvested and by the time I pull up the old strawberry plants (my plot isn't year-round like some parts of the country do) the melons will be starting to spread out. Strawberries will be planted in early October.
iris lily
9-14-11, 10:02am
Last week I moved a raised bed and yesterday I broke an old bed down entirely to make room for a tree, or two! ...
You are planting trees. In your garden area.
Oh, I beg you, reconsider. The trees will suck up all of the water, they will shade your vegetables, the tree roots will snake through your garden and you'll lose planting space and they will drop ugly noxious leaves on the grounds causing more work.
Trees are The Enemy.
I really had the garden bug this year and it has not yet waned as it sometimes can come fall. I'm already looking forward to next year too. More tomatoes of course, but also I want to try some new varieties of veggies, though in the end I tend to fall back on the 'tried and true'. Since tomatoes can be feast or famine, I want to grow a couple more varieties to see if I can find another good one for this area. And different bush beans. I also want to plant melons again - never got around to that this year.
I also want to get the various soaker hoses joined in a more efficient way next year so I can water any bed at will.
I also want to prepare my garden beds this winter by putting on a deep layer of either compost or mulch, depending what the city is delivering. That will keep the weeds down so come spring, the beds will be ready. Of course I always want to do that, but never seem to get around to it. Maybe this year.. >8)
This winter I also want to plant more strawberries and get a raspberry bed established. Love them berries.
I'm doing just the opposite as some. I'm taking out my raised beds. Even with mulch, they required more water than the garden. We're pretty open and there's a lot of wind here. Not too many people do flower beds as it's so hard to keep brome and wild grasses out of it. So I'm scaling back, planting just what we eat the most of, tomatoes, potatoes and onions.
I'm taking out my raised beds. Even with mulch, they required more water than the garden.
A number of years ago I also removed the few raised beds with sides I had. For several reasons they just didn't work as well as au naturelle beds. :)
I'll be moving into a new house this fall, leaving behind my garden soil that I've taken 10 years to build. :(
So the order of the day for the rest of the season will be building some sort of place to plant a few things in the spring, and of course a place to put all my garlic this fall. I don't expect much - the new soil isn't great and I'll have to artificially amend the heck out of it -- but if I don't let myself wax nostalgic for my hyper-prolific garden, it's kind of an exciting time. Good southern exposure, something I've never really had.
Raised beds are an extra amount of work. Just pile up soil and get on with it.
Puglogic we have a newish house and have built up our garden over the past 4 years from builders sand to better but not great. A neighbor has horse manure and wood shavings and even very composted stuff and no garden to put it on. We have a friend with a truck who wants some of this so we're hoping to combine forces and get some this fall...Good Luck! It's a lot of work.
Too funny Iris Lilly! I'll be planting at least one more dwarf citrus on the north side of the yard, maybe a pomegranate. They won't provide any shade (sadly though as they end up being just really big shrubs) and their root structure just won't go far enough to steal any water from the veggies in raised beds. But it's always good to hear new perspectives because I sure can forget things.
nickiefriend
9-15-11, 9:58am
This was my first year gardening and I did the square foot method. Now that the upfront cost is over;), I know next year will be alot easier.
I dont plan on growing as many tomatoes, no onions (they flopped), more squash and green beans. I only had two cuke plants and I had them running out my ears! Same with okra, I had my own and then we had a bunch give to us, so I dont know if I will do okra next year.
I am still putting up green peppers and jalepenos! The jalepenos are running rampant right now:)
I would like to be able to try my hand at potatoes. We will see what cost will have to go into building another box and making it deep enough.
Puglogic we have a newish house and have built up our garden over the past 4 years from builders sand to better but not great. A neighbor has horse manure and wood shavings and even very composted stuff and no garden to put it on. We have a friend with a truck who wants some of this so we're hoping to combine forces and get some this fall...Good Luck! It's a lot of work.
Good luck Merski! It is a lot of work, but it means I rarely have to go to the rec center to work out ;) This soil is a mix of like pulverized granite and decomposed pine mulch. It has potential, but I may have to buy a jackhammer......
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