And like some of the lesser-known holidays, you have to do a little bit of research to know when the right time to celebrate will arrive in your area. Not everyone can plant on the exact same day, but in general people like the USDA, local universities and the Farmer's Almanac have you covered. I'm about to do a little googling now to find out when our planting day is.
Around here, the rule of thumb is mid-April. A publication like the Farmer's Almanac, though, gets even more specific. Of course they also swear by planting plants in the light of the moon, so they may be a few crayons short of a pack over there, but with some statistics they tend to be dead on.
There are different rules for different times of year, different crops and different places on the planet, but the kind of planting I'm mostly talking about here is it's spring, you're going out and grabbing a bunch of transplants to take home and plant more or less immediately, which is what I plan to do in the next couple of weeks. If you're starting plants from seeds indoors (rather than sowing them directly into the ground), you'll need to start earlier. How early will depend on how long it takes your plants to mature. Then there's planting in other times of the year, which we might cover another time.
To figure out when to plant your transplants, you need to learn a familiarize yourself with a term called the "date of last frost." This means what it sounds like it means. It's the forecast final day of this year when you can expect a cold snap. You don't want to plant until after that day because many of your spring and summer plants (tomatoes, peppers, basil, etc.) are very sensitive to cold.
According to the Farmer's Almanac, the 2012 date of last frost in Tulsa, OK was March 27. Usually, I like to wait a week or so until after that because I have planted too early before, and it wasn't fun.
If you do end up planting too early, you can't do much about it except cover up your plants. This isn't figurative language here. Cover them up with anything you can. Remove the bottom of a milk jug or 2-liter pop bottle and cover the plant. Use empty containers, boxes, a coldframe if you've got one, and cover everything, giving priority to cold-sensitive plants.
Selecting Plants and Preparing to Dig
Before you leave your house to shop around for plants, think about what you want to do. Do you want to try new things this year? Do you want to focus on herbs and veggies? Are you simply replacing the annuals that died between seasons, or would you like to consider some perennials? Do you want to experiment and grow things you've never grown before, or are you sticking with the tried and true? Give some thought to what you want out of your garden before you shop.
Consider too what you have to work with. Think about how much space you have. If you're expecting a hot, dry summer like we had last year, pay special attention to sun and water requirements for each plant you pick. Will the stuff you want to grow require any special equipment, like trellises or cages? Also think about each plant in relation to the others. Pair them well as companion plants, and consider their color, heights and growing patterns to maximize their aesthetic appeal.
Check my previous post about preparing a bed. In there, you'll find most everything you need to prepare to plant, from what soil amendments to use, to what types of gardens you can make. After you've followed the directions in that post, you should be ready to just grab a spade or a shovel and start digging.
Shopping Tips
Buy from someone with good selection. I have my favorite places to buy plants (see the resources post), but even I have to admit that your Lowes' and your Home Depots are responding to demand and carrying a nicer selection of plants. Still, you probably want to go with a seller that is local. These smaller, mom & pop-style places will have a better knowledge of local gardening conditions. They're more likely to garden themselves than people from a big box hardware store.
Select plants that look healthy — not spindly, leggy, limp, discolored or otherwise weak-looking. Buy plants that are green, short and stocky. Plants that look like they can take a beating.
Getting Dirt Under Your Nails
Dig a hole that is slightly bigger than the container the plant came in. Don't disturb the earth more than you have to.
While you dig, keep an eye out for critters. Preserve the good ones (like earthworms) and crush or discard the bad ones (like grubs)
Some people choose to toss in a little bit of fertilizer into each hole. Be careful when using anything with a high nitrogen content, though. Too much nitrogen coming into contact with the roots can shock the plant. One trick I've heard of is to toss in a whole banana with every tomato transplant you bury. People swear by that trick, though I've never tried it.
When transplanting, remove each plant from its container carefully, applying gentle pressure to every side of the container the plant was sold in.
If the roots are overgrown and tied up (my mom called this "rootbound"), you might want to loosen the roots up a bit with your fingers. Be gentle though, and try not to tear the roots up too much.
Consider the proper spacing for each plant. Most of the time, the tag the plant came with will have this information, or you can ask the merchant. Plants grow fast, and an overcrowded garden is hard to work with. You don't want things too jumbled or it will be hard to find and destroy weeds.
Plant in nice, straight rows. Particularly for herb and veggie gardens. This will help you tell the plants from the weeds if this is your first stab at gardening and you're not sure you'll be able to tell the difference.
Once your plant is in the ground, tamp the ground around it fairly firmly. You want to make sure there's not any large, empty spaces next to the roots. This is not good for plants. Their roots need to touch earth.
When you're finished planting, give the plants a good watering-in. This is an important step because the transplanted plants are going through a bit of shock right now. If you've ever introduced a tropical fish into a new fishtank, it's kind of the same principal. That extra water will help get them through the stress they're under right now. Also, it will hopefully bring the soil into contact with the roots a little better once it soaks in.
Pretty soon after you've planted, or immediately afterward, you might want to apply some mulch. Mulch can give a survival edge to a great many plants. They help soil retain water, provide temperature control, discourage certain pests (depending on what material you use), prevent foliar diseases (by making a buffer zone between your plant's leaves and the soil), and improve the quality of your soil in the long term as the mulch decays.
I might write a post about mulch in the future, but there's a bit more on the subject in one of my past posts.
Whenever planting day is at your house, I hope you have fun! Don't forget to comment and let us know what you're planting this year.
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