Planting Season April- May 2018
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, we will earn a small commission if you click through and make a purchase. Learn more
Planting season prep this spring meant enriched soil, a legally-compliant Osier hedge, a new temporary greenhouse, and a daughter finally getting her very own raised bed to plant however she liked.
Planting season follows the arrival of spring. My husband has been gardening since the end of winter, planning and preparing for the whole season ahead. A garden tour video was filmed between April and May during planting season, and it’s finally time to write it up and get this long-overdue video posted.
Table of Contents
Gardening and My Achilles Heel
Gardening isn’t really a personal forte — that passion belongs to a husband instead, so this is just an attempt to summarize it as best as possible.
Last year’s gardener came back to help trim the overgrown bushes, and brought along a load of enriched soil to distribute and fill the raised beds. Hazelnut trees and a few other wild ones got trimmed too. A natural fence is also taking shape at the edge of the property, using yellow willow, also called Osier, for some added privacy.
Local law prohibits planting non-native bushes along the street edge, so after research with the help of the forest department and local nurseries, Osier was the variety settled on.
Green House
A temporary greenhouse is going up this year too, meant to house tomatoes and other vegetables like chilies, aubergines, and paprika.
What Went In This Planting Season
Supplies List
- Zucchini, celery
- Onion, garlic (new raised bed)
- Salads, herbs (raised beds)
- Radish, beetroot, cauliflower (daughter’s patch)
- Coriander, chives, basil
- Lavender & flowering plants
Instructions
Squash and Bulbs Planted:
Zucchini, celery, onion, and garlic beds all got planted this round. With help from a local farmer, a bed was built over a slope using timber, filled with soil — that became this year’s garlic bed.
Composting:
Kitchen scraps and other organic waste have been composted since last year, and the diligent effort paid off with usable compost for enriching the soil this season. It wasn’t quite enough on its own, so a whole load of enriched soil was ordered too. An open compost pile was also built this year, on the slope, alongside the existing quick compost, which got moved next to it.
Soil Enrichment:
A whole load of humus mixed with soil was sprayed across the beds, enriching the existing soil further so the plants get the maximum nourishment possible.
A Patch of Her Own
The new raised beds got filled and planted with salads and herbs — and a daughter now has her very own patch. She planted radish, beetroot, and cauliflower there, part of her own learning, free to get as wild with the planting as she liked, without any set order. On the other bed, salads, coriander leaves, chives, and basil went in.
A Few Lessons from This Season
Check local planting laws before building a hedge: non-native bushes may be restricted along street edges — research with the forest department and local nurseries helped settle on Osier here.
Let kids plant their own patch: giving a child free rein over a small bed, without worrying about order, makes for a great hands-on learning experience.
Combine compost sources: homemade compost alone wasn’t enough, so ordering enriched soil to supplement it made up the difference.
Prettying Up the Car Park
With soil and humus mix still left over after filling the raised beds, 2 large pots came from Aldi for Fr.19.90 and got planted with flowering plants — lavender and a few other pretty varieties, meant to make the car park area a little prettier.
Watch the Video
Your feedback is valuable
Thank you for taking the time to read this post.
