Learn From My Mistakes, And Start Your Garden

For many people, the gardening season is ending for the year. For those of us in the Southern United States, a second gardening season is upon us: the fall season. Maybe you have just been thinking about starting a vegetable garden, but can’t work up the nerve to do it. One of the reasons for your procrastination might be that you are afraid of making mistakes.

If so, get over it. You will make mistakes. Nobody in their right mind ever starts a new endeavor expecting to do it perfectly right off the bat.

And with gardening, there are many mistakes to be made, whether you are a beginner or veteran. I want to share a few of my own that I’ve made over the past several years, hoping that you will be able to avoid at least a few of the potential mistakes.

Mistake #1: Putting mini-dwarf fruit trees in 15-gallon pots.

Hey, I did it because a book on container gardening told me I could. Forget that. I have big roots growing out of the bottom of my pots.

If you must put your trees in pots – and I only did it because I was in a hurry and wanted to get some of our own fruit growing before moving to our Oklahoma homestead and I wasn’t about to spend $400 on trees and then just leave them here for new residents who cared nothing about them – spring for 40 gallon pots.

And don’t use plastic. They will start falling apart on you in a year or two. Buy SmartPots, or a similar fabric pot. They will last much longer than plastic and are much easier to carry and store than clay.

Mistake #2: Planting strawberries with fruit trees.

I did this so I wouldn’t have to use a bunch more pots for the strawberries, which would have taken up more room in our already-tiny backyard. I should have just gone without strawberries.

The foliage from the trees eventually shade the strawberries, and they don’t produce any fruit anyway.

Mistake #3: A 1980’s song by Culture Club.

Oops, now I’m dating myself, am I not?

Seriously, the third mistake – and it is a major one – is not keeping the grass out of the beds. Knowing we weren’t going to stay here forever, we did not build borders and line them to keep grass out. I figured I would just keep up with the weeding.

Ha! When it’s 100 degrees + out, and already 85 by 8 a.m.? NOT!

Save yourself a lot of future ongoing work, and build borders for your beds and line them to keep grass from growing into them.

Mistake #4: Planning to plant two gardens in the same space.

This is almost a necessity when you are limited with garden space. But when you plan to have fall plants growing in the same space as your summer plants, it is a real heartache to tear tomato, pepper, okra, and cucumber plants out that are still producing for you and would have produced another two months – except that you had to make room for your broccoli, spinach, lettuce and cabbage.

Growing vegetables isn’t rocket science, but it does require practice. Along the way, you will make mistakes. They are not the end of the world, and besides, you do not grow if you do not make mistakes and learn from them.

So if you have not started a garden yet, plan to next year. And expect mistakes. You will still end up with delicious and nutritious food to put on your table.