It’s now two weeks out from the end of the school year. My mind drifts from the curriculum I’m supposed to be teaching to a visual plan of my vegetable garden that continues to swirl around in my head. I have planted vegetables in the same garden plot for almost ten years now and have always rotated the location of each crop.  This year I’ve decided to try raised beds for my bush green beans and row crops. It will take some doing to get things just right, but I plan to do it a little at a time. Unfortunately my garden plot is not level and the fencing I have around the garden was not installed level either. This means that on occasion I come through the gate of the garden and see small furry critters scampering from under the leaves of rhubarb and under a gap where the fence doesn’t quite meet the ground. Irregardless, I was always taught to plant more than I could use.

I’ve also been reading up on garden structures to put in strategic sectors of the garden. I’d like to do more with companion planting and so I’ll be adding more flowers into the garden as the season progresses.    In the center of this vegetable garden I have thyme, mint, sage and oregano. Behind it is an already established bed of strawberries which do very well. Those two sections will remain the same, but just be trimmed back a bit. Last Spring I planted rhubarb and am waiting to harvest the first young stalks for cobbler and later for strawberry/rhubarb jams and pies.

Fortunately for me, my husband loves fresh vegetables and fruits, so whatever comes from the garden never goes to waste. My children also have the garden “genes” and this is a wonderful thing to see – especially when I know my grand daughters are also being taught early lessons in gardening. It will be another week or so before I can actually “play in the dirt”. I’ve planned to take pictures as I go and share them on the website.

This will be a 4-month process, but I think it will be good to document the process for future gardens. I’m looking forward to it.

Summer Gardens aren’t just for growing  vegetables, flowers, vines and shrubs. They also provide habitats for butterflies. These delightful creatures have a rather short lifespan and are attracted to vibrant colors and plants which provide nectar. Nectar is the primary food of butterflies and so it is best to do your research if your main objective is provide a butterfly garden in your yard.

Plants such as asclepias (also know as butterfly weed), salvia, butterfly bush, columbine, lobelia, monarda and many others will attract butterflies to your garden year after year. Scatter these flowers around the different gardens near your home’s windows and you and your family will enjoy hours and hours of entertainment when watching these delicate creatures. Be careful, however, not to use pesticides on this garden.  You want to attract butterflies to your garden – not poison them.

In addition to planting colorful plants containing nectar, you may also try putting out ripe fruit in areas of your garden. Butterflies are also attracted to the sun and will be much more apt to visit  those areas of your garden and yard that are warm and bright  than anything shady.

The last thing you should remember about butterflies is that they will need water somewhere close to the site where the butterfly garden will be placed. Many gardens now have water features in them.  Those which have a continuous flow are better in the long run as they do not attract mosquitos.

These flowers need not just be planted for the enjoyment of the butterflies, but also to adorn our tables. They bring a little of the outdoors into our homes with their fresh color and fragrance and are especially delightful when the weather outside is dreary and wet.

Planting a butterfly garden takes time and planning, but the rewards are by far the best by-product of the entire process.

Once you’ve decided to plant a garden, the next thing you need to do is plan. Where is the best place for the garden? How much sunlight will I need for the plants I intend to grow? What kind of ph level do I currently have in the soil? Is there enough drainage to make sure I don’t drown my plants? These and many more questions will need to be answered before you can figure the exact placement of your garden. You may find that you will want to consider having more than one garden area – perhaps one for sun-loving plants and another for those that prefer shade.
Try using a calendar as a guide for keeping track of the steps involved in the planting of your garden. Check the back of each seed packet to find out the germination time needed for each individual planting. Plot this out on your calendar so that you know exactly when you should plan to plant. It might also be useful to consult the Almanac to check for the latest frost dates in your area. Planting potatoes on Good Friday is the norm in our area of Southwestern Wisconsin. Check your zone to find out the recommended dates for the different plantings you wish to include. Vegetables such as snow peas, broccoli, and lettuce can all be started early and do well in the cooler days of spring. Tomatoes and corn, however, like the hot, humid days of summer around here and can seldom be planted in the ground until after our last expected frost date of May 15th. In some cases you may be able to get 2 crops in a growing season by planting early and then planting later in the summer. Make sure you use the calendar to track planting, harvesting and re-planting dates. These can be used for future reference when you start again the next spring.
If you are dealing with a limited amount of space, using a trellis or other support can help provide more room for additional planting. Using raised beds can also help conserve space because there is no need to provide rows in between. Crops that might require double digging could be planted in these raised beds instead. I’m speaking of root crops like carrots, turnips, horseradish, Jerusalem artichokes, beets and the like. The process would involve mixing the soil with any amendments necessary to grow these vegetables. Once the raised bed was placed in the planned spot the frame could be filled in with this amended soil and planted soon after.
Consider moisture needs for your garden.  Plant crops requiring less moisture near the top of a slope and those needing more at the bottom. As you water, or it rains, the top plantings will receive a good soaking and as it runs off it satisfies the needs of the plants requiring more moisture.
After planting make sure to fertilize your plants. Heavy feeders can leach the nutrients from the soil quite quickly leaving you with strong plants but small fruit. Check the labels on the fertilizer packages to ensure the right proportions of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potasium for each of your plants.
Every zone will carry with it specific pests with which you must deal. Consult your county extension office to find out the best way to handle these pests and be sure to do it early while they are still manageable. This office will be able to help you find the most natural pest controls and those which are the best suited for the environment.

There are quite a few fine books on the subject of Companion Planting that are available. This form of planting relies on the specific characteristics of plants to nurture those around them. For example, planting marigold near tomatoes and onions helps to regulate the soil, cutting down on the number of soilborne diseases.
Using the months just prior to planting, your local extension offices, the Internet and fellow gardeners are all tremendous resources for helping in your project for summer garden planting.

Creating a summer garden is something we can all learn to love. Unfortunately, what we don’t really take the time to check out are the items we should avoid when we create a summer garden. Our end result will be much better if we learn the pitfalls of summer gardening first. Sometimes these painful gardening and landscaping lessons can be learned from observing the mistakes of others rather than our own personal experiences.

How many of us have landscaped for our neighbor’s enjoyment or engaged in a little “one upmanship” on our street? If you are the kind of person who spends a great deal of time outdoors this is a wonderful and healthy thing. However, if you are a typical family that spends a lot of your time inside your home looking out, you will want to plan carefully to make sure that your time spent outside results in a good return for your effort. Plan to plant your garden in an area which is readily visible from within the living areas of your home. After all, it is YOUR yard, not the neighbors. Shouldn’t you be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor at any time of the day? Be careful that your lawn does not appear cluttered. Use the dimension of your lawn to gauge the size of your summer garden. If your home dimensions are large, create gardens that blend with the size of the landscape. Another possibility is to plant several gardens which lead into one another creating a relaxed area which fits the home’s landscape. On the other hand, too much of a garden planted on a small lot will look cluttered and in need of attention. Perspective is the key here and plantings that are appropriate to the amount of land available should be carefully chosen. Pay close attention to the climate zone as well. Your gardening and landscaping efforts may look like something from a gardening magazine for the first month, but will they last the whole season?

Make sure you have a plan for your summer gardening and landscaping designs.  This is the most important phase of your summer garden. Without it, the design of your summer garden may be doomed to failure. The end result of your energies will be very evident if you invest the largest portion of your time in the planning stage.  When plotting out your summer garden be sure to keep in mind the long-term consequences of your planting plan. If spending a lot of time with high maintenance plantings is not in your future, it makes no sense to purchase flowers which require a great deal of attention. People who produce brochures go to a lot of trouble to entice you into buying their products. Be sure to select plants according to your summer garden needs – not because you think they look great in the catalogs.

Keeping all these factors in mind as you sit down to plan your garden will result in a garden which matches both your personal tastes and the amount of time you plan to put into keeping your garden in great shape. Remember that even though there are summer gardens that require a little less maintenance than your neighbors, there is still no such thing as a “no maintenance” garden. Plan to spend some time and effort in your garden to keep it looking well maintained.