9 Gardening Mistakes We Won’t Repeat in the New Year
Learning how to garden often means acknowledging the things we won't repeat next year. We are always growing and learning as gardeners, right along with you. Here are some valuable lessons that Kevin and the team learned this season that we plan to do differently in the new year.
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As we come to the end of the planting season and head into winter, it’s time to reflect on our gardening experiences—including wins and mistakes—from the past year. When it comes to gardening and growing, there is much to learn by reading, but even more to learn by doing.
Some things that seem like they ought to work in theory end up failing for one reason or another. That might sound like a negative aspect, but what it means is that you are continuing to grow as a gardener by trying new things. We never want to stifle your curiosity and adventurous nature. Many times, when we try new things, we discover something wonderful and exciting.
It is always our main objective here at Epic Gardening to help you grow. We do that by sharing practical information and helping you obtain the best quality resources to carry on with your growing journey. It also involves sharing our experiences, both positive and negative. Here are some of the garden mistakes we tried this year that we intend to do differently next year.
Buying Bulk Soil or Compost Without Vetting the Source
A healthy foundation in the garden is vital to thriving and productive plants. That’s why it’s important to start off with high-quality soil and amendments. If you’re bringing in a large quantity of soil or compost, make sure you take it for a test drive. Otherwise, you could be setting yourself up for years of mediocre harvests.
There are many options if you need to buy large amounts of these materials, but they are not all equal. If you’re going to invest in a substantial amount of soil or compost to fill beds and amend your existing soil, it’s important to find out what you’re buying upfront.
Before making this major purchase, request a sample of the product. This is a reasonable request, like wallpaper or paint swatches, because you want to see firsthand the quality of the product. Once you have a sample, it’s a great idea to go ahead with a soil test. This will give you a complete view of what you’re adding to your space and any areas where it may be lacking.
As an impatient person, I’m inclined to rush into purchases so that I can get started on planting. But this doesn’t always lead to the desired results. If you want to avoid a years-long battle with poorly performing plants, make sure you purchase soil and amendments from a reputable source to avoid a detrimental garden soil mistake.
Letting Plants Grow for Too Long
Do you struggle with letting go of plants that have outstayed their usefulness? Everything we plant in our gardens uses up resources like water, nutrients, and sunlight that go to waste if you’re done with them. Next year, we are focusing on being more timely and deliberate with our seasonal growing.
There’s also the question of real estate. Leaving summer’s vegetables in the ground beyond their usefulness isn’t doing any good. No matter how tasty and beautiful those peppers were, if they are no longer feeding you, there is no reason to keep feeding them. That space will serve you better if you cut them down or pull them out and use them for planting winter crops instead.
Next year, we will be practicing the art of detachment and embracing an out with the old, in with the new attitude. Try not to be sentimental about your tomatoes and squash. If they’re no longer producing, or you’ve just harvested all you want to eat, take them out and make room for the nest season’s garden inhabitants.
Dedicating Too Much Space
It’s fun to experiment with growing new things, but we plan to utilize our space more wisely next year. I devoted far too much space to dahlias this year and ended up with very few flowers, thanks to an extra hot and dry summer season.
It’s easy to get carried away with the promise of new and exciting harvests. But, if you’ve never grown it before and aren’t sure it grows well in your area, it’s not worth risking the resources to give them that prime location. If they surprise you by performing well, and you like the results, next year, you can give them a better space.
Utilize those spaces that are good for growing—flat spots with plenty of sun and good soil—wisely. Stick with tried-and-true plants that you know will thrive in your environment. If you want to try out other things that may perform questionably, give them a smaller space where underperforming won’t be such a disappointment.
Planting Too Closely
If you’ve mastered the art of growing dahlias but found it hard to get to them this season, you’re not alone. Even the pros find themselves squeezing between rows of dahlias that performed surprisingly well this season. Not me, of course. Mine all burned to a crisp in the hot Florida sun.
However, avoiding the mistake of overcrowding goes for any plant that takes up a lot of space, not just dahlias. Leaving yourself enough space to work is vital to enjoying the fruits of your labor. When you plan out your beds, make sure to take into account the mature size of what you’ll grow there.
Give yourself the space to grow beautiful flowers and vegetables, as well as tend to them and harvest them. Make your plan before you start, leaving plants with the space they deserve and the expectation that they will perform exceptionally.
Starting Just Enough Seedlings
For prolific gardening success, avoid the mistake of starting too few seeds. We are going over and above next year when we start our seeds. We learned the hard way that planting exactly as much as we need often results in disappointment. The stage between planting seeds and putting your seedlings in the ground is the most important. This is a major factor in the overall success of your crops.
There are many variables to consider when it comes to starting seeds. Germination rates can be unpredictable, and so can the weather and other environmental factors. If you start only as many as you want to grow, chances are pretty solid that you’ll end up with less than you need.
Seeds are inexpensive, and starting extra really doesn’t require much additional time and effort. Next year, we will be starting twice the amount that we need, hoping for a pleasant surprise rather than disappointment.
Applying Too Much Compost
Sometimes, even the best intentions don’t yield stellar results. Compost is a fantastic material for the garden. It’s chock full of organic material and nutrients that your plants need to grow strong and productive. However, using a ton of compost on its own won’t always achieve the best results.
In the future, we plan to make more informed choices about compost. Top dressing your no-dig beds with compost is a great idea, but you shouldn’t stop there. If you leave all that rich compost lying exposed to the elements, it won’t be nearly as effective.
Moisture is essential for microbial activity, which makes compost rich in essential nutrients. Without moisture, the microorganisms that break down waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer won’t grow, drastically limiting the effectiveness of the compost.
The solution to this issue is to apply a second material on top of your compost to aid in moisture retention. Mulching over your compost will make all the difference. You can use straw, bark, leaves, or any other type of mulch for this purpose. Not only will it help hold moisture in your compost, it will contribute more nutrients over time as it, too, breaks down.
Being Behind on Cover Cropping
Cover crops are great for farmers and home gardening plots, but it is a mistake to plant them too late. Most of them are fast-growing and look nice in addition to doing their important work. Crops such as crimson clover and field peas are wonderful for maintaining and enriching soil during the off-season.
Using cover crops has many benefits, not the least of which are suppressing weeds and improving the water filtration of your soil. In short, using these crops is something we can all benefit from.
Timing is important when it comes to planting just about anything. We plan to get started earlier next year so that our cover crops can mature in time. While many are frost-resistant, they need to be mature before the cold weather sets in to survive long enough to do their important work.
Depending on your climate, you want to sow these seeds early enough that they mature and strengthen. In warm climates, you can wait until October. But if you live farther North, expect to get started as soon as you pull out or cut down your warm-weather crops. Make sure to get those seeds in the ground at least one month before your first expected frost date.
Oat Cover Crop in Prairie
Oats can make an excellent cover crop. For fields where legumes were present, oats will soak up excess nitrogen. They also do a great job of smothering and preventing weeds. They germinate quickly and create a great mulch for the next season. They work well in areas where you want to clear everything away for the following year.
They aren’t great for areas where you are trying to cultivate native plants, such as a native grass prairie. We are going to skip oats as a cover crop in these areas next year. Because of how fast they grow, they can starve your native plants of sunlight, water, and nutrients, sending you back to the beginning.
For those areas where you are fostering a native plant space, skip oats as a way to keep down weeds. They don’t know the difference between the plants you want to keep and those you want to eradicate.
Worrying Too Much
Most of all, we will enjoy the process more and worry less. We may have grand plans for the garden, and sometimes things go according to plan or even exceed our expectations. But sometimes they don’t. Often, the most valuable gardening lessons come from our mistakes rather than our successes.
Learning what works and what doesn’t is a multifaceted process. Reading and researching can teach us all the basics about growing our own food and tending to our gardens. However, we can’t predict every variable that may come into play throughout the year in every environment. At the end of the day, all we can do is try our best and learn from our successes and our failures in equal measure.
Key Takeaways
There are things we can reasonably predict will work in the garden and things we can only learn from trial and error. We hope that we can help you along your gardening journey by sharing the things we do that work and the things we will do differently next time around. In the words of our fearless leader, good luck in the garden, and keep on growing.
