Gardening the Easy Way

Oh, the beauty of freshly-cut flowers or the taste of newly-picked vegetables!  Flowers are never more beautiful and veggies are never fresher than when they come from your own garden.  Okay, so what’s stopping you from enjoying this great outdoor adventure?  If it’s the thought of hard physical labor, it’s time to rethink the situation.

We’ll never totally eliminate all the digging and weeding, but physical exercise is a lot cheaper in the garden than at your local spa or gym.  What we can do is reduce gardening chores to a bare minimum by applying a few tricks of the trade.  Easy gardening can bring you outstanding results with less effort than you ever thought possible.  The tricks are no secret.  Just remember words like:  mulches, raised beds, containers, row covers, and cover crops.

Let’s start with raised beds and containers.  These two methods of gardening offer just about everybody the opportunity to dig in the dirt.  A sunny spot on the patio, a small area in the back yard, an overgrown plot of land all offer up great potential for gardening success.  Most people are familiar with the limitless selection of containers available in today’s market.  You may not, however, totally understand the raised bed concept.

Raised beds are exactly what the words say they are:  six to twelve inches of dirt raised above the surrounding landscape.  They may simply be dirt thrown into a heap, or permanent structures of wood, stone, or other suitable material.  Professional growers may use beds as long as a hundred feet in length.  The elderly or handicapped may choose to construct growing structures that can be worked from a sitting or standing position.  What’s important is a structure that fits your available space and physical needs.  Length can be any distance you choose.  The all-important width should never be wider than you can comfortably work from either side of your structure.

Okay, so what do we do with this bed?  First, amend it – lime, fertilizer, compost.  Second, plant it.  Let your imagination go!  Flowers, vegetables, and herbs can all be planted in combinations.  Ask any Master Gardener for intensive planting guidelines, or visit your local Extension Office.  Don’t forget the mulch for your easy, weed-free space.  You may choose to plant through plastic mulch or a weed barrier.  Straw makes excellent mulch, with the added benefit of breaking down and adding organic matter to your soil for coming years.  A word of caution with straw:  always check the nitrogen levels on second and successive seasons, as straw tends to deplete some of the available nitrogen as it decomposes.  Finally, visit your bed a few times a week to give it a drink of water, as needed, and to take care of minor problems before they begin to grow.  If something isn’t working or you don’t like the overall effect, pull it out and try a new combination.  In gardening, nothing is set in stone unless you want it to be.

Let’s go back to containers for a moment.  In March, Virginia State University held their 2008 Cut Flower Conference.  It was amazing how many of the professional growers were growing flowers and herbs in containers.  There were two reasons most gave for using the container method.  First, cost; second, utilization of space.  If containers work for professionals, they are bound to work for you.  Clay pots, whiskey barrels, plastic and ceramics all have their place in your growing plan.  Good seed catalogs will offer symbols or descriptions of plants that work well in containers.  You will find that herbs do especially well in containers if you will just give careful consideration to the space requirement of the adult plant.  An old gardener saying is, “Don’t put a ten dollar plant in a five dollar pot.”

Insects are both a blessing and a curse to every gardener.  We need the insects for pollination.  We don’t need the bugs that eat our precious flowers and vegetables or those that spread disease.  Here is where row covers come into play.  Row covers are usually lightweight, breathable fabrics that can be placed directly over crops or used in combination with some sort of support system.  Most often, this support system is in the form of heavy wire hoops stuck in the ground with the row cover placed over the top and anchored with wire staples.  Row covers do a wonderful job of protecting crops like spinach, lettuce, or sprouting plants by simply laying the covers over your beds.  The use of heavier row-cover fabrics and a support system protect from insects while also offering varying degrees of frost protection.  Row covers work great on individual beds and are also available in long lengths for commercial production.  Covers are almost a must if you are to be a successful organic grower.

You’ve heard the saying, “The first time is always the hardest.”  That is certainly true with gardening.  Preparing the soil the first time is always the hardest, most labor-intensive job.  At the end of your first growing season, or as a good way to initially prepare a new site, let cover crops do some of the work.  Crops like wheat, rye, clover, or peas will improve your soil by fixing nitrogen, improving the texture, and smothering the growth of weeds.  Buckwheat can be planted as early as May, and only takes a month before you can turn it into the soil to improve organic matter, and to make future digging chores much easier.

Once we have our bed, plot, or pot garden working, what are some other labor-saving techniques?  Choosing the most efficient plant varieties saves untold amounts of labor.  Growing up instead of out saves both space and time.  You’ll find old favorites and new cultivars in beans, peas, melons, and cucumbers that work well on a trellis system.  You can build your own system from poles, wire, or pipe.  You may choose to purchase a netting system that’s easy to install and can be taken down at season’s end.  Tool selection can also save greatly.  Labor-saving planters include push seeders, stick or jab planters, as well as tools to handle transplants with ease.  And don’t forget, flame weeders, small hoes, and even accessories that attach to your power equipment can all make gardening a lot easier.

Gardening is meant to be fun.  The surest way to kill the fun is to overdo it.  Start small with a few pots, a couple of raised beds, or a space no larger than 30 by 40 feet, that will enable you to learn as you grow.  It is amazing how much you can grow in a small area with intensive methods and succession planting.  If you need help selecting a site, choosing varieties, or preparing your garden, give a Heart of Virginia Master Gardener a call.  Our members come with a wide array of interest and skills, and we’re sure to have one that can answer any questions you might have as you start your easy gardening adventure.