Tips for planning your spring plantings in your vegetable or annual flower garden.
Written by Elly Keen
September in the vegetable garden
We are six weeks away from Labour Weekend which is a well-known weekend on the calendar in New Zealand to start transplanting your summer crops.
It pays to start most of your annual vegetable seeds in early spring (September) to give them plenty of time to mature before planting out at the end of October for Northern regions and early-mid November if you are in the South.
But before you sow any seeds, I encourage you to do a quick Spring Garden Planting Plan to ensure you’re not over sowing (something that I can be guilty of from time to time!).
Spring Planting Plan:
Physical space
Your physical gardening space will play an important factor in your planting plan as it determines the number of plants you will require.
I have a raised bed and plant intensively to maximise space. This is the practice of packing in a lot of plants with the intention of harvesting more often. The roots of the plants can grow deeper in a raised bed than what they would in ground which means you can space them closer together than what it instructs on the seed packet.
If you are gardening in the ground, be mindful that you may need to space your plants further apart than if you were planting in a raised bed to ensure there is adequate room for roots to spread.
Inspirations
Next, think about which gardens inspire you the most – this will have an important influence on the layout and design of your plan. Do you like smart, tidy rows of vegetables or a rambling, wild style?
I am drawn to both French potager and permaculture gardening styles. Aesthetically I like the neatness and symmetry of grouping the same plants together but focus on interplanting with ‘living mulches’ and pollinator attracting crops to create diversity.
Have a think about the types of gardening styles that inspire you and use these as starting points for your plan.
Goals
Lastly, I will write down some goals for the season which will impact my plan. My goals this year are:
1. Maximise small space by intensively planting and growing vertically.
2. Build a diverse and resilient ecosystem by intercropping with companion plants.
3. Be as productive as possible by growing cut and come again varieties that my family enjoys eating.
Thinking about your physical space, inspirations and goals will allow you to map out your Spring Planting Plan and start sowing seeds!
