Arrange your garden on paper before spring thaw Location is key

By Pam Baytos

OSU Extension master gardener volunteer

Now that the garden catalogs have arrived and you’ve leafed through the pages, it’s time to gather your paper, pencil and start your winter homework. Most of us have put this off during the challenging winter, but if you want the best plants — you must get moving.

Hopefully you took notes of your garden beds during last year’s growing season. If not, make a quick sketch of your landscaping, marking empty spots where new perennials can be placed. Think of the size of your vegetable garden or the pots on your patio to plan for the edible garden this year.

Planning your beds on paper allows you to move plants around the easy way — no shovels. Just remember the plants in the magazines always look wonderful, but if they don’t have the right growing conditions they won’t thrive. When laying out new beds one of the most important things you need to remember is: location, location, location. Just like buying a house, that’s a top consideration. Make sure your soil conditions are appropriate for your plants. Have a soil test done through the OSU Extension Office to see if you need any amendments. Things to consider for the planting area is it wet, dry, clay or sandy. Most plants need well-drained soils. If you have a dry area, select drought-loving plants. OSU Extension has a great fact sheet on perennials for specific sites at: http://go.osu.edu/specific sites.

Light conditions are the other major factor. You need to observe your sun patterns. Things to consider are trees, buildings, morning sun and hot afternoon sun. If you have shade, there are many plants to select for these areas, including woodland natives.

You must pick the right plant for your growing zone, sticking with Zone 5 or below if you want a truly carefree garden. Then you need to select a plant that will fit the space when it matures.

Another thing to consider is how much time you want to devote to maintenance. Do you have a water source nearby? Consider the trees that will compete for moisture. Do you have an overhang on your house preventing rainfall from reaching some shrubs? How much time do you want to spend deadheading? What about weed control and mulching?

Garden renovations are a good idea to keep an existing bed healthy and looking good. Sometime you just have to replace something that didn’t live up to expectations. There are too many plant choices to keep an underachiever. No sissies in my garden, you will be replaced.

Your current plants will often send you signs that it’s time to divide or replace them. Often the flowers will become smaller, get leggy, woody or invade their neighbors. A dead center is a tell-tale sign that hostas and grasses need attention. You have to dig these up, divide the new growth from the edges for replanting and discard the dead centers. I think I’ll leave myself a note on the bottom of my garden plan paper to call a young person to do this job for me. I think I’d be an excellent supervisor — just ask my husband. http://go.osu.edu/springclean.