Centralight

Talking dirt Patti Travioli, manager of the CMU Greenhouse and the CMU Botanical Gardens, gives tips on what to look for and what to do when starting a garden. Whether you want to create a vegetable garden, flower garden or shrub bed, here are some things to keep in mind. Look at sunlight. When choosing the location for your garden pay attention to how much sunlight the area receives. This will be the determining factor for what you can grow. For example, if you want to grow vegetables, you should have eight or more hours of direct sunlight. This also is considered a full sun location, which works best for growing most flowering plants like asters, geraniums and the majority of the culinary herbs. Identify soil type. This is best found out by submitting a soil sample to your local extension office for analysis. There are plants that thrive in a clay-type soil such as purple coneflower, whereas blackeyed susan prefers to grow in sand. A perfect soil would fall somewhere in between – called a loamy-type soil. Adding bone meal, greensand and rock phosphate will improve soil fertility in a sustainable earth-friendly way. You can find these in local garden centers and nurseries. Compost added is always a great idea for any type of garden. Just make sure that it is from a reliable source and has been properly composted. Prep the soil. Once you have decided where your garden will be, you can remove any existing vegetation with a shovel. If it is sod, just lift the sod and shake off all of the existing dirt that you can. Once the sod is removed, aerate the garden with a shovel by digging and turning the soil. Using your hands, finish removing any remaining clumps of grass, weeds or stones. Add soil amendments or compost. Time to plant. When placing in the ground, plant only as deep as it was planted in the pot. Water well. Don't stomp the area and compact the soil with your foot. If you have a perennial flowering garden or a shrub garden, you may choose to mulch with wood chips or other decorative material. Don't use freshly chipped mulch as it will compete with your plants for nitrogen. Use well-aged mulch. If you are transplanting plants from another garden or planting something that is bare root, the best times of the year to do this are spring and autumn. centralight summer '12 23 Garden maintenance. Weeding and watering will be your primary maintenance duties. If you keep up with the weeding, you will find over time it will be less of a problem. Once plants are established in the garden, you shouldn't have to water them as often. Remember that the larger the plant, the deeper the roots, so water slow and long. And try to water in the earlier part of the day so leaves have time to dry before nightfall. But – most of all – when creating a garden, make sure you take time to sit back and enjoy it. If you have a gardening question, you can contact Patti at travi1pm@cmich.edu. •

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