Planning Your Garden

It's a good time to plan your garden. No, really, it is. While it is too late to plant many summer vegetables, this is the time you can figure out how your yard works, because as Farmer Fred says, all gardening is local.

What's your yard like? Do you have a large yard, or a tiny zero-lot alleyway? Is there dirt? Concrete? Somebody's failed attempt at hardscaping that is a mess of gravel and detritus? All of these things are going to have an effect on what and how you plant.

The first things you need to think about are location and light. Most of the plants that do well in the heat are plants that require full sun—that is, eight to twelve hours of direct sunlight. In practical terms, that means south-facing. Plants on the northern side of a house will be shaded throughout the day; there are plants that thrive in such conditions, but tomatoes aren't one of them. However—and this is important—your north fence gets south-facing sun, and vice-versa. If you have a yard that is on the north side of the house, plan your garden to go up against the fence for the most sun.

If you're really unsure about whether you yard is shaded or sunny, you can go to the hardware store and pick up a little dingus that you stick in the yard and leave out for a day. It records how much sun and shade an area gets, and plants generally come with a note of how many hours of sun they prefer. Then you can plan to get the plants that will suit your yard best.

The next thing you need to do is deal with dirt. Elk Grove is on that Sacramento Valley favorite, clay. Clay soil is slick, fine-grained, and a water barrier. If you do not adjust your soil, your plants will have difficulties getting the right amount of water, as chances are there will either be too much or too little. If you're on concrete, you'll need to have some form of garden beds, pots, or bales. If you're on gravel, you can either treat it like concrete or dig it out, cursing the prior homeowner all the time.

You'll want to lay out your garden in as logical a manner as possible, accounting for sprinklers, mow strips, random yard hazards, trees, and the like. Just a hint—try not to put a garden around a tree. It's not worth it. Given those hazards, the best way to lay out your beds/pots/bales is in north-to-south lines, with a wheelbarrow-width in between them. This ensures that all the plants get the most even amount of sun. If you can't do that, orienting the beds is other directions is perfectly fine. The beds should be no more than two thirds of your outspread arms. This means you'll be able to reach a little further than the center on either side. If you've got the space, you might even consider making the beds narrow enough to reach all the way across.

Next article, we'll get to the fun stuff. Building beds and amending soil. If you don't find that sort of thing fun, why are you considering a garden?