The Quick Guide To Planning Your Garden In 2022
Garden planning and crop rotation are not ad hoc, spur of the moment decisions. You need to plan…
….and carefully think about how to keep the balance and ensure…
….no area becomes too pest or nutrient heavy. To help, we’re going to look at:
- Working with your space
- Organizing your crops and pest protection
- 2022 Gardening Trends
Gardening is supposed to be a benefit for your mental health and a haven from the outside world…
….so why not plan ahead and make it as stress-free as it can be?
Working With Your Space
Not every garden is acres large with space for all kinds of garden. No…
….some of us only have a few m2 to create our nature-rich havens, so…
….we have to make the most of the space available.
The key is planning. We’re talking about planning your crops…
….planning your bulbs, planning how you can make use of every nook and cranny…
…and that takes a bit of time. Planning tools can help, but with a bit of maths and research…
….a DIY landscaping plan is easy to put together.
Step 1: Draw out your garden’s shape
This helps you visualise what and where you can add things like raised beds and structures.
Step 2: Mark out your desired sections to scale
Doing this is a great way to see how everything works together and what space…
….you have to manoeuvre. Not down the soil condition if you know it too.
Step 3: Note down where your crops and plants were last year
This is essential to reduce nutrient deficiencies and ensure healthy growth.
Step 4: Research what plants you want to add in.
Make sure you consider their eventual height and width to prevent cramped spaces. Some trendy plants…
….might be a good addition for certain areas too…
….we’ve got some ideas for you later. Don’t think you can’t create a heavenly green space…
….when you have little room to play with either. It just means…
….you have to be more focused on what you want to get out of it.
For instance, do you want a family space with some shrubs? Or would you prefer…
….a low maintenance, socialising space? Maybe you want something exotic…
…..and rainforest-like? These are all possible with any garden space, but with smaller ones…
….you need to be a bit more creative with things like:
- Living walls covered in specially designed pots to hide the fence
- Hanging or hooking pots for vertical interest
- Climbers are great for hiding fences and walls
- Mirrors are perfect for creating the illusion of more space – especially when they’re shaped like a door or window.
- Go for lower ground cover with dramatic feature plants and architectural interest growing tall.
Organizing your crops and pest protection
For those all-natural vegetable gardeners out there, you’ll know all too well…
….how planning your crops for the year can be a benefit. For those newbies…
…here are a few benefits of rotating your crops:
- Soil nutrients – not all crops have the same needs, so changing things around prevents any potential nutrient deficiencies.
- Pests and diseases – not all crops have the same pests and diseases either, so if you rotate your crops around, then the pests and diseases will have less chance to build up.
- Weeds – crops with lots of large leaves are designed to prevent competition from weeds and seeds from landing and growing. Moving these large-leafed plants around will help create a weed-free bed for the next year.
To plan your crops, you need to look at the sowing and harvesting times on the seed packet. Some crops…
….like salad leaves, grow fast and repeatedly throughout the year. Others, like pumpkins…
….take around six months to mature – it all depends on their species or plant family.
A good rule of thumb is to sort your seeds by kind and plant them in groups based on those. For example…
….grow Root vegetables like carrots, parsnips, and celery together as they can all be sown…
….and harvested at similar times. Similarly with various onion and garlic varieties…
….and with those in the Brassicas family. Another benefit of this is that each member of a specific plant…
….family is usually struck by the same pests and diseases, so planting them all together…
….makes your pest protection and treatment easy.
2022 Gardening Trends
2020 and 2021 have seen a boom in home gardening with many of us aiming to create at-home sanctuaries…
….from the pandemic world. This is a trend that is likely to continue as flexible working…
…becomes more commonplace, but here are a few other garden trends to look out for in 2022:
House Plants For Life
If you haven’t turned to house plants and tried to make your home office more appealing…
….then you may be in the minority. The house plant TikTok and Instagram community…
….has exploded over the last year or so and it’s not likely to go away now…
…that we all have little green babies to look after. Plus, all those succulents are likely..
…to be growing pups if they’re happy and looked after!
Planting For The Pollinators and Other Wildlife
There’s something special about being outside and hearing the buzzing bee…
….while some local birds chow down on those seeds you left out. It’s heart-warming…
….and is probably going to be a continuing trend with the global concerns…
…around climate and deforestation.
Unusual and Exotic Specimens
There are still travel restrictions in place for most countries, so turning your garden into an exotic…
….and vivid escape is an interesting option for your 2022 plans. Plants like Smoke Trees…
….and Purple Basil add exotic-feeling foliage, while Elephant Ear…
….and Hibiscus add unusual scents and shapes. Planning your garden for 2022 can be tricky…
….but if you approach it knowing what you’d like and do the research to make sure it’s feasible…
….it’ll all work out. So, what are you waiting for? Now is the perfect time…
…to plan and prep your outside space for 2022.