Break
the Rules
As the saying goes,
rules are made to be broken. Sure, you're supposed to arrange your garden
so that the taller plants are in the back so they won't obscure (or shade)
the shorter ones in front. But how about if you want to use the dappled
shade created by your pole beans to start a mid-summer crop of lettuce?
What if you happen to like sunflowers so much that you want them in the
front of the garden, not way in the back? Go ahead and do whatever suits
your fancy. Remember that your garden is your canvas. Besides, any plant
that is healthy and thriving has its own natural beauty, no matter what
the garden design.
Mix
and Match
Flowers
in the vegetable garden not only look great, they also attract beneficial
insects. Dill, cosmos, alyssum, and chamomile are especially attractive
to "good" bugs. And some vegetables are so ornamental they fit
right into a flower garden. Consider multi-colored chard or kale as a
backdrop to your smaller annual flowers. And annual alyssum makes a lovely
border around vegetable beds – the purple variety is especially eye-catching
surrounding red cabbage.
 Have
fun!
Try
alternating swirls of red leaf and green leaf lettuce. Create geometric
borders using colorful flowers. Create theme gardens: a salsa garden,
with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and cilantro; or an Italian garden, with
tomatoes, onions, basil, and oregano. How about a Native American "Three
Sisters" garden, using corn, beans and squash?
Take
it easy
Without
a doubt, some plants are easier to grow than others. Put another way,
some plant species are simply more adaptable to a wide range of conditions.
If you are new to gardening, start with some reliable, tried-and-true
crops, such as beans, beets, lettuce, radishes, squash, chard, and kale.
Add some peppers and tomatoes, but know that these can be more of a challenge
to grow to perfection. Easy flowers include zinnias, petunias, marigolds,
sunflowers, cosmos, and nasturtiums.
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Easy-to-grow
vegetables
|
- beans
- beets
- carrots
- chard
- cucumbers
- onions
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- kale
- lettuce
- peas
- radishes
- squash
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Easy-to-grow
flowers
|
- begonias
- cleome
- cosmos
- marigolds
- morning glories
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- nasturtiums
- pansies
- petunias
- snapdragons
- sunflowers
- zinnias
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That’s all for
this class! Hopefully, you’ve "put pencil to paper" and
are well on your way to planning your garden. In the next class, we’ll
take a step-by-step approach to seed starting. We’ll also create
a planting calendar for our garden. See you then!
Class
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National Gardening Association. All Rights Reserved.
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