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Originally Posted by MissRedThumb
Hello all,
I live in the VA Beach area. For the first time in my adult life, I have a back yard that comes with a space where I'm allowed to plant a garden. I'm really looking forward to the feeling of growing some of my own food, and hoping I can inspire my family to spend more time outside.
The only problem is, I've never been able to get anything to grow. I tried container gardening a few times with disastrous results. Since then I've done a lot of research. It seems I was using bad soil and probably let my plants get too much water.
I'm in the process of learning about compost and organic fertilizers. But it's totally overwhelming and I don't know where to turn for people who can give me specific advice. I'm scared to just walk into a store and spend money on tools when I don't have an idea of what stuff should cost.
Would anyone like to join me on the journey from a patch of weeds in my yard to (hopefully) a successful garden?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MissRedThumb
Yeah, soil preparation is going to be a big priority for me. I only have one space the landlord designated where I can put a garden. It doesn't seem to get a full day of sun, so I'm thinking I might try a tomato plant in a hanging basket. Is that a good idea?
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Miss Red, good for you! Gardening can be a very satisfying experience. I think everyone has been giving you some good general advice but maybe we are rushing into things without some basics.
First of all it sounds like you are renting and the garden is not permanently yours and has some restrictions. This means right away you will have to aproach what you grow differently than someone who can make longer term plans. Good healthy gardens can take several years to establish. You will still need to know about the soil, amount of sunshine and even when the sunshine hits that spot to determine what can be planted. Do you want all vegetable, all flower or a mix. You need to have a plan so you don't buy the first pretty plant you fall in love with at the store. It's great to study composting but since compost heaps are often misconstrued as garbage heaps you may not be able to make your own compost if your landlord does not feel comfortable with it.
Gardening well requires some regular attention. Right now we are all eager to get back out there and everyone is sure they will be spending the hours of weeding and watering needed, but when it comes down to it when the heat cranks up and the family wants to head out to the beach or a park, or just into the air conditioning your plants will need you more not less. Your first foray into container gardening didn't end well. That doesn't make you a bad gardener but it should make you think about what went wrong and how to avoid repeating it. You say "bad soil" so how do you know this and what would you do to fix it? For many people gardening in containers is harder to accomplish than in the ground. Frequent drying out and/or overwatering are usually the culprit of garden failures and those get magnified with containers and hanging baskets. If you tend to kill your plants with kindness (most often over watering and over fertilizing) you may do much better with something that can drain away better like plain old dirt in the ground! You are better off with a very small garden in the ground for your first foray.
Before you try to find any local help do the following:
1) Watch the area you will be allowed to have your garden on every sunny day and note where you have the most sunshine fall and how long that is. Write it down each time so you aren't guessing. Make a note if it is all morning, all afternoon or something in between. Write it down.
2) Call the cooperative extension office for information on your area soils and possibly doing a basic soil test. I suspect you may be dealing with sandy soils which means you'll need to be amending the soil for better water retention. This is from last year but the information is fairly local to you:
Get the dirt on your soil | HamptonRoads.com | PilotOnline.com Note the gray box on the left side for all the offices so you can get as local as possible.
3) Make plans on how you will be watering and make sure you have a hose that reaches the area and a way to disperse it close to the ground. Plan on being an early morning person since that is the best time to water. If you want to hand water with a hose or a watering can make sure you are up to doing it daily even when it is 80 degrees at 7 in the morning
4) The worst place to get information on gardening for a complete newbie is a store. You couldn't tell if that nice person really knows there stuff, took a company 2 hour class or has a commission on sales and will sell you whatever they've been told to move. You are better off going to the library and picking up some books to read. The best place to learn some basics is classes at a local community college, extension office or set up by Master Gardeners. Check when you go for the soil test information and box.
4) As Robyn said, what 2 or 3 plants do you want most to grow? Before you go and buy them find out if the amount of sun you noted down is enough. Ask questions here if you aren't sure about it. If you have enough sunshine then read up on how much space they need. This will determine how many you can plant in your space. Stay with a small amount of plants so you can keep up with their care and not be overwhelmed. If your plant choices permit it, decide on what can be planted where by size so that low plants wind up up front and tall or supported plants (tomatoes) go behind. Leave space for stepping around the lower plants to reach the tall ones (how else to pick those luscious tomatoes ?) You'd be surprised how many people forget that and are shocked when the plants fill in and they start having to reach awkwardly or end up stepping on the smaller plantings. Make sure you have a way to support plants like tomato cages for tomatoes at the time they are planted.
5) Find out right away what the most common problems are that are associated with the plants you plan to grow. Examples would be that tomatoes suffer from blossom end rot, hosta get eaten up by slugs or powdery mildew infects peppers and pumpkins. Learn ahead of time how to prevent this so you can avoid going more toxic (and expensive) routes later.
There's so much more, as you can see by all the helpful replies, but I don't want to overwhelm you! Keep asking questions as you go.
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Originally Posted by Giesela
You might want to see if there is a Master Gardener Club near you, they often provide guidance to beginners.
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Good advice, but it isn't a garden club. Garden cubs are nice but those are social groups! Many of my fellow Master Gardeners wouldn't like to hear that name applied to what they do, they work to hard on becoming expert educators. To become one you have to have some gardening experience. You have to take a wide ranging course that covers a broad spectrum of gardening topics followed by an exam. To be certified they have to take more courses every year as well as do volunteer work within the community. Many are affiliated with local universities. They are a service and education organization and primarily exist to help and encourage others in all aspects of gardening. Master Gardeners are a national organization but work on a county wide level in most states. The best way to find them is to contact the local Cooperative Extension office. Some states will have statewide county by county listings for them and a lot of them operate some form of hotline to answer questions.
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). Robyn
