Planning Your Spring Garden

In January, it’s time to start planning your spring garden.

• Where are you going to put your garden?
• Do you need to amend the soil?
• Does it get enough sunshine?
• Do you need to enlarge the garden plot this year?
• Do you need to order seeds?

These are all things to consider.

You may even consider mapping out your garden plot on graph paper so that you have an idea of what you’re going to plant as well as where you’re going to plant it. Garden placement is pretty important, too. Make sure that where you plant your garden has mostly sun, as too much shade can make plants “leggy” and less productive. This will help determine how many seeds you need to start and what types.  This is a great time of year, especially while it’s still too cold to do anything outside but plan!  For us in Central Texas, winter hasn’t reached its coldest point yet, and the weather is still pretty mild, but this week is my planning week.  I hope to get the garden plotted and ready to go.  Next month I start planting seeds so that they’ll be ready to put in the ground in late March or early April.

It’s also a good time to think about companion planting – which plants benefit each other. Check out our post, Companion Planting Guide!