Garden Goals for 2013

Well, the excitement of the holidays is over and the dreary winter weather has fully set in.  While not much is going on in the garden, it's a good time of year for planning. After all, everyone has New Year's resolutions, so I am making garden resolutions for 2013.

1. Work in the garden once a week (even if just for a few minutes). Even when the weather's cold, the pansies still need to be watered from time to time, and branches need to be picked up after storms. In the heat of summer, it will take extra motivation to get out there to pull weeds, but my garden will thank me. Plus, working in the garden is therapeutic for me.

2. Propagate more shrubs. I was surprised this last year how fun and easy it was to root cuttings at home, and I have a lot of yard to fill. There are some gorgeous camellias growing on the border of my property, and I have a lot of shade in my yard (camellias like shade). They look so pretty this winter, I would love to spread the winter beauty to other corners of my yard. Also, I love the new hydrangea I bought this fall, so I thought I'd try to get a few more shrubs out of it to plant here and there.

The camellias in my garden brighten my day in the wintertime.

3. Finish the flower bed on the east side of our front door. I started this project this past fall, pulling out the existing shrubs, planning the layout, and planting what I could find. This spring, I hope to locate the rest of the flowers I want for it and show you the finished product!

4. Create a flower bed on the west side of our front door. After I see the results of the east bed (what dies, what thrives, how it looks after it fills in, how much trouble it is to maintain), I will have a better idea of what I want to do with the west bed. There are currently plain, boring, green shrubs there. I'd like to do something with a similar look and feel as the east bed, but not necessarily identical. After all, my house isn't symmetrical, so I don't think my garden should be, either.

5. Start a vegetable garden. I have never really done much vegetable gardening beyond growing a few things in pots. I have always dreamed of having a beautiful vegetable garden, though. When I was bored in high school I would doodle possible garden plans for my eventual white-picket-fence kitchen garden, complete with flowers lining the outside of the fence, herbs growing just inside the fence, and raised beds full of tomatoes, carrots, and squash. (When I was a kid we had a vegetable garden one year next to our white picket fence...maybe that's where I got the inspiration!) For 2013, I think I'll start small--maybe a 4' x 4' garden, just enough to grow a few vegetables for my husband and I.

My first experience with
vegetable gardening, age 7.