Tips for Deciding What to Plant in Your Garden

Small, stubborn sprouts and pitiful produce can be discouraging – especially for beginners. Even if you’re cultivating crops correctly, it’s possible the variety of seed you’re planting is hindering your success. If you want your buds to blossom and your harvest to be plentiful, it’s important that seed selection is approached strategically.

To help you understand the complex considerations that drive a well-informed plot planning process, we’ve outlined the major factors that should influence your decision. Read on to discover the impact smart seed selection can have on the vibrancy of your garden!

Assess Your Skill Level

Before getting your hands dirty, you need to objectively analyze your gardening expertise and be cognizant of your own limitations. Successful gardeners with green thumbs should be significantly more ambitious with their seed selection than beginners who are still a bit “green” when it comes to cultivation. Each variety of vegetation requires a unique level of tender care, and it can be easy for inexperienced planters to struggle with stubborn seeds.

This frustration can be highly discouraging to beginners—it’s much more reaffirming to start simple and achieve immediate results. We recommend beginning with basic crops that are relatively low-maintenance and that won’t leave you demoralized. Examples of a few vegetables and herbs that are among the easiest crops to grow include: carrots, chard, beans, basil, cucumbers and radishes. Our favorite flowers that are guaranteed to flourish in any garden include: Sunflowers, Marigolds, Poppies, Cosmos and Zinnias.

If you’ve proven your ability to sow seeds and reap a hearty harvest, consider advancing to more demanding and time-consuming plants. When it comes to fruits and veggies, experts should try planting cauliflower, artichokes, head lettuce and melons. These crops may be stressful to cultivate, but the sense of accomplishment you’ll feel from picking ripe produce off the vine is unforgettable. To test your skill, try planting azaleas in your garden. Azaleas are arguably the hardest flower to grow and will wither if the temperature ever rises above 65 degrees.

Access to Sunlight

When you’re choosing plants to include in your plot, you should definitely take the amount of available sunlight into account. Without sufficient sun, plants aren’t able to use photosynthesis to produce the fuel necessary to survive. The amount of light that a plant needs, however, is variable and depends upon its species. If part of your garden is obscured by shade, it’s important to place sun-loving plants elsewhere. Some vibrant flowers that thrive in the shade and are easy to maintain include Hydrangea, Geranium and Impatiens.

Soil Quality

Nutrient-rich soil is the foundation from which beautiful gardens are grown. Unfortunately, some regions (like the American Northeast) have rockier, less flower-friendly soil than others. While hauling in new top soil and adding fertilizer is an option, you should consider growing tough plants that can withstand the limited nutrients offered by your native soil. For gardeners in rocky regions with shallow soil, we recommend planting seeds like: Perennials, common Sage, Lamb’s Ears and Black-eyed Susan.

Climate Considerations

Conduct research before selecting your seeds to ensure your climate is conducive to success and suitable for cultivation. There are four major categories of climates: tropical, mild, continental and arid. A plant that thrives in a wet, tropical climate will obviously suffer when exposed to the debilitating dryness of a desert. Growers looking for fast results and satisfying returns should try sticking with varieties of plants that are indigenous to their region. If the seeds you plant occur naturally in the wild, it means they’ll require less attention when placed in your garden.

If you’re itching to get a jump-start on spring and start planting, take a step back and strategically plan your seed selection first. The seeds you choose should reflect your expertise, climate and growing conditions. To get yourself started, be sure to check out Paris Farmers Union’s wide selection of garden supplies. Leave a comment below if you have additional tips for choosing what to plant in your garden.

With the help of these basic supplies, you can begin carefully cultivating seeds before the onset of spring and receive unparalleled satisfaction from watching your seedlings sprout. If you’d like to try seed starting for yourself, be sure to check out our full selection of seed and plant starting accessories and if you are interested in purchasing your garden seeds in bulk, download our 2018 Bulk Seed Order Form.

Maintaining a Beautiful Garden While Conserving Water

We know it’s hot out there – and we’re not the only ones feeling a bit dehydrated. Our gardens feel the heat too, and sometimes need some extra TLC to make it through the swelter. It’s still important, though, to minimize water usage, which brings us to a crossroads: Use more water to save your cherished garden or conserve and hope the plants make it ‘til September with less than optimal water? With the garden watering tips below, hopefully you won’t have to choose.

There are a wide range of measures you can take to ensure your garden survives – and thrives – through the summer without using up the water supply. So read on and tackle your garden with a new confidence, even through triple-digit temperatures.

1) Save and reuse water whenever possible for watering outdoor plants! There are a number of ways to do this:
     a.    Install a water tank to collect rainwater.
     b.   Save the water you use to cook instead of pouring it down the sink (bonus – the nutrients from your food will act as fertilizer for your plants); just make sure it’s cooled off before watering.
     c.    Save the old water from your fish tank.

2) Use mulch! This will keep soil moist as well as prevent water-sucking weeds from growing – and will also add nutrients to your garden. You can find a wide range of high-quality mulches here.

3) If you use a hose, invest in a soaker hose like the ones here. Soaker hoses are made of a porous material through which water seeps along the entire length of the hose. Water leaks out from the hose at a rate that the ground can absorb, so there’s no excess runoff, meaning more efficient watering of your plants. What’s more, since water is released so close to the ground, less of it evaporates, and instead, it goes directly to the roots of your plants.

4) While we’re on the subject of hoses, you may also want to check out a drip irrigation hose, another great option for efficient watering. These are similar to soaker hoses but are made of flexible plastic tubing that water slowly drips out of. They’re better for using on sloped surfaces, so if you’ve got an uneven yard, you can check out some of these hoses here and here.

5) If you’re starting out with your garden (or are willing to do some rearranging), consider creating garden zones based on which areas are naturally sunny or shady, or receive more or less water runoff. Grouping plants together by their specific needs means you won’t have to water your entire yard every time but can water by area instead.

6) For those who are looking into purchasing new plants, try to find varieties that require less water. This includes slow-growing plants or plants with small or narrow leaves. Also, plants that are native to your region will be better adapted to the climate, which can often mean lower water requirements.

7) Plant tall plants or garden structures in your yard to provide some shade if you don’t already have it. Plants that live in shaded areas need less water.

8) Invest in a moisture meter! These small, inexpensive devices will provide quick data on how moist or dry your garden’s soil is. Ideally, you want to get to that sweet spot of 40 – 70 percent moisture. You can find several moisture meter options here.

9) Time your watering. For gardens, morning is best. This will give your plants plenty of water to get through hot days and will reduce the amount of water that evaporates since winds are usually lighter in the morning. For potted plants, watering in the afternoons has been found to lead to the healthiest plant growth. Watering in the evening works too, although it’s less likely that the water will evaporate from the leaves of your plants, which could lead to fungal growth.

10) For potted plants, consider the material of the pot. Porous pots (like clay) will draw more moisture from the soil, so you’ll have to do more watering. 

It’s important to keep in mind that, to a certain extent, plants will adapt to the water they receive. Of course, they will need a minimal amount to remain healthy, but watering them more than necessary means plants will get used to living off that amount of water. However, that doesn’t mean that they need it. 

Maintaining a healthy garden is an art, and it’ll require a certain extent of trial and error as you learn about the plants growing there and the specific conditions of your garden. Following these tips will help – but every garden is different. Experiment a little on your own and see what works best for saving water in the garden!