intro post

[rafiwinters]

Hello gardeners! So glad to have found you!

I'm EmeraldEm, or you can call me Em. I live in Providence, Rhode Island in the U.S. I was my dad's gardening assistant as a child (I'm 53) but have never had a garden or space for it as an adult. Just house plants. But suddenly my wife and I moved to a new apartment where there's a raised garden bed at the back of the property. So I asked for and received permission from the landlord to use it.

I have yet to go and measure it to see what the square footage is, but that's on my list. I'd started to get some tools and stuff two months ago, then the pandemic hit and everything went to heck. Now the weather's good I really want to get going! Here are some things I want to plant:

* lavender, dill, mint (I know mint should be in a separate pot or plot). Maybe sage?

* lettuce, carrots, tomatoes

* some pretty flower-things that will nicely grow on and cover the rather ugly stone walls of the raised bed

I've got a trowel, a cultivator and something that looks like a trowel but is narrower and maybe longer. Not sure what it is. The soil has clearly not been worked in ages and has some trash and a lot of weeds in it. Also some rocks. I'd clear it first before cultivating and planting.

So, basically, I'm starting from scratch. Any advice, comments, etc. would be very welcome. Thank you! :)

Comments

[derridian]

Hi Em and welcome :)

To start with, the most important thing when it comes to starting a new planting area is to get your soil in good order first - it will reduce problems down the line and help your plants grow well. There are different soil types that will affect how you handle your soil preparation but because you're working with a bed that has most likley been prepared before, even if it was years ago, it should be pretty straight forward in your case. You'll want to dig it over to a depth of roughly 12 inches and add compost and/or animal manure - whatever you can get your hands on. If it's a case of you sourcing stuff from a garden centre then I would suggest bagged compost and pelletalized chicken manure...damn, I can't give you approximate rates because I'm in Australia and don't know what sizes yours would come in. Eh, maybe someone else will chime in.

This is my beginning advice. I'm happy to give more (and I have plenty to give - gardeners always do) but I would need to know if you're wanting to grow things from seed or are intending to buy seedlings (the second is much easier for beginning gardeners so I would suggest seedlings if you can get them for your first time). Plus it would help to know the size of your bed, how much sun it gets and how you're planning to water it.

Hope this helps as a starter :)

[via_ostiense]

Lavender is great! I just planted some a couple weeks ago and I can't wait for it to get big and bushy, and waft lavender scent around when the wind blows through it.

I've got nothing else, other than that weeding is a very therapeutic chore.

[peoriapeoriawhereart]

Nasturtiums might work well around the edge. They like underfed soil.

[feroxargentea]

Your extra-thin trowel is useful for planting bulbs and digging out weeds with long taproots like dandelions!

If you can get hold of tomato plants, put them in the first bit of soil that's ready. They need a longer season than quicker-growing things like salads. Dill grows easily from seed and looks pretty. You could interplant with something like cosmos seeds for flowers. Calendula also grows easily and quickly from seed, as do agrostemma, nigella and eschscholzia. All good for beginners :)

[moonhare]

Home Depot on Charles Street has some Bonnie Plants in stock, as well as soil amendments. We should be past our last frost (Farmer’s Almanac says it was May 15th or thereabouts) but be attentive in this cool weather. I would work some Black Kow brand (or similar)manure into the beds, myself, and although it is late Spring I’d consider a soil test (UConn) before the add (but not necessarily before you get the result).

Good luck!