As this garden season comes to end I spent some time reflecting on this season. The weather did not work in my favor but overall I think it was a pretty good gardening season. I lost some plants early on, but I had some great successes. This year I had expanded my garden, so I had more space than ever before. It was also the first time I wasn’t pregnant or caring for a newborn in some time, so I was able to really do a lot more physical work this year. I learned a lot, here are my top 5 garden tips from 2022.
Top 5 Garden tips:
1. LABEL YOUR PLANTS. I wrote about this a lot this year on the blog and on my instagram. Not labelling was my biggest failure this year. In short, I had no idea what certain plants were or what I planted in certain locations until it was too late to try to help the plant. I had even purchased cute pink labels to label using my beloved P-touch Brother label maker. Here are links to the labels and my label maker that I have and highly recommend. For the label maker, click here and for the cute pink labels click here.
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My labels looked so cute when made- and added a nice pop of color to my garden. Too bad I only used for like half my plants! Next year, I am committed to actually labelling AND using my garden notebook.
2. Clean your garden tools. I finally bought some good quality tools. I did not clean my tools enough but I am making it a point to really try clean and disinfect my tools more consistently. If you have any disease issues in your garden, disinfecting is critical. Even just hosing down my tools after use is a step in the right direction!
3. Planting too early, not checking the weather reports before planting. I planted my seedlings too early this year and lost plants I was so excited about (RIP Mocha Swirl Pepper Plant). I couldn’t contain my excitement for the reason and I planted seedlings when I knew there was a good chance the temperatures would dip overnight. I figured it was the same time I had planted the year before so it had to be fine. It was not. Big mistake. Using my garden journal is an invaluable tool- but I need to use common sense and check the weather reports next year.
4. Investing in quality products. I finally purchased some really good quality tomato cages- heavy duty, powder coated cages. The cages held up my huge tomato plants and I think these cages will last for years to come. I had some cheap cages I bought that are rusted now after only a year or two of use. Last year, one of the cheap cages failed to hold up a tomato plant and I spent all summer trying to build a support system for the plant, it was a mess! I am throwing out the cheap cages and replacing with good quality, heavy duty cages.
5. Try new things. I planted so many new plants this year. Some I will not grow again (ilk the pretty Hungarian wax peppers that I did not love the taste of), but I am so glad I tried new things this year because I discovered my sun gold tomatoes and stepped outside my comfort zone. I can’t wait to continue to grow new varieties of plants.
What did you learn from your gardening season this year? Share your garden tips or lessons in the comment section!
Disclaimer: Links in this post are Amazon affiliate links, I earn a commission from qualifying purchases.
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