Entering the new year for many of us means making resolutions to do better by exercising more, losing weight, volunteering with a favorite charity, etc. We all have ideas of how we could be better gardeners. Why not make a gardening resolution? Here are 11 possibilities. You could adopt one or two of these for yourself…
- Plant sweet peas early.
- Start a gardening journal to keep records of what is planted, how well it grows and how we like it.
- Simplify…as we get busier and/ or older, keep flower and vegetable gardens small so they are easier to manage and care for.
- Don’t wait for weeds to get too big–control them when they are small.
- Use less landscape fabric and more soil pep mulch.
- Try at least one new plant every year.
- Use organic solutions whenever possible.
- Learn about gardening by attending a class, reading a book, magazine or learning online. Take the Master Gardener course.
- Attend the Emerson Cultural Center Home & Garden Tour in the summer to see what others are doing in their landscapes, flower gardens, and vegetable gardens. Tour a Botanical Garden whether it is in Montana, like Tizer Gardens in Jefferson City or far away like Butchart Gardens in Victoria BC.
- Freeze more green beans.
- Give excess produce to the Food Bank.
Maybe one or more of these gardening resolutions resonates with you and will help you improve the upcoming 2019 gardening season.