Time To Evaluate Your Garden

Now that we’ve reached June, we’re not just half-way through the year, we are in the perfect moment to evaluate what we’ve done so far. This may seem obvious when considering your weight loss regime or your academic accomplishments, but it also a wonderful time to evaluate your backyard garden. As you bask in the balmy weather and drink in the beauty of what you’ve created, it can’t hurt to cast a critical eye around. Most people put a great deal of time into planning a garden, so it just makes sense to spend some time figuring out how well your plan worked. Be sure to document your observations since a garden is an ever-changing thing and its many months until next season. 

Everyone’s yard and vision are unique, but here are some general questions and guidelines to consider:

PLANT CHOICE & PERFORMANCE 

1. Did you cultivate just flowering plants, just vegetables, or a combination of both? Do you want to use the same approach next year?

2. If you planted vegetables, did your family like and eat what you produced? Did some produce more than you could use? With all plants, ask yourself which ones did well, and which ones failed? Did the plants grow as you expected (height, width, vining or not, etc.)? Did some take over the garden and force others out? 

4. Examine why some plants performed better than others. Can failures be attributed to pests, insects, or fungal diseases? If you are committed to following an IPM (Integrated Pest Management) system, this evaluation and documentation process is an important part of the protocol.

5. Has your garden performed consistently over the last few months? Or have some plants already peaked and died, leaving unsightly dead patches? If plants have failed, would another type of plant work better? 

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS

1. Carefully track across a day to figure out how much sun your garden actually gets. In general, your garden should get between 8-10 hours of full sun every day. Is sunlight exposure consistent across the garden? 

2. Water access is essential. Have you planted in such that the entire area can be effectively watered? Are there areas that are prone to standing water after rain? Are there areas where the runoff is greater than the water that is used?

3. Are there areas that are more susceptible to environmental occurrences like high winds or frost? Is heat reflecting off of concrete or shiny metal surfaces and causing plants to wither? Are there emissions from nearby roadways that are choking your plants?

FUNCTIONALITY

1. Overall, how well is the garden working for you?

2. Could your soil be a factor in how your plants have performed? How aggressive, or gentle, should you be in prepping your soil for next year? Are there specific needs that have become clear (soil is too compacted, won’t retain water, etc.).

3. Is the garden setup in concert with how your family uses the available outdoor space? Is the volleyball court too close to the flowers? Are seating areas vying for the best shade/sun ratio as the plants?

4. What can you do to make the garden more native plant and pollinator friendly?

5. Are you comfortable with the amount of time that your garden takes to maintain? If not, what can you do to make it less time intensive?

I hope that you are well pleased with what you have created in your backyard garden; even so, we all know that looking at new plants and changing things out is great fun for gardeners. Change can be refreshing, and at times even beneficial, but there’s no need to make changes unless they are warranted and/or desired. The most important thing to remember is to take time to simply enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Take Care,   Pam