How to Prepare Your Garden – Tips From SCC’s Agriculture Department

Published: 04/08/2021

Spring is here, and that means you are likely thinking about getting outside in your garden. Before you start digging and planting, be sure to follow these helpful tips from Micah Humphreys, associate professor of agriculture. 

How should you prepare your garden?

There’s two ways to prepare – the first is to plan and the second is to act to prepare your space. For the planning part, one of the best resources for our state is produced by the University of Missouri – the Vegetable Planning Calendar - which guides gardeners as to when the best time to plant should be, as well as a lot of other helpful information. As for the garden space itself, on of the big things to do is to work to make the space weed-free, so remove any plants that shouldn’t be there. Next, give the garden some tillage, whether by hand or by rototiller, because the growing plants need soil that isn’t compacted.

Let’s talk soil.

As a “soil person” I’m going to say it’s the most important! But that doesn’t mean that you have to be an expert to grow things. You’ll want soil to be workable by rake or hoe. If your soil is too hard, you might consider adding store-bought compost or peat of some kind. Add that to the soil and try to work it in to the soil.How important is thinning your plants?

How important is thinning your plants? 

Some plants need to be thinned more than others, but generally you want to pay attention to what the seed packet or the Vegetable Planning Calendar states for the space between plants. Usually, gardeners plant more seeds that necessary and then go back through once they’ve germinated and pull up plants so that there is only one plant per 3 inches (for example). But again, follow the directions on the seed, or look up what the proper spacing of plants should be. Don’t feel bad about thinning!

What should you plant right now?

We’re right in the sweet spot where anything from peas to potatoes to beets to lettuce to radishes will all do really well. In May, you’ll want to focus more on those hot weather plants like tomatoes, peppers, squash and so on.

My plants are in the ground. Now what?

Get involved with local Master Gardeners clubs and the local extension service. Also, read! Watch gardeners on YouTube!

What are the biggest gardening mistakes people make? 

I think that people get excited about gardens, and try a lot of different things at once. That might become hard to manage. So focus on maybe four or five vegetables you are most interested in. You’ll find out what works well and what you enjoy. Keep the ones you love, and try new ones next year. Another thing that commonly happens is that growers might get discouraged if seeds don’t germinate or transplants do poorly. My advice is just to keep trying! If seeds don’t emerge after you plant them, try again (and make sure they’re not planted too deep!).