The all-important plan

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in gardening over the years: some through inexperience, some from listening to other ‘experts’ who actually seem to know as little as I do. But one of the things I’ve definitely done right has nothing at all to do with dirty fingernails and bags of compost. Since the early days, I’ve kept a plan.

I know you can get all these fancy do-das and apps and computer programmes these days, but for me, the best type of plan has always been the type you scribble into a notebook. Looking back, it offers a fascinating view into what I’ve been planting where, what I should be planting in the future, and what seeds I probably have left over if I search hard enough. Taking pictures is also a good idea, and is a good way to record your garden at different times of the year.

It’s been particularly important for me, as my garden’s actually quite complicated. There are 12 raised beds, two of which are currently permanent, but the rest operating under a rotation principle. Because of my heavy metal issues, I’m careful what I plant now, growing mainly vegetables that are either fruiting or flowering (as these are the bits my research suggests don’t accumulate the metals so much). But it means I don’t grow a lot of the veg that people classically rotate: potatoes, cabbages etc. So keeping a plan is even more essential for remembering what should go where.

But there are other beds as well: a flower bed near the house converted from grass a couple of years ago, and with some seriously poor soil; a better bed mid-way down; two small beds recovered from a beech hedge, and a long thin one just behind a small sandstone wall; and a final bed down the edge that’s full of old coal clinker, but rich in nutrients. I’ve put in perennials, I plant annuals every year, and I sow a wildflower meadow. It’s complex, it’s a constant struggle, the metals are a constant worry, but at least there is a plan.

It means that now that I’m putting in my (very late) broad beans, I can look back several years and see exactly where they’ve been and where they should go now to keep down the risk of disease. It means that I can look and see where I manured last year, and what should go on this year. And it means I can see the varieties I’ve tried in years gone by, and remind myself what worked and what didn’t.

So whatever your garden is like, and whatever you’re planting, I’d always recommend keeping a plan. Dig out an old notebook, or do it online if you prefer. But it’s something you’ll really appreciate in years to come.

#Plan #beds #rotation #photos