Planning Your Summer Garden

There really is no right or wrong time to really get your next garden ready, whatever season it may be. As such it's never too early to get started planning your summer garden. Generally speaking, the best way to begin your planning process is by learning a few simple guidelines. The guidelines listed below are designed to help you in the planning process, and are mostly written as a question. This way, as you go over the questions, you simply write down the answers. By the time that you have worked your way through them completely you will have your garden properly planned.

• What's your space? Before you can do any actual planning, you need to know what you are working with. This will mean that you absolutely need to know what space you have, the dimensions of your work area, and so on. Obtain this information with the help of a tape measure, and simply writing down the information, being sure to double check all measurements at least two times.
• Have you decided on what you will plant? Are you going to be planting a vegetable or flower garden? Or is it going to be a combination of the two? Knowing what type of garden you will be planting will allow you to make other decisions, such as where, how, and when to plant.
• Annual or perennial? If you will be planting a flower garden, you need to decide on whether you will be planting an annual or perennial garden, or even a mixture of the two. The benefit of planting a mixture is that you can stagger the time frame that your plants will sprout and flower, as well as reduce the amount of time that you spend working on the garden.
• Draw it all out, at least twice. Make a little map or blue print of your proposed garden, and make it as detailed as possible. Include the dimensions of where you want various plants to go, include "zones" for colors, plant types, and even blooming times. To make it as accurate as possible you should create at least two versions of the map so that you can make it the best you possibly can.
• How much time are you willing to spend? As you are determining what you will be planting make sure that you also keep in mind how much time you will be willing to spend on the project. Don't just think about the time you will need to initially set the whole thing up, but also the time that you will spend throughout the growing season.
• Who will be doing the work? Are you going to be doing the work, or is someone else going to be doing it? Keep in mind the relative skill level of the person who will be doing the planting, as well as the maintenance of the garden, and plan accordingly.