In the Garden: Resolutions for a gardening year

Sue Goetz

guest columnist

Planning and plotting: It seems all we can do this time of year in the garden as we watch it freeze and thaw and probably freeze again. As we settle into a new year, it’s time for inspiration.

Resolve to learn, do and create something new in the garden. Odds are, it will be much more rewarding than dieting!

Go organic

Learn to tolerate a few weeds and nibbled leaves. Be good to the environment and use organic means of controlling pests and problems.

Start with natural lawn care. It can be the biggest water hog and chemically demanding part of the garden. Discover how easy it is to use healthy management for an environmentally friendly yard.

Take a garden tour

Visit public gardens like Lakewold or the Chase Garden for inspiration of classic designs.

Mark your calendar for the Gig Harbor Garden tour during the last weekend in June, plus join the Northwest Perennial Alliance — www.northwestperennialalliance.org — to receive its open gardens book. This is an opportunity when locals open their private gardens.

Take notes and pictures. It is one of the best learning opportunities to see what grows well in this area, and enjoy the peak season of gardens.

Plant vegetables

Imagine tomatoes fresh off the vine and leaf lettuces from the garden. This season, find a sunny spot and plant some vegetables to enjoy what the garden can give back to you.

Space-saving vegetables and fruits can bring an edible garden into any space. For more inspiration, join me at 2 p.m. Jan. 30 for a seminar at the Tacoma Home and Garden Show (www.otshows.com/THS), “Edible landscaping with veggies and herbs.”

Plant natives

In garden design, I see more yards trying to eliminate native plant areas, which is a shame. Many are desirable plants that can be beautiful in landscape design.

Use native plants as a backdrop to more “cultured” plantings mingled in mixed borders, or create a “finished edge” to the beginning of natural woodlands.=

Visit Woodbrook Nursery (www.woodbrook.net), which located in Gig Harbor, for a great selection of native plants for your own garden.

Keep a garden calendar or journal

It can be as simple as one of those free calendars that are in abundance this time of year, but the important thing is to write down something every day about the garden.

It can be regarding the weather, a new bird sighting, the day something bloomed or any tasks you accomplish.

It will be a valuable reference tool for seasons to come.

Compost

Every garden should have a compost bin!

Teach a child about gardening

Whether it’s your own child, a grandchild or if you volunteer at a school, there is real joy in working with children in the garden.

Seeing the simple act of planting through a child’s eyes will renew your viewpoint, as well.

Visit a garden show

The perfect way to spend a February day is to go to the Northwest Flower and Garden show in Seattle (www.gardenshow.com).

Steal ideas from the show and make your garden beautiful. Visit my garden design “L’eau sage” to learn more about water-wise gravel gardens.

Mulch more, weed less

Put your garden on a good organic mulch diet, and the reward will be healthy garden soil. Control weeds by piling it on open spaces 3 to 4 inches deep.

Most of all, happy gardening in the New Year.

Sue Goetz, CPH, is a garden consultant, designer, speaker and writer from Gig Harbor. Visit www.thecreativegardener.com or e-mail questions to be answered in this column to info@thecreativegardener.com.