How to Plant a Garden the Easy Care Way

Tips, techniques, and links on how to plant a garden, both organic vegetable and flower gardens, the easiest way - with minimum care and maximum enjoyment!

Through the years here at An Oregon Cottage I've written a lot about how to plant a garden, organically and easily.

You might be thinking, "wait - isn't there just one way to plant a garden?"

Like most things, no, though there are how-tos that may make you think so.

But I'm here to tell you that with a little thought and planning (and a tiny amount of bucking the 'system') you can do it with the least amount of work required and still reap the full benefits, whether that's bountiful harvests of vegetables or beautiful shrub and flower borders.

Does that sound lazy? I like to say smart...

In order for you to gain the most from all these articles, I'm putting all these tips and techniques for easy care gardening on this one page so it will be easy to find whenever you might need them.

Planting a Garden Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best direction to plant a garden?

For vegetables, the most important thing to having the most productive garden is to have as much sun as possible.

So the #1 consideration is sun for the most hours in a day. After that, if you build the beds (or plant the rows) running north to south, it will allow for the most sun exposure after the plants grow.

For flowers, a cutting garden would benefit from the same layout to maximize sun, but for regular garden flower beds, direction doesn't matter.

When should you start planting a garden?

You'll need to know your garden zone's first and last frost dates to determine when you should plant. Go here to get that information.

After that, you can start seeds 6-8 weeks before your last frost date in the spring to be able to plant them outside at the right time.

If you're not starting from seeds, you can use your local garden center's cue: when they offer the plants is usually when you can plant outside. Be careful, though, to still know your last frost date - stores are notorious for selling warm weather plants too early.

How do you prepare soil for planting?

For the easiest way for us - and the best for plants - is to don't think tilling, think layering.

Layer a lot of compost and good soil the first year and add compost layers every year after. You will have soil that feeds the plants and has few weeds.

See Designing a Garden for Easy Care, No-Till Gardening, and 8 Steps to a New Flower Bed for more details.

How to Plant a Garden

Vegetables

Organic Vegetable Gardening 101: find all the steps to starting your own garden and be on your way to eating freshly grown food in a matter of months. It really is easy - I promise! This classic series includes:

• 10 Basic Steps to Start A Vegetable Garden
• How to Start Plants from Seeds
• Caring for Seedlings at Week One
• Caring for Seedlings at Week Six
• How to Plant Seedlings & Starts
• Vegetable Garden Design for Easy Care

Plus, you can download a Year Around Organic Vegetable Garden Checklist from An Oregon Cottage's VIP Subscriber Library that will guide you completely. Go Here to learn more and sign up.

Once you've got your garden designed and have an overview, here are some tips as well as specifics on what and how to plant:

• Vegetable Garden Planning- How Do You Plan and Organize?
• Planting A Garden Bed The No-Till Way
• How To Plant Corn – Weed-Free!
• Five Reasons To Grow Cucumbers On A Trellis (And Taking Up Less Space Isn’t One Of Them)
• Updated Potato Planting
• Why I Love Emerite Pole Beans
• Video: How To Kill Weeds Without Spraying
• How To Plant Tomatoes {& Have Them Thrive}
• Five Awesome Ways to Save Water {and Time!} in Your Garden
• My Favorite Gardening Books
• Top Tools for Gardening
• Tuesday Garden Party- Benefits of Using Row Covers
• Seed Starting Guide
• Winter Gardening: Organizing and Buying Seeds
• Favorite Garden Catalogs & Seeds

Flowers

How do you plant a flower bed from scratch?

These 8 steps to a new flower bed are the easiest way I know of to start a new shrub-perennial flower border.

You won't believe how much easier it is! We've used this technique for many years and are very happy with the outcome - and the fact that it's a lot less work than many other instructions I've read over the years.

What about weeds?

I hate them - although I'm sure there aren't many that love them, ha!

5 Easy Steps to Organic Weed Control for Beds & Borders and the follow up video: Easy Organic Weed Control with Paper and Mulch outlines the easiest way I've found to deal with weeds.

After you've planted your first shrubs and flowers, layering them with paper and mulch keeps the moisture in and weeds down to a minimum.

This technique is basically the reason I have as many beautiful flower borders as I do!

Visit these pages for more ideas for what to plant:

• 11 Easy Care Plants and a Few to Avoid
• What to Plant for August Blooms
• Easy Care Shrubs & Plants
• New Herb Garden: Before and After
• Cottage Garden Flowers
• Little Lime Hydrangea: My Favorite New Shrub

You can always get some behind-the-scenes pictures on Instagram and find more inspiration on my Pinterest boards on gardening.

Feel free to hit me with any of your best questions and happy gardening!

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