Ten Tips to Improve Your Garden Next Season

Late summer is here. If you’re like me, you’re probably seeing some great successes and great failures in your garden.

I’ve been gardening at my home in the Nashville area (Zone 7b) for three years. I’ve learned a lot, but clearly not enough to be able to grow a decent Cherokee Purple tomato.

Here are 10 tips for a better garden sourced directly from my own garden fails.

1. Set a watering schedule

This one sounds simple because it is. Water is crucial for a successful garden, but not every plant likes the same watering schedule. The bottom line is that you need a schedule and a plan for watering.

Factors like rainfall, humidity and temperature can change how you approach watering, so this skill does take some time to develop. If you’re unsure if your plants need water, using a simple moisture meter can help you see visually how moist your soil is. You don’t want your soil to be too moist, either, as this can also create an environment ripe for pests and disease.

Inconsistent watering can also leave your plants more vulnerable to disease and pests. Both disease and pests are opportunistic and love to take advantage of a plant that’s struggling. For example, my first attempt at growing big heirloom tomatoes was thwarted by blossom-end rot. I had initially attributed this to a lack of calcium in the soil, but the real culprit was inconsistent watering. Without consistent water, it’s difficult for plants to use the fertilizers you put into the soil. Check out this guide from Water Use It Wisely to get started.

2. Smart staking

A well-staked and caged tomato. Photo by the author

When you think about staking your garden, most of us think about tomatoes. While tomatoes are going to be addressed here, there are many other crops you should be giving some extra support.

The first thing to think about with staking is how the plant grows. If the plant has a vining habit like cucumbers, squash and some varieties of beans, you’ll want to have supports ready before the plant needs support. Direct contact with the soil can make the plant more accessible to bugs and other pests, so keeping the vine tied up and tidy will keep your plant healthier and promotes its natural growing habit.

The best advice I have for staking is: don’t use a tomato cage for tomatoes. Tomato cages are often made of thin, flimsy wire that holds up circles of wire around the tomato plant. While the cage may work well for supporting branches, it’s not giving the tomato the support it needs around the main stalk. I’ve found that providing rigid support to the stalk is the most important part of keeping your tomatoes happy and upright.

A more robust version of a tomato cage like this one sold by Ultomato is a much better choice for an easy assembly cage that will actually provide solid support for your tomatoes. It also works great for other crops like pole beans. I used one of these for my pole beans and it’s doing fantastic.

3. Choose your varieties wisely

The biggest mistake I made this year was planting Sungold tomato starts, an indeterminate variety of tomato, in a small pot with merely a wire tomato cage for support. I didn’t even stake the thing.

Indeterminate tomatoes grow more like a vine compared to bushier determinate tomatoes. (You can learn more about the difference through this guide from Bonnie Plants). The difference is that indeterminates will keep growing and produce fruit consistently throughout the season compared to their determinate cousins, which set fruit all at once. Without proper support, they will become an unmanageable jungle of 10 to 15 foot vines. If I had known this, I could have created a better plan for my tomatoes informed by their growing habit.

Some varieties of crops are hybridized to protect against certain pests or diseases. If you’ve battled powdery mildew in your garden, choose a plant variety that’s resistant to powdery mildew.

You can find information about disease, deer and pest-resistant varieties of plants on the Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences website. If you’re new to disease resistant varieties, this is a great place to start learning.

4. Spread out

New planted cucurbits. Pumpkins need to be spaced 34 to 72 inches apart and squashes 18 to 36 inches apart. Photo by the author

Make sure your plants have enough space to grow and thrive. The seedlings we transplant into the garden are so tiny, and it will initially feel weird to see so much space in the garden. Part of my Sungold tomato failure could also be blamed on my decision to put two plants in one 12” pot. It was too much for the pot, which is why it fell over, killing my tomatoes.

Be sure you check your seed packet or this chart from Mary’s Heirloom Seeds for accurate information about how much space to give your plants. And trust the information. Your garden is not an anomaly where plants can magically grow closer together.

5. Use a garden planner

There are lots of resources online for planning your garden. Timing is everything with growing annual plants. For my fall garden, I’ve been using Smart Gardener. What I like about this tool is the built-in reminders based on the time of year. Be sure you’re putting those plants in the soil at the right time.

It’s easy to think that early planting equals early yield and a longer growing season. However, research and years of experimentation has shown that’s simply not the case. Minding the time of year and your plant’s preferred growing season is key to a healthy crop.

6. Plan for pests

This is a tomato hornworm. I found this worm on my tomato plant after noticing the leaves on the top two feet of the plant were completely gone. I removed the worm from the plant and used neem oil to kill any eggs it laid around the base. Photo by the author

Prevention is better than the cure, especially when it comes to garden pests. Pests can shorten your harvest, cripple your plants’ production potential and double your garden chores.

Some common pests that set back my garden this summer were squash vine borers, tomato hornworms and birds. Other gardeners in my area have battled powdery mildew, potato beetles, aphids, and deer.

Constructing simple fencing can help keep rabbits away and planting good companion plants like marigolds can go a long way to keep unwanted critters away from your precious plants.

7. Organize, organize, organize

Having an organized and tidy space to keep your seeds, tools, fertilizers and other garden implements you’ll be using every day will make keeping up with your garden easier. If the space is chaotic, you’re going to be far less likely to spend time there and less likely to complete your garden chores.

If you need a hoe or a spade to prep your garden beds, but you can’t find either one, or they’re spread out throughout the garden, your chances of completing the task are going to be far lower. If the water hose is hard to access, you’re going to be less likely to follow your watering schedule.

Do yourself a favor and spend some time organizing your space to maximize both you and your garden’s potential.

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8. In the way, on the way

This advice came from one of my favorite local content creators, Anne of All Trades. The advice is simple: if you know you’re going to need a specific tool or implement to complete your daily garden tasks, put it in a spot where you can’t miss it.

Plan the shortest or most convenient route to your garden and put all your tools or things you will need along that path.

9. Know your growing zone

If you don’t know your growing zone, there’s an easy way to find out. Simply type in your ZIP code into the USDA Plant Hardiness interactive map and voila! Knowing your zone will help you know how long your growing season is and is a critical tool used by many gardeners to plan when they start and close their gardens.

The zones and growing seasons are mainly determined by your first and last frost date—the last frosty day of Spring when there’s morning frost and the first frosty day of Fall.

10. Follow other gardeners in your growing zone

Now that you know your USDA zone, search on your favorite social media site for other gardener content creators who live in the same zone. I’ve found a wealth of information through YouTube by searching “Zone 7 gardening.” There are many growers and content creators in Zone 7, where I live, so there is no shortage of gardeners to learn from. If you live in one of the more extreme zones, here is where following other creators can be especially useful.

Don’t be afraid to follow gardeners across the pond too. I’ve learned a lot from growers like GrowVeg and Gaz Oakley, who both live in the UK, but are in the same zone. Once you start searching, you may be surprised just how many gardeners are posting about their successes and failures.

One of my favorite resources for finding growers is Epic Gardening. While Kevin, the founder of Epic Gardening, lives in San Diego, California, (Zone 10), he’s taken care to showcase gardeners in other growing zones across America to ensure folks are getting well-rounded advice.

Looking forward to fall

It’s August, which is prime time for starting a fall garden in Tennessee. I’m taking all my lessons learned from this spring and summer and I’m applying that knowledge to my fall garden plans.

I’ve never grown a fall garden. While many gardeners pack up shop after the summer harvest is done, there is still plenty of time to grow crops that enjoy cooler weather. I just planted Danvers 126 carrots, Lacinato kale, Seven Top turnip greens, Purple-Top White Globe turnips, Catskill Brussels sprouts and Early Golden Acre cabbage. The tiny cotyledons just popped up out of the soil today, so I’ll be looking forward to chronicling my fall garden journey.

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