Starting your garden can be so overwhelming! So many choices, options, and opinions! Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a straightforward overview to follow? Many of you have told me that you just want a simple plan for establishing your own vegetable or herb garden. If that’s you, get excited. Today’s post will be just what you asked for.
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Getting started with your own vegetable or herb garden really doesn’t need to be complicated. If you follow these six steps, you’ll be well on your way to a successful gardening season.
Step 1: Find a sunny spot.
Vegetable and tomato gardening requires full sun. This means that you should choose an area with about 6 hours or more of bright sun exposure. Stay away from shade (tree lines and house shadows) if at all possible.
If you just can’t tell where you get the most sun, or can’t decide between two planting areas, you may want to give one of these tools a try. They absorb the sunlight and give you a reading on the total sun exposure in a given day. Note that we haven’t used this model, but it gets much better reviews than the one we have!
Yes, people do successfully grow some plants (particularly herbs) in an area with less than 6 hours of full sun each day. However, if you have an area that receives full sun, you should plant there.
Step 2: Choose a format.
You have basically three options. You can plant directly in the ground, in a raised bed, or in planters or other small containers.
- In-Ground Gardening: If all you have right now is a patch of grass, you will need to break up the sod (dirt) to prepare the ground for planting. Buy or rent a tiller and till until the top layer is broken up. Alternatively, use a hoe and a shovel and skip your workout for the day (week!). You may also want to put a border (such as this one) around the perimeter of your new garden to slow the spread of grass and weeds back into the garden area.
- Raised Bed Gardening: You can avoid breaking up the soil by building (free plans here) or buying a raised bed (such as this one). To slow the spread of grass and weeds in a raised bed, put down a barrier such as this one on the ground before dumping in your garden soil.
- Container Gardening: Gardening in small or large planters is an option too. If your sunniest spot is on a patio or driveway, you can still have a thriving container garden!
The total size of your garden will be determined in part by the format of your garden. While you can till an in-ground garden bed or build a raised bed in any dimensions you like, purchased beds and containers are standard sizes.
Step 3: Plan what you want to grow
This step can feel very complicated, as each plant has its own requirements. Some plants grow easily from seed, such as squashes and cucumbers. Some seeds must be planted directly in the ground (root vegetables such as carrots, for example). Other plants, like tomatoes, do best when a seed is planted indoors and allowed to grow into a seedling, then transplanted outside.
The most important thing to think about right now is what you want to grow! All of the planting details can be worked out.
Solution A: There is an app that can make this easy.
The Garden Plan Pro app is a handy and inexpensive garden planning tool that is customizable but not overwhelming. To use, download the app to your device. Create an account and be sure to use your correct zip code and email address, as the app must use this information if you want it to give you accurate planting dates and reminders.
Input the dimensions of your garden space into the “create a plan” tool. This will create a grid the exact size of your garden area. Then, select the “choose a plant” icon at the top to select which plants you want to add to your garden.
You can filter the plants by type (such as vegetables or herbs) and by quality (such as “easy to grow” or “partial shade tolerant”). Each plant in the catalogue list shows a simple, color coded planting time and harvest time guide. Each plant also has a separate growing guide if you want to make notes or learn more.
Select a plant, such as zucchini, then tap “add to plan”. Tap your garden plan and the plant will be added to the spot you touched, including any required elbow room.
The app will email you reminders when it is time to get your plants into the ground (just be sure to check this option in your profile). There are a variety of other useful tools within this app, so if you are comfortable with an electronic plan, this is the way to go.
Solution B: Good old pen and paper.
It’s free, although more time consuming, to draw your plan out on paper. First, make a quick list of what kinds of things you would like to grow (tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, basil, etc.).
Use a ruler or graph paper to draw your garden area, and then draw rows and plant markings. Look online or in a seed catalog to determine the mature size of the plants on your list- you’ll want to try and give your future plants enough room to grow. Also, this will give you a guideline of “how many” plants or seed packets you will need.
The United States has been broken up into growing zones 1-13, with subheadings a & b. You can determine your planting zone and your last frost date by typing your zip code into this website. Mark your calendar for the last frost date.
Look online or in a seed catalog to determine which of your preferred plantings should be planted before the last frost. This is obvious- generally, the description says something like “direct sow before your last frost date”. Mark your calendar for the date you plan to get these items in the ground.
Many selections that says “start indoors before last frost” can be purchased as a plant, ready to be put in the soil on or after the last frost date.
Solution C: Fly by the seat of your pants.
You can simply go to your garden center and buy what they have in stock. This is obviously very imprecise, and can result in wasted time or money (and possibly even some dead plants!). However, you can still have a vegetable garden even if this is all the pre-planting planning you can do!
Step 4: Prepare your soil.
If you are tilling up ground for your first garden, you may wish to add compost as a soil amendment. If you are planting directly into raised beds or containers, fill your beds with a planting mix. Both products are available at your local garden center in bags.
Another option is to have a load of soil delivered from a local landscape supply company. However, most companies will charge for delivery and then dump everything in a huge pile for you to move around with a shovel. We have found that, for a similar overall cost, we prefer to buy many bags of dirt. It’s easy and tidy to place the sealed bags near the garden bed for easy dumping.
The content and quality of the soil is very important to the nutrient content of your food. You can spend a great deal of time and/or money improving and amending your soil, but that is out of the scope of this article!
The most important thing to know as a beginning gardener is that your food (and ultimately, your body) will absorb whatever your soil contains. Avoid pesticides and chemical fertilizers in your garden!
Step 5: Buy your seeds or plants.
Starts:
As mentioned previously, some plants (like tomatoes) do best when started indoors from seed and allowed to grow into a seedling or a very small plant, then transplanting outside. Most garden centers have done this work for you, and you can buy the started plants and drop them into your prepared soil.
We do this for tomatoes and herbs, as we do not have an indoor space or greenhouse where we can grow plants. Downside: If you have a very large garden, this can get expensive quickly.
Seeds:
Some plants grow easily from seed without being started first, such as squashes and cucumbers. Some really must be started from seed first (root vegetables such as carrots, for example).
The garden center or nursery where you purchase your seedlings will also carry seeds. However, if you have a particular variety or type of seed in mind, consider ordering packets online. We like to use Johnny’s Selected Seeds and the Seed Savers’ Exchange.
The number of seedlings and amount of seeds your purchase will be based on your garden plan made in Step 3.
Step 6: Plant your seeds and plants!
The United States has been broken up into growing zones 1-13, with subheadings a & b. You can determine your planting zone and your last frost date by typing your zip code into this website. It’s best to start planting after your zone’s last frost date. A frost could kill any seedlings already in the ground.
When it’s time to plant, dig a hole for the seedling and put it in the soil. Pat the dirt down around it, then soak with water. Each seed packet will indicate how deep a seed should be planted in the soil. Many times this is just under the soil surface. Lightly cover the seeds with soil and soak with water.