There is a saying, that you should save things up “for a rainy day”. Well, I think that rainy day has properly arrived! This year has been incredibly wet, with cataclysmic weather events, and unseasonable levels of rainfall. This can play havoc with a garden, and it is often frustrating to be stuck inside, watching the plants get soggier and soggier.
These rainy days are good days to get into all those jobs that you have saved up for a rainy day. It is good to have some mental activity to focus on, as this helps to stave off the cabin fever. It is also nice to have time to get organised, and start thinking about winter plants, and planning for spring, which will be here in a few short months.
This is a good time to get into your seed box, if you have one. If not, it is a good time to start one! Seed boxes are essential for the regular gardener, and if you are a beginner it is good to have some basic seeds at your disposal. Make sure they are still within their best before date, and that the packets are still dry and in good repair. Sometimes critters can make homes in seed boxes, and also seeds can get wet and mouldy, so it is good to check on them.
When planning a new garden, I always start with flowers. I also think about what I would like to eat, and what I can easily grow to start with. I make a note of the sun line - where does it rise, and what is the trajectory across the sky to where it sets. I check how this changes through the year, as this will affect the amount of sun and shade that the garden gets. I check the soil, to see whether it is fertile, and I start planning raised garden beds, using huglekultur techniques - this is also known as lasagna garden beds.
Huglekultur, or lasagna gardening, is a method of creating layers of material on top of the grass, rather than digging out a bed. This creates raised beds, but it also protects the soil, and keeps insect habitats under the soil intact. As the layers are all different, it provides lots of nourishment for your garden, and creates a richly diverse environment for beneficial bugs to come and live. You can also use pallets, hay bales, straw, anything organic that creates height, and can support layers. I am making a huglekultur bed, surrounded by hay bales, for extra frost protection, and shade in summer.
I usually start with a cardboard layer on the grass, marking out the bed. I surround this with a border of logs and sticks, to help keep it established and visible. This bed is surrounded by a border of hay bales. Then I start adding layers - this can be layers of food scraps, grass clippings, brown matter (leaves, sticks, pine cones, etc), compost, paper - all layered alternately to create a raised bed effect.
I like to start off my flowers indoors, towards the end of winter / start of spring, and harden them off as they grow and the weather improves. When they are big enough to survive on their own, and fight off slugs and snails, I plant them outside in the raised beds. I generally look for flowers which will spread, as this makes it possible to fill a space with relatively little resources - great if you are on a budget.
Think about what you want out of your garden; also think what you want your garden to say about you, and how it reflects your values. I am working on a wildflower garden at the moment, focussing on colour and scent as well as edibility. Bee health is very close to my heart, I love bees and I love honey, and I want to do my bit to provide them with nourishment. I am putting in bee-friendly flowers, which are spreading nicely, and creating lots of colour even in this weather!
Easy plants for the beginner gardener include things like micro greens, and lettuces, and easily spreading flowers such as calendulas. You can also plant flowers in the winter, such as sweet peas, stocks, hollyhocks, antirhinnum, and many others. Take yourself on a visit to your local garden centre, or go check out your friends’ gardens for inspiration, and see what is blooming at various times of year. See which plants make you smile, and which plants make you want to grow them- pick those, and start from there.
As a beginner gardener, it is best to grow just a couple of plants to start with, and then progress from there. It is amazing how quickly you will become knowledgeable, and enthusiastic about growing even more plants- health warning: gardening can be addictive! (But it is good for your health too….).
I encourage you to make the most of these rainy days, by dreaming about your ideal garden, and making plans to get it going. The rain will stop one day, and spring will arrive, and it will be go-go-go, in true garden style. So enjoy your down time, and enjoy your garden planning, it can be really inspirational and ultimately better than cabin fever!
Happy gardening 🌻