Plan & prepare your garden: How to start the gardening season right

January/February: Bed and garden planning

In January and February, the garden goes dormant in the cold. However, we gardeners can use this time to think about a few important things. Which vegetable plants and herbs do you want to grow this year? If you haven't thought about it over the winter, now is the time! Take a moment to recap last year's experiences. Which crops worked well in your garden and which didn't? Why did something not work? Which plants do you definitely want to grow again? If you want, you can make little notes or even start a garden diary. Get your seed stocks out of the cupboard and rummage around a bit to see what else is available or what else you should get? In spring, there are usually swap markets for gardening enthusiasts where you can also find old, rare varieties.

Once you have decided which vegetables you definitely want to have in your beds, you still need to choose the right place for them. In a healthy crop rotation, the same plant families should never grow in the same place for several years. Mixed cultivation, i.e. the right combination of different vegetable plants in the bed, is also crucial for a harmonious balance in the garden. Not only can you make optimum use of the space in the bed, the plants can even support each other's growth and protect each other from pests!

New to gardening?

Are you just getting started with gardening this year and feeling a little lost in all the information out there? No problem! With our bed planner you can easily plan a colorful mixed crop. Good and bad neighbors are shown right away, and you get crop rotation tips!

Plan your vegetable garden

Create a new vegetable patch: These bed shapes are available

Here you will find step-by-step instructions on how to create your own vegetable patch. Below you will find an overview of the various options for creating a bed.

• Raised beds are currently very popular and not without reason. The soil warms up more quickly, they are easy to maintain while standing up and the plants are better protected from snails and other pests thanks to the height. Perhaps you would like to create your own raised bed this year?
• In permaculture, we often talk about raised beds. These work like a kind of compost that can be planted directly. This way, the plants are constantly supplied with new nutrients and microclimate zones are created, which can be very beneficial for the special requirements of many types of vegetables. Here you can find out how to create your own raised bed and which plants are suitable for it.
• With the help of Sheet mulching, you can easily convert unused areas into a vegetable patch without unnecessarily stressing the soil by digging. You cover the areas with cardboard, soil and mulch - the microorganisms in the soil then do the rest for you. Because sheet mulching involves layering the materials on top of each other, the finished bed is also known as a lasagne bed.

When creating new beds, we recommend that you refrain from digging. Digging disturbs the soil life. You can find more information about gardening without digging and the no-dig method in our article.

Preplant vegetables: The best time

As soon as you have decided on this year's vegetables, the question arises: Which vegetable plants should be grown in advance? There is a separate overview on this topic so that you can better assess which plants you should generally propagate or sow directly.

The ice saints are a guideline for us hobby gardeners; they bring the last frosts of spring in mid-May. After that, plants that need warmth can be planted out or sown directly into the bed. To ensure that all plants are ready to grow outdoors at this time, you should preplant them at the right time. The germination period and development speed of different vegetable plants vary greatly. Below you will find an overview of when you can start which plants indoors or sow them outdoors. Tips for successfully growing vegetable plants can be found here.

End of February: Which vegetables can I grow?

Now you can preplant the first crops that will go into your beds, such as kohlrabi or chard. This will give them a head start and you can harvest earlier. You can also grow slow-growing and heat-loving plants now. As the days are still quite short in February, plant lamps can help to grow healthy young plants. Otherwise, too little light can lead to unstable and stunted young plants.

You can use our yield calculator to find out how many plants you need to pre-grow for your area or to achieve a certain yield. You can easily calculate your yield or, conversely, work out how much space you need to grow enough vegetables (very useful for self-sufficient growers!).

March: Sowing and planting

March is a busy time for sowing and planting. Cold frames, greenhouses and foil tunnels can be very helpful at this time of year, as they enable early sowing and planting. Despite the protection already provided, the early quarters should be additionally covered with blankets or similar on cold nights. When the sun is shining, you should open the closed rooms to avoid heat build-up. The only important thing is to close them again in the evening!

• Planting: lettuce, kohlrabi, rhubarb root pieces, Jerusalem artichokes. March is also the perfect time to plant fruit trees and shrubs!
• Early sowing: Other hardy vegetables can be sown outdoors in March. Black salsify, parsnips, carrots, onions, lettuce, radishes, spring radishes, turnips, broad beans and spinach can cope with a moderately cold spring climate. Leeks, cauliflower, pointed cabbage, white cabbage and savoy cabbage can be sown under cover and later transplanted outdoors. They develop faster under protection. The first peas are also ready from the end of March.
• Preparation indoors: Seed potatoes can be placed next to each other in a bright, moderately warm place for pre-sprouting.

You can find more information on when to plant and sow which vegetables here.

Prepare vegetable beds

To prepare vegetable beds for the season, they are loosened, "cleaned" and then raked until finely crumbly. You can either carefully loosen the soil with a digging fork and then remove the weeds with a hoe. Alternatively, you can simply apply organic material to prepare the soil for the next season. Charles Dowding recommends a layer of compost about 2.5 cm thick, although you will need more on poor soils. The compost also works to suppress weeds. However, if you have particularly stubborn and persistent weeds, you may also need to use cardboard or cardboard to get rid of the weeds.

But when is it best to work the soil for the first time? Heavy soils warm up more slowly than their light relatives as they contain more water. If the soil is still too wet, tillage can be very laborious. You should therefore only start loosening the soil and removing weeds once the soil has become dry and warm. While you're at it, you can take the opportunity to improve your garden soil straight away. There are various ways to improve your soil, depending on the soil type. So before you get started, do this simple soil test to find out what your soil is roughly made up of. If you want to sow directly into the bed early in the year, only prepare these areas and save the rest for warmer days.

April: Final preparations for the gardening year

Preparations are in full swing in April, because soon you will be able to sow as you please!

• Prepare the final beds & planters for their future inhabitants.
• Seedlings of cabbage and lettuce are planted in the garden.
• Perennial herbs such as lemon balm, tarragon, chives, lovage, peppermint, sage, thyme and lavender can be planted out and sown outdoors.
• Towards the end of April, you can slowly acclimatize the first young plants of tomatoes, zucchinis and cucumbers to outdoor conditions. To do this, place them outside for a few hours during the day, but keep them indoors at night. You can find more tips and instructions on hardening off plants in this article.
• In the herb garden, most aromatic herbs are sown outdoors. Heat-loving herbs such as basil and marjoram should be kept in sheltered places, e.g. on the windowsill or in a greenhouse.

May: Even sensitive plants can now be planted in the bed

Finally, May is here! It marks the start of the gardening season and there's no need to hold back any longer. Plants that need warmth and are sensitive, such as cucumbers, zucchinis, tomatoes, peppers, sweetcorn and artichokes, stay indoors until after the ice saints and then move to the vegetable patch. Otherwise, you can sow and plant whatever your heart desires from May!

If you have any questions or comments, please write to us at [email protected]. Would you like to receive helpful gardening tips all year round and plan your own beds optimally? Then register here or download the Fryd app for Android or iOS.

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Source: Charles Dowding, #No Dig, 2023, Munich: Dorling Kindersley Verlag GmbH