7 Tips That Will Change How You Plan Your Garden This Year
Planning a truly successful garden depends on a few important actions. Whether you're just getting started or are an experienced gardener looking to reorganize your process, gardening expert Melissa Strauss has some tips to help you get growing!

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I’ve known some gardeners who simply appear to have what we call a green thumb. Everything they plant seems to be successful. Gargantuan tomatoes and massive bell peppers grow on lush, pest-free plants. There’s a perfectly balanced wildflower patch that appeared with nothing but a handful of seeds tossed out at just the right time.
It’s not me. As much as I would like to be, I am not that gardener. If you are (lucky duck), this one probably isn’t for you. In fact, we would all love to hear your secrets. However, if you’ve ever found a packet of seeds in your refrigerator that you meant to plant last season (or last year), you’re in the right place.
For those of us who have tons to keep track of outside the garden, planning things in advance can make all the difference in planting a successful garden. Whether you’re a vegetable gardener or sheerly in it for ornamental value, planning ahead can help keep you on the right track. Here are some tips that will change the way you plan your garden, hopefully for the better!
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Test and Amend Your Soil

Your soil is the foundation of your garden. Its content and composition are major factors in the success of your plants, so it’s important to monitor them. Even rich soil can change or become depleted over time.
After years of glossy green foliage, my lemon tree suddenly let me know that it wasn’t getting enough iron this year. I could have simply added some iron chelates. However, that wouldn’t have corrected the issue long term. You see, my soil was not iron deficient. It had simply become too alkaline.
The pH of your soil plays a major role in the breakdown and availability of several important nutrients. Certain plants that need an abundance of these nutrients also prefer acidic soil. Camellias, azaleas, and gardenias, for example, all need soil that is more acidic. If you try to grow them in alkaline soil, you’ll quickly begin to see yellowing leaves and other signs of failing health.
The moral of the story is because I went ahead and tested my soil, I knew that the issue was not the content but rather the pH. I didn’t spin my wheels trying to figure out why the additional iron didn’t help. Instead, I piled on some compost and raked my leaf litter around the tree. As these organic materials break down, they will acidify the soil, and my tree will look like her old self again.
Conducting a soil test is a simple process. All it requires is for you to collect a sample and send it for analysis. What you’ll get in return is a breakdown of the soil pH, the percentage of organic material present, and the nutrient retention ability. A soil test also lets you know the concentration of important nutrients in the soil.
Once you have this information, you can set about prepping for the planting season. It’s far easier to amend your soil before you begin planting. Adding organic matter can improve the structure and fertility of your foundation. It also raises the pH as the matter breaks down over time.
Write Down Your Goals

It’s all fine and good to garden for sheer pleasure. If you’re new to the gardening game, there is no harm in a bit of experimentation without a plan. I simply find that if I set goals for myself, I accomplish a lot more. Your goals don’t have to be huge. It can be as simple as being able to harvest all the ingredients for a salad to start off with. Whatever goals you set, write them down to make them more tangible.
A few years ago, I realized that I was spending a substantial amount of money on cut flowers. I wasn’t turning my home into the Chelsea Flower Show or anything. Let’s just say that over the span of a year, we could have added a few days to our vacation if I’d forgone the fresh blooms.
My goal the next year was to grow enough cutting flowers so that I could stop buying them at the grocery store altogether. I won’t pretend that the price of growing all those dahlias and snapdragons didn’t add up. However, I met my goal, and for at least 9 months of that year, I had plenty of fresh flowers on my table, and I didn’t buy a single stem elsewhere.
Select New and Interesting Varieties

If you want to up the excitement value of this year’s garden, try out some new and interesting varieties. This is an especially good idea if you’re gardening with kids. Exploring new variations of tried and true veggies is a lot of fun for kids and grownups alike.
Some favorites around my house are multi-colored carrots and burgundy broccoli. Even if it didn’t make my kids more excited to eat their veggies, it gives me a thrill to pull up a gorgeous purple carrot.
This applies to flowers, too! If you’ve grown zinnias in the past, you know how easy they are. I never turn down a packet of these in any shade, but have you ever seen “Zinderella’ zinnias? These fluffy confections will give you a whole new outlook on the Z. elegans species.
Create a Layout

I love a map. I’m not just talking about an old-fashioned paper map, although I certainly appreciated those in my college years. Paper maps certainly have their place, but these days, digital plans are easier to manipulate and work with. Out in the garden, paper plans can get dirty and wet too easily. Besides, we live in a digital era.
I am totally crushing on the layout feature of our new digital planner! If you know what you want to work on, you can plan your layout from scratch with a blank form. You can choose a custom size or a pre-planned space to work with. Add in your planting zone to get current frost dates and advice on planting times.
You can add specific plants in specific locations of the garden, and track the growth of each of them. You’ll get advice about the way different things will perform in your specific climate. Create plans for each bed or the entire yard. As you add plants, a list populates with all the info you need with regard to planting time, sowing information, and tips for success.
A planner like this allows you to keep all the information you need in your pocket. You can reference it any time you want to without tracking dirt into the house.
Make a Planting Calendar or Journal

Another incredible feature of our new digital planner is the journal. Here, you will find a day-by-day calendar with space to record all of your gardening events. You can write down planting dates, fertilizing dates, and any other information that you find helpful.
The journal feature will let you know, according to your zip code, what high and low temperatures to expect, as well as general information about the weather. This makes it easy to decide when you want to be outside and which days are better for staying in.
When winter rolls around, you’ll know ahead of time if you need to prepare for a freeze or other inclement weather. You can plan ahead, setting dates for planting, fertilizing, and potential harvesting dates. There’s even a space for uploading photos so that you can look back and see just how much things have changed over time.
Set Reminders

Now, about those forgotten seeds in the fridge, a reminder would probably have meant those would be in my garden right now. Instead, they will sit around until the next ideal time for sowing them comes around.
This year I am setting up my planner to send me reminders. This way, I can keep track of not only seed starting but fertilizing and pruning as well. This may take a bit of time, but it will save a lot of hassle in the long run.
Utilize Grow Guides

If you’ve struggled with certain plants in past years, let this be the year that you make good use of grow guides. In the app, you can access the Garden Guru feature to match you up with plans and guides for growing all of the plants you’ve selected for your layout and so much more. Here, you will find guides for growing, advice for fertilizing, harvesting, watering, and more.
At Epic Gardening, we are committed to helping everyone learn how to grow. We take that mission seriously and do whatever we can to make growing more accessible for anyone. I encourage you to dive into our growing guides, where we tell you everything you need to know about growing, tending, pruning, fertilizing, and troubleshooting everything in your garden!