Ask Maggie: Your Spring Gardening Questions
/GFE Director Maggie Marks here! Today I hosted an instagram live video today where I answered your questions about gardening this spring. Now is a great time to get gardening! We are all spending so much time at home and have an even greater relationship to food and our personal spaces.
Here are some of the things I suggest for gardening this time of year.
GENERAL GARDENING TIPS
Give your plants food!
Spring is the active growing season. As days get longer and the soil warms up, plants are ready to grow. After a long winter with lots of rain they are ready to use that water and soil nutrients to grow, flower and fruit. Now is the perfect time of year to fertilize your plants! Things we recommend are compost, worm castings or a basic veggie food (for vegetable beds) or plant food for perennial spaces. We want to be sure that these fast growing and hungry plants get the nutrients they need to thrive.
Water
We have been getting perfect spring rains here in the Bay Area - light and consistent so the ground is nicely saturated. If we get 10+ days without rain, be sure to give your perennial spaces deep but infrequent watering. If you are growing vegetables, they like consistent water nearly every day. Not sure if your veggie beds are getting enough water? Take a trowel and dig a few inches down. Is the soil moist?
Plan
Now is the time of year to plan both your food production areas and the perennial spaces of your garden. Think ahead to what you want to be eating in a few months or what you want to see blooming. Those California Poppies with their bright orange flowers were seeded last fall. The miners lettuce you see popping up this time of year - same. Like poppies and miner’s lettuce? Leave a reminder to yourself for next fall to seed the things you want to see in your garden next spring.
Grow food now!
VEGGIES
Think about your summer garden
Now is the perfect time as you are working on planning ahead, to think about what summer crops you can seed in a warm window. Good crops for San Francisco include snap beans, summer squash and small pepper like shishito. These crops will get planted out in late April or early May so get them started as soon as you can.
Grow food now!
There are plenty of things you can grow now. Beets, carrots and radishes are all things that you can seed directly into the ground. You can seed or buy broccoli, chard and kale starts, and lettuce is a fast growing green that you can also plant this time of year.
Herbs such as save and chive (shown here) do well
Get your potted herb garden going
Now is the perfect time to start an herb garden on your deck or in your backyard. Find a nice, porous pot like terra cotta or an old wine barrel and fill with potting soil. Plant with herb starts for things you like to cook with - sage, thyme and chive all grow particularly well here.
PERENNIALS
Observe
Since we are all spending more time at home, this is the perfect time to observe your garden. Watch throughout the day - where is the sun? Is there a large tree just getting leaves that will cause shade in your garden over the summer? Does your dog dig a hole in the same spot every day? These little observations will help you when designing your space.
Dream up your ideal garden
Now is not the ideal time of year to plant your perennial space. Summer and early fall in the Bay Area are dry and we want to set our plants up for success. Late fall and winter are the ideal time of year to plant, so use this time to plan. We have a saying at GFE - Right Plant, Right Place. A plant perfectly chosen for it’s space will do better. So, use this time to research plants, dream up your space and get ready for planting later this year. Things to think about:
Ultimate size! Be sure to chose something that will be the right scale for your space.
Bloom season. Try and choose things that will bloom throughout the year.
Leaf color and texture. In the below photo, few things are blooming but the space is still beautiful and dynamic. Choosing plants with red, silver or bright green leaves can add contrast to your garden year round.
Use this time to plan, dreaming up beautiful color combinations for your garden.
Happy Gardening!
