Ten tips for planting a successful garden | Henry Homeyer

Despite late snowstorms that dumped deep snow over some of New England, spring is here. Let’s take a look at some keys to a successful year in the vegetable garden.

Don't bite off more than you can chew

I grow about 40 tomato plants each year, but most folks don’t want to can or put up many pounds in the freezer. A well-tended small garden is better than a huge weedy garden. Select plants that you love, and just plant a few. Don’t crowd them. You don’t have to start everything from seed – most garden centers have plants for sale in six-packs and a good selection of varieties.

Don't use any chemicals in the garden

Mother Nature doesn’t use chemicals, and you shouldn’t either. A chemical fertilizer is largely made of salts of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. Too much of these salts can kill the microorganisms that work with the roots of your plants to feed them. A bag of 10-10-10 is 70% filler, and the content of this portion is not specified – it’s a “trade secret.”

Compost is your best friend in the garden

Unlike chemical fertilizers, it provides most or all of the micronutrients needed by plants, such as magnesium, calcium and sulfur. And it contains living organisms, bacteria and fungi that work with your plant roots to provide nutrients to your plants. Mycorrhizal fungi coat the roots of plants. They produce acids that dissolve minerals and share them with your plants. The plants pay the fungi with excess sugars they produce on sunny days.

Build up soil and compost to create raised beds, or build wood-sided beds

You can hoe soil from the walkways into your raised beds, and maybe buy a pickup truck-load of compost to mix in and enrich your soil. Most landscapers will deliver compost.

Raised beds provide nice, loose soil and discourage kids and dogs from walking through them. And in a rainy summer such as the one we had last year, raised beds drain well.

Enrich your soil with organic fertilizers

Fertilizers such as Pro-Gro and Plant Tone are made from things like ground peanut hulls, soybean meal, seaweed and oyster shells, with a few naturally occurring minerals. They are broken down in the soil and released slowly – just a small amount is water-soluble. They are a big help in poor soils, but don’t overdo these either.

Walk through your garden every day

Look for problems. Are your newly transplanted tomatoes looking limp? If so, they probably need water. Are there potato beetles? The Colorado potato bug can be a real problem. But if you watch for orange egg masses under the leaves and scrape them off, and pick larvae and beetles every day, you can control the problem in a home garden. One adult lays many eggs that can produce new adults in 30 days or so.

Don't let weeds blossom and produce seeds

Ever. Make 10 minutes of weeding every day a part of your daily ritual, just like you brush your teeth every day. Use a good weeding tool – I really like the CobraHead Weeder because it easily gets under weeds and can be used to tease out long roots. Some weeds spread by root, so getting out entire roots is important. A scrap of root from many grasses will survive and produce new plants.

Water judiciously

Those flip-flop overhead watering devices may be good for a newly planted lawn, but they waste a lot of water in your vegetable garden. Water with a watering can, or attach a watering wand to your hose. A good watering wand allows you to water around your plants but not your walkways or empty places. Too busy to water, or heading off to the beach? Use a water timer and soaker hoses. They can do the job for you.

Prevent weeding

I put down four to six layers of newspaper, then a layer of straw or mulch hay to keep it in place and help hold in moisture. Most weeds won’t grow though the newspaper, and earthworms will eat it up by the end of the season. Inks in newspapers now are soy-based, but I avoid the color sections.

Don't get discouraged

Last summer, we had lots of rain and not much sunshine, so many vegetables did not perform well for me – or anybody. Your garden will do better in times of drought or persistent rain if the soil is rich in organic matter and biologically active. Regularly replant some things you know how to grow – perhaps lettuce – and rejoice in fresh salads.

Remember, there is never a good reason to spray chemicals on your plants. After all, if it kills the Japanese beetles, it can’t be good for you. Good luck!

Henry’s column will appear once each month. You can reach him at henry.homeyer@comcast.net or PO Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Ten tips for planting a successful garden | Gardening