Strategic Gardening

Like most things in my life, minus my ex, you need to know what you are doing; the same goes for gardening. The delectable crops and gorgeous flowers don’t arrange themselves, you need a plan!

I call it ‘Strategic Gardening’ because this plan caters to both your short and long-term gardening needs and it sounds way fancier than ‘Garden Planning’.

Here are some useful steps to help plan your garden no matter where you intend to start planting. This way you are more organized and are sure to get what you want out of your time and effort!

Step 1- Identify Your Garden Space

Determine where would be a great space for your garden. If it’s outdoors it must be located in an easily accessible area that is open to some sunlight. If you’re planting indoors identify the areas where you can easily accommodate flower pots for walls, floors or counters.

For me, it’s my backyard. I have four cats so any plants placed indoors, even seedlings are left to the mercy of these savages!

Cats are not great garden assistants :( 

Step 2- Determine What You Can Actually Grow

Unfortunately, your available space can limit your crop. Because I have a small backyard, I am unable to plant a massive Julie mango tree to enjoy well into my retirement. However, I am able to have grafted/mini trees, smaller crops and lots of flowers for butterflies. You need to understand what’s possible or impossible in your space and work from there.

Step 3- Get the Right Tools

While you do a lot of gardening with your hands it’s important that you get the right tools to help make gardening less stressful.

I recommend starting off with a small hand shovel, gardening gloves, a watering canister (you can recycle and use an old 2-litre soft-drink or large water bottle), various size flower pots (you can reuse containers, coffee mugs) and if you’re outside, the broadest sunhat you can find because the sun clearly has issues lately. 

Step 4- Timing is Everything

Timing is key to enjoying gardening. I’d encourage early morning or late afternoon as the best time to get some gardening done simply because the sun is ridiculously hot in T&T during the day. It's also best to water your garden early in the morning as the cool soil allows the water to reach the roots instead of evaporating. 

Step 5- Be Consistent

Consistency. This can make or break any garden as it needs regular and reliable maintenance. This means that you must be dedicated to spending a small portion of your day to not just watering but managing your garden.

Having a plan or vision for your garden doesn’t and should no limit your creativity. Be sure to have fun and experiment and create a garden you’ll want to spend more time in and will be proud to show off!