This is the most exciting day on the calendar for gardeners. Ready, set…let’s dig in the dirt. Spring is the time to get your hands back in the dirt and amend your gardens to ensure those seeds and plants have a perfect place to thrive and grow. You should see buds on your hydrangeas, roses, and fruit trees to name a few. Those fall bulbs you planted last year are poking their heads up as well. This is a great time to give them some nourishment. A good compost mix is a great choice. Be sure and hand turn your soil over so it is not so compacted and add a generous amount of compost (you can get that at ACE or any garden center). I also loosen soil around existing plants and shrubs and give them a couple inches of compost around the root ball. They will thank you with hardy blooms and generous growth.

Raised Garden Beds

It seems many of us are putting in raised garden beds this year to grow our own delicious, and very reasonably priced produce. Raised beds work well around here as our soil is rocky and by using beds that are above the existing soil we can mix the soil just the way it should be to welcome our seeds and plants. It also helps with slugs and bunnies who enjoy helping themselves to our harvest. I put a repellant around the outside base of the beds to deter the slugs and, if there is a bunny issue you might want to bend some chicken wire inside the bed, about 2-3 feet tall, to keep them out. Fill your beds with good, raised garden soil that is readily available around the island. I like to mix flowers with vegetables in layers. It is very pleasing to the eye and gives you a real variety of colors and textures.

Plant and Vegetable Choices for a Raised Garden Bed

This year I am going to put my favorite sunflowers in the middle, then perhaps 4 tomato plants evenly spaced around them. Between the tomatoes you could put some trellises and go vertical with your cucumbers or sweet peas. Next layer down could be a mix of romaine lettuce, carrots and marigolds and bush green beans. Then on the outside row petunias and strawberries and some of your favorite herbs. Make a mix of things you like to eat and flowers you love to cut! This is a great project for a family to do together.  I would love to hear about your gardening ventures.

Happy Gardening!