One of the first things people learn when they take an interest in gardening, is that it is never-ending. If you aren’t actively doing it, you are thinking about it -and that is entirely necessary to have a successful garden adventure. Bloom season hardly ends with the first frosts -if anything, the most prolific blooming that occurs in a garden is done in the mind of the gardener in the winter months because that is the only time the garden is entirely successful and goes perfectly to plan.
Lofty ideas of perfect, disease-free roses that cascade with abandon over archways, and behemoth, crinkly-green cabbages straight out of a children’s storybook easily occur in the January garden because it is all in the mind (at least it is here up north where our zone calls for a long period of growth dormancy). Our optimistic zest while planting the first spring peas as soon as soil can be worked, and the surprisingly consuming anticipation of watching the first daffodil and tulips poke their green, lipstick-tube heads through the thawing earth can lead us into a spring-fever-frenzy where we begin to over-plant, over-plan, and overspend on ideas that are, perhaps lacking, a specific plan.
This lack of logic in favor of only fantasy can lead to discouraging phrases such as, “I guess I don’t have a green thumb”, and “I kill everything I plant” to follow the equinox-fueled hopes for Eden. The experts, however, know the remedy for this cycle of hopes vs mishaps, and it involves keeping expectations realistic, and starting each year with the basic foundations of gardening: Know your zone, know your light, know your soil, know yourself, know your goals.
Perhaps the most crucial thing to understand when planting or starting a garden is to know your zone. Our country is divided into thirteen zones -from 1A to 13B. Each zone is determined by the average annual minimal winter temperature, frost dates, humidity levels, and average annual rainfall that occur there throughout the year. All plants, trees, shrubs, all produce, fruits, and flowers have specific thresholds for what zones they can tolerate. When you purchase a seed packet or a plant, the information for its zone hardiness is usually provided on the packaging or tag and it can certainly be researched on the internet, via books, or from the experts at the gardening center where you are purchasing the item.
It is crucial to understand that just because a plant can survive in a specific zone, that doesn’t mean it will thrive there. For example: You can grow peonies in Florida, but they won’t be prolific or thrive there because they need a dormancy period of frost, snow, and cold to produce large and numerous flowers. Make sure that when you are purchasing seeds, seedlings, or plants that they are hardy to your zone (hint, we are 6b for the most part here in southern New England). Furthermore, you need to learn what is an annual and a perennial in your zone. Annual plants are things that are planted at the beginning of the growing season in your zone, but will die back once it gets cold enough or with the first frosts. Perennials are plants that go dormant in your zone’s cold months, but regenerate in the spring without you having to replant them. Biennials are plants that take one year to establish their leaves, and then the next year they bloom and die. These often self-seed before they die their second year so that there is a random, albeit consistent, supply of the plant at all times. Most foxgloves are an example of a biennial plant in our northern zones.
An equally important factor to consider when drawing up your vegetable or cutting garden dreams is to know your sites’ light. Just as with zones, plants and trees and all growing things have specific lighting needs and tolerances. There is a big difference between shade and full sun and even partial shade and full shade. Some plants are very forgiving when it comes to lighting needs. For instance, I continually push the shade limits in my container gardens on my front farmers porch where it is nearly full shade with a roof, but I have found which hardy plants indicate they need partial shade, but actually tolerate the near darkness I foolishly subject them to.
Then there are, say, roses. Roses are the divas of the garden and have a very specific list of demands that, even when met, are sometimes not enough to convince them to thrive. Roses absolutely need full sun or you are headed for trouble -aka mildews, black spot, funguses, and weak blooms. And if you think full-sun alone will give you a happy rose -well, you have not properly met a rose plant. Just as the zoning information can be found on your seed packets and plant purchases, so can the lighting conditions -often indicated by easy-to read graphics or sun images shaded to show how little or much a plant prefers.
Once you have established your zone and your lighting conditions in the area you want to plant in, you need to get to know your planting medium: The soil. Soil is a loaded word in the gardening world because it sets the stage for nearly everything you plant. Soil is a very complex topic that many gardeners spend their lives trying to understand, amend, and maintain, but for the sake of the length of this newspaper, I will give the most basic advice. Keep your soil alive. This means no harsh, inorganic chemicals, weed killers, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc.
Microbes make or break your soil -and if you kill them off, you will spend the rest of your days, money, and time trying to put back the naturally occurring life force you stripped out when you dumped toxins into it. Just as your gut needs good bacteria to promote overall health, the soil needs its intricate and complex systems of biodiversity and organic matter that not only sustain life and growth, but act as a natural preventative for disease and pests in the garden. The best way to keep your soil healthy is to make, or purchase and use, compost. Compost, compost, compost! NOT fertilizer or plant food -COMPOST. Added each spring and fall, and incorporated into your native or added soil, it will be the reason your garden is a success story.
That said, how do you know how much and what to add to keep your soil alive and active? The most effective way to get to know your soil and what it is lacking or has too much of, is to do a soil sample test. These are easy to use, inexpensive tests that you can purchase at garden centers or you can request them from your local gardening extension. The results of these soil tests will tell you the pH, nutrient levels, and heavy metals in your soil. If you order a soil test from your local extension, you are often provided with a detailed breakdown of what is found in your soil and how to amend it depending on what conditions you are hoping for. These tests are inexpensive and accurate. If you are planting in multiple sites that are spread out in your yard, it is a good idea to do a test for each are, a as soil varies a great deal -even on a relatively modest-sized property.
Once you have learned about your intended site or existing plot, you need to ask yourself: How much work do I want to/am I willing to put into, not only planting, but maintaining this garden and everything I put in it? There is no shame in whatever answer you give yourself because even toying with the idea of growing and nurturing something is a worthy cause. That said, it is crucial to learn about your style and wishes for a garden versus your allotted time to dedicate to it. If you are strapped for time and energy, certainly do not spend time and money planting an intricate English cottage garden, or a structured Italian-style garden -both of which would require a lot of daily attending.
If you are, perhaps, gifted with some extra time on your hands and an accompanying itch to be in the garden daily, perhaps skip the low maintenance perennials and succulent-based groundcovers which would grow if the garden was not visited for a decade and are actually worse for ware with interfering hands. Some plants require a great deal of effort the season long with dead-heading, pruning, and pest control, and some are demanding feeders who want compost and water frequently. Other plants grow in horrid, rocky soil with a few rainstorms a season and nothing more. It is important to research your plants before you spend money on them. Nothing in gardening is worse than spending a good deal of time and money establishing a garden that gets beyond your control and becomes a burden to keep up with instead of a therapeutic outlet. Ask me how I know…
Lastly, when you are planning a garden, it is imperative to ask yourself what you want out of your garden. Are you hoping for fresh food? Daily fresh-cut flowers? A purely visual treat to look at but not interact much with? A shade garden to fill that empty dirt patch by the porch? An engaging space to develop or cultivate a serious hobby or passion? Perhaps you want to better the environment and local ecosystems with a native plant garden. Or you may wish for a statement in landscape architecture on your property or even an herb garden in a pot on a city apartment patio. Gardens can be so many things, and when you ask yourself what you want out of the garden, you already have a much higher chance of getting it because you can make a plan. Again, there is no shame is how simple or extravagant your ideas are because gardens are really extensions of us and our lives. They are the visual result of our interaction with the earth and our relationships with nature. A mentor of mine said, “Gardens are the symphony we see when souls and soil meet.” Audrey Hepburn said it best when she said, “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” Perhaps, especially right now, there is no better time to cultivate a little hope wherever and however we can. The trick is to meld vision with direction and once you can do that, your thumb will be green enough to prove gardening an encouraging sort of venture rather than a daunting one. Here are some resources to help you with your January gardening:
Seed Companies Worthy of Your Attention:
Seed Savers Exchange
Johnny’s Select Seeds
Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
High Mowing Organic Seeds
Gardening Catalogues and Companies to Trust:
White Flower Farm
K. Van Bourgondien
Breck’s
Gardeners Supply
Brent and Becky’s Bulbs
Bluestone Perennials
Jackson and Perkins
Prairie Moon Nursery
Gardening Books:
A Way to Garden by Margaret Roach
Monty Don The Complete Gardener by Monty Don
Floret Farm’s A Year in Flowers by Erin Benzakein
Blooms and Dreams by Misha Gilligham
The Complete Guide to Gardening with Annuals and Perennials by Richard Bird and Kathy Brown
The New Gardener by Pippa Greenwood
The Natural Garden by Ken Druse
Local Gardening Centers That Know Their Stuff:
The Gardeners’ Choice, Pembroke
Morrisons Home and Garden, Plymouth
Crystal Lake Garden Shop, Plymouth
Sunshine Gardens, Kingston
Every Bloomin’ Things Garden Center and Nursery, Scituate
Gardens to Learn From:
Garden in the Woods, Framingham
Heritage Gardens, Sandwich
New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, Boylston
Alan C. Haskell Public Gardens, New Bedford
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Boston