How to make your garden grow

By Rachel Young, Northwest Guardian

It’s official: spring has arrived. And with it, gardening season.

For those with no gardening prowess, not to worry. A few tips and you’ll be on your way to a fabulous and easy garden.

The best way to start is with a plan. Post residents will want to remember that only annual plants are allowed in garden beds. Perennials, like tulips and daffodils, can by planted in pots.

One way to maximize space in a small garden plot is to use containers, said Cathy Johnson, owner of Dandelion Gardens Landscape Design and Consulting.

“Containers are a good, easy way to do it because it gives you a nice focal point,” Johnson said. “Sometimes when you put annuals in a planting bed, they can look too small for the space. By putting them in a container, it gives an added dimension to them.”

There are lots of styles and colors of containers to choose from that can add interesting touches to a space, Johnson said. “Then that provides year-round color,” she said. Johnson suggested planting geraniums or petunias for summer color; kale, cabbages or chrysanthemums in the fall and winter.

For residents who want a beautiful spring garden, but do not have a lot of time to spend in the yard, Johnson suggests pansies, violas or bulbs that have already emerged, like daffodils, tulips or hyacinth. As summer nears, gardeners can look for geraniums, larkspur, begonia, impatiens and lobelia.

When purchasing plants, look for those with established root networks, but not root bound, said Ariesa Muff, a horticulturist at Gordon’s Garden Center in Yelm. And look for something with tightly formed buds instead of blooms.

“You might actually get a little stronger plant,” she said.

When in doubt, expert advice from master gardeners and horticulturists can be had at most nurseries and plant centers, Johnson said.

After choosing the plants for your spring garden, the real work begins.

Dig a hole about one and a half times as wide and twice as deep as the plant’s root ball, Johnson said. “That gives the roots the ability to move around better,” she said. Take at least one-third of the soil off the root ball, which helps the plant grow faster. Scatter fertilizer over the top of the soil, in a ring around the plant instead of in the hole, she advised, because then, as it rains, the fertilizer will work its way into the soil.

Look for a fertilizer that has equal portions of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, Muff said.

For vegetables, early girl tomatoes are a great plant for this area because they bloom early which gives them time to ripen, Muff said. Lettuces, peas and potatoes can all be grown in containers, also, she said. Warmer weather plants, like basil and peppers, should be planted from seed in June because they require warm weather and lots of sunshine.

“They need full sun to fully develop,” Muff said.