At the end of every season, I start to compile little notes of things I want to do better next year, or definitely not repeat, or something I saw somewhere else and want to copy in my garden. Usually the notes get more feverish as the winter toils on, and in greater quantity. By the time the tulips are blooming, I'm usually overcome with spring fever, breaking rules I set for myself and allowing exceptions into the garden cart.
So here's my attempt to be a better planner for 2012. (And my ramblings for the future.)
1. Cut down on the tomatoes! There is way too much space devoted to growing them, and the yields have been hit and miss over the past two years.
2. Impatiens along the garage in pots worked really well. So did growing them by seed.
3. Sweet allysum works well grown from seed, and in pots. Try to incorporate more plants into the garden where the spring bulbs are blooming.
4. Get the proper equipment to grow pole beans. Maybe skip bush beans?
5. Eggplant need more sun- perhaps grow them in a bed on the front lawn?
6. Try to grow pumpkins along the border with my neighbor, in front of the lilacs.
7. A book I'm reading now, called "Slow Gardening," suggested (tongue in cheek) to grow a living fence of corn between neighbors. Hmmm....
8. Try to grow more zinnias around the back patio.
9. Start cosmos seeds directly in ground. (They get too leggy when I start them inside and try to transfer out.)
10. The lettuce bed with carrots worked really well! (And I'm still harvesting lettuce and parsley today, without the aid of a floating row cover or cold frame! Wow!)
11. Get more hellebores.
12. Create pots out front like window boxes we photographed in Vermont.
That's a decent start.
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