Extension

If you’re new to gardening – and even if you’re not – now is the time to develop your spring and summer gardening plans. Successful gardening doesn’t just happen. Here are some tips and tricks to boost your success rate.

 

For gardeners who are starting with a clean slate, map out the landscape and decide what you want to grow where. Studying the landscape will help gardeners envision where flower and vegetable beds will go and where shrubs and trees should be placed. Getting the plan down on paper while the weather is still cold will help ensure a successful gardening season that is rich with healthy plants and bountiful harvests.

 

Successful gardening starts with good soil. Having a soil test done is a good idea, especially for gardeners starting with a blank canvas. This will help determine what amendments may need to be added to the soil. Contact the local Oklahoma State University Extension office for more information about soil testing.

 

Once a soil test has been done and amendments added to increase the quality, consider soil testing every three or four years.

 

Compost is a great way to help enrich the soil. OSU Extension has information on composting on its website. There are a few different methods of composting so choose the one best suited for you.

 

Now comes the fun part – plant selection. The Oklahoma Proven plant selection program is a good way to choose plants for the landscape. These plants, trees and shrubs have been thoroughly researched and have shown that they grow well in Oklahoma’s diverse growing conditions. Beginning gardeners especially can glean some valuable information about plant selection. Be sure to choose plants that have different bloom times so you’ll have a beautiful display of color in the landscape all through the growing season.

 

When choosing the sites for flower and vegetable gardens, make sure they are located close to a water source. Do the flowers you want to plant require full- or partial-sun? It’s a good idea to keep flower and vegetable beds away from trees and shrubs so they don’t have to compete for light, water and nutrients. Also, plant plants that have similar needs close in proximity. 

 

Growing plants in containers is a fun way to add color and texture to the landscape. Raised beds can have the same effect. Make sure to use quality soil in raised beds and good, non-soil growing media in the containers.

 

Proper planning now will help ensure a good harvest of fresh fruits and vegetables, along with bright, colorful flowers in the landscape throughout the season.