Best Times Of Year To Start Planting A Garden

It is a wonderful feeling to have created a garden that can provide beauty and utility. There are a few tricks as to when to plant in order to optimize your garden success. In order to do this, you must first decide on what you will be planting in order to determine when to plant. Different plants have different cold and warm hardiness.

When planting a vegetable garden, consider one very important factor: The last frost date for your geographic location. While some plants can sustain a little frost such as peas, onions, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, etc., other plants will die if frost occurs. Frost sensitive plants are tomatoes, basil, corn, cucumbers, peppers and squash. You can find out when the last average frost date is for your specific area from the National Climatic Data Center.

The Farmers' Almanac Calendar is of great help also. This detailed planting calendar provides dates and specifics for planting seeds, above ground plants, vine cops and root crops. It even provides information on safe times for new plant pest control, planting during barren times, etc. It is an incredibly helpful site and can be found at www.farmersalmanac.com.

One thing to consider about vegetable gardens is if you live in a climate where frost is uncommon or rare through the winter then you will need to plant cold loving plants in the Fall. Waiting too long will not yield flavorful and prosperous produce. These climates would include parts of Arizona and Florida, coastal California and the Gulf Coast region. Broccoli, peas, cabbage, potatoes, garlic, onions, radishes and the like need to be planted in October for an optimal harvest.

A little bit of research, knowledge of your climate and understanding the crops chosen will yield a garden rich in flavor and prosperous in quantity.