Planning a new garden space can be fun. It can be exciting. It can also be a little overwhelming. That is where I find myself in the spring of 2026. In a new home with a new garden, the freedom to do whatever I want with the property. Well, almost anyway. I do live in a community, but I get the sense that everyone here is fairly accepting as long as they aren’t disturbed. I have aspirations of having chickens at some point, which will mean a couple of new fences, so that will take care of a lot of neighbours who might care. They won’t be able to see into the backyard anyway. That’s beside the point though, because I plan to make this garden area beautiful and full of life.
A little back story, in case your new here
I moved into a new house last spring, but between one thing and another, I had just enough time to plant what seeds I had and hope for the best. I didn’t really think about where things were going to go and that sort of thing, and I also didn’t know what was already here as perennials. So, I took the year as a learning year for the space. There are 7 designated beds already established. Designated for annual vegetable gardens that is. There are other perennial planting areas as well.
This year I am taking the time to plan out where I want to put things and how I can grow the space over the next few seasons. If you want a little more in depth story about last year, check out the Solo Parenting & Solo Gardening post.
For this planting plan, I am first thinking about what seeds I need to get to get them started inside. Then, as the plan develops a bit I’ll start the sketch. I will make sure that I leave room for perennial plants that will likely come along in the summer. I can’t afford to but everything right now.
Planning A New Garden Space – Where To Start
I always start is a brain storming session. For lack of a better term. I sit down and just think about what I would like to grow. I think about last year, what grew well, what grew but we didn’t eat, what did we miss that we didn’t grow, what did we plant that it didn’t grow. Then I make a list from that.
This year I expanded that list to include things I want to add to this new space.
At this point I’m not worried about budget or space, that will come along soon enough. I’m just dreaming.
Because I moved a fair distance from my old place (about an hour south), and in to a different growing “zone“, I made another list. The “I want to grow, but will it grow and am I allowed to grow it” list. I know, catchy title right? But, the last thing I want to do is plant a perennial plant that is invasive. I am surrounded by agricultural land and big farms, so I want to be careful what I introduce into my garden.
Next I’m Going To Sketch It Out.
These sketches are not to scale. Like at all. My house is a mobile home, and even though there was an addition put on the side, it is not a square. Definitely a rectangle. Likewise, the vegetable garden may not look exactly like I’ve drawn it. These sketches are just a visual note. A literal drawing board.
This part doesn’t have to be fancy, as long as I can read it and make sense of it. I appreciate the people that do this on a computer with fancy symbols and labels and everything is neat and tidy, I am not that person. I have tried to do that, I even took a course to do it for other people. But, this is my garden and as much as I would like to tell you that I keep good records of the garden from year to year, I do not.
I have tried a number of times to start a garden journal, but I get two or three entries into it and that’s where it ends. Maybe I’ll try with this garden. This is only my second season. Oh who am I kidding. It is all in my head and that’s where it will stay. Like a big garden secret.
However, for the purposes of remembering where things are going while I am planting, and while things are sprouting. I will make a loose plan and sketch it out on a piece of paper. This is about as far as my journaling goes. I will try to keep these sketches together and then I can rotate my crops at least. Maybe I’ll try to do an end of the season review on the back of the paper in the fall? .. Maybe?..
Planning a new garden space – Changing things up
I am actually going to change things considerably over the next next couple of years. If I could do it all in one year I would, but that is not going to happen. However, because I have plans for a chicken coop and the like, I am going to blend the individual garden beds into 1 large garden. Then I am going to remove part of the garden beside the house, so I can build a small chicken coop. I also want to install a little patio area so I can set up the wood stove again. I will focus on the backyard this year and then next year convert the front lawn to be more productive. So, my sketch will reflect the new back garden areas.
Planning A New Garden Space – Lets See What We Have
Now it’s time to go to ye old seed box and see what we have left. It probably won’t be much this year because I tried to use up what I had left last year. The seeds I had last year were already a few years old, so I planted quite heavily. That is to say, I seeded quite heavily not knowing what the germination rates were going to be with these abused and forgotten seeds. It ended up being okay actually, but it left my seed bank a bit depleted.
So, this is what I have
I added columns to the list to mark what I have enough of. I will end up getting rid of some seeds this year also. Just because they are few years old and I do not need 1000 pumpkin seeds from 2021. Maybe I’ll plant them and try to sell them if they grow. Maybe.
Normally at this point I would just stop in at a greenhouse or the local hardware store to get what seeds I need for the year. Just topping up with a few seed packs while I’m there for a client anyway. This year, I would like to get a head start on some things and I would like to get a few unusual things, so I think it constitutes an pre-order.
Oh, I’m excited for spring just typing that!!
It is actually quite a long list, so I’ll see if it’s feasible. I may have to wait until later in the season for the grapes and blueberry plants to go on sale. I have had luck getting late in the season plants no one else wanted and nursing them through a year. We’ll se how the spring goes.
From Planning To Doing
Now it’s time to move from planning to doing. At this point I have my plan for what the garden will look like in May. I do plan to add some space this year, but that will be part of next years planting plan. This is already quite a lot of work so I think I will start here.