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5 tips to get your garden organized

By Julie Stobbe / February 22, 2022 /

Reading time – 10 minutes

I have had a series of snowstorms come through my area in the last couple of weeks. I wanted to think about something other than snow. This week I decided to look ahead to spring and write a fun blog on organizing your garden. I am not an expert on gardening but I hope these 5 tips will help you to feel like spring is just around the corner.

Do you need a plan to get your garden organized? Making improvements to your garden is a great way to enhance your lifestyle and make the most of your space. It can take a little while to get organized, but it’s certainly worth it in the end. To help you get your garden organized this spring, focus on these five tips.

1. Declutter

The first step to organizing your garden is to get rid of the clutter. If your garden is full of junk, debris and old building supplies, it’s unlikely to be an ambient space. Once you’ve removed the clutter you’ll have an inviting garden that you can be proud of. Remember, your garden can be an extension of your living space. Now is a good time to think about what you planted last year. Did the plants grow well in the area you planted them or should they be planted in a different spot? Do you want to try something new or stay with the tried and true?

2. Organize your shed

If you have a shed in your garden it can be nice to organize this space at the beginning of the season. Sheds can become “dumping ground” for many things that you don’t know where to store. Once it is organized it is easier to get things in and out, you know what supplies you need to buy and when it is clean it is much nicer to walk into. Separate everything into different categories your gardening tools, winter items to be stored, cleaning supplies and toys etc. The best way to get organized is to use compact storage boxes. With the help of storage boxes, you can create space, and keep everything in the right place. Store your spring and summer items at the front of the shed and off-season and less used items in the back.

3. Create separate zones

One of the best ways to organize your garden area is to create separate zones, you can create different zones using decking, steps, hedges, or plants. One of the biggest garden trends this year is building a garden on multiple levels, it’s a great way to add space and depth to a garden. For example, you might have one zone with concrete paving, and a separate area of grass. When having paving installed you’ll need to contact the best Concrete Contractor. If you’re keen to keep up with the latest garden trends, here are a few more:

Create an outdoor living room.
Plant wildflowers that attract wildlife.
Make the most of your space by planting a vegetable garden.
Pastel colours are incredible in this season.

4. Keep it tidy

If you want to organize your garden you’ve got to try and keep the space tidy. Ensure that you regularly mow your lawn, and remove any dead plants and debris. To keep your grass nice and green it’s important to use grass feed. If there are trees in your garden you’ll need to prune them, to keep them healthy. If you have big trees and you’re not confident looking after them, it’s best to call a professional.

5. Create a design plan

To improve your garden, it’s helpful to create a design plan. A design plan can help you to establish which style you’d like to create, for example, minimal or Mediterranean. You should also figure out an approximate budget so that you can avoid overspending. Think about your lifestyle. How much time do you want to spend on your garden? Design the size of the space and choose the type of plants that will make it easy for you to have a lovely garden.

There are so many different ways to make changes to your garden. Following these organizing tips you’ll create the perfect garden. Remember, making improvements to your home is a great way to improve your lifestyle.

Share your best gardening tip with me so I can become a better gardener.

Julie Stobbe is a Trained Professional Organizer and Lifestyle Organizing Coach who brings happiness to homes and organization to offices, coaching you virtually using Zoom. She has been working with clients since 2006 to provide customized organizing solutions to suit their individual needs and situations. She uses her love of teaching to reduce clutter, in your home and office. She guides and supports you in managing your time. If you’re in a difficult transition Julie can coach you to break-free of emotional clutter constraining you from living life on your terms. Online courses are available to help instruct, coach and support your organizing projects. Get started by downloading Tips for Reorganizing 9 Rooms.

Contact her at julie@mindoverclutter.ca

Twitter – Facebook – Facebook group Organizing Mind and Space

Start Organizing your Garden Now – Tips from a Professional

By Julie Stobbe / February 16, 2017 /

Reading time – 5 minutes

My guest blogger is Ron Thiessen of Thiessen Farms . He has been farming all his life. As a child he worked with his dad and then took over the farm. He sells his produce at markets and has developed a Community Supported Agricultural Program (CSA) of over 200 families who buy a share of his crops and pick up their produce every week at his farm from May to October. He is located in Jordan Station, Ontario , Canada. He has written on organizing your seeds, choosing your crops and charting their progress.

Crop Planning and Choosing Seeds

Brad’s Atomic Grape Tomato

“Elongated cherries in clusters. The colour (and flavor!) is a full-blown assault on the senses – lavender and purple stripes when immature, turning to technicolor olive-green, red, and brown/blue stripes when fully ripe. Really wild! … this amazing variety a good candidate for market growers …” (from www.rareseeds.com)

When we saw this new tomato in a seed catalogue it immediately became a must grow variety for Thiessen Farms in 2017. It looks and sounds amazing!

And when we found seed for the hottest-of-hot peppers – Ghost, Carolina Reaper & Trinidad Scorpion – there was no doubt that they would be on the list too, along with Glass Gem corn, Superschmelz kohlrabi and Golden Wa Wa cabbage.

Glass Gem Corn

Superschmelz kohlrabi

: Golden Wa Wa cabbage

I’ll admit it. We’re suckers for a cool sounding name and a fancy description. That’s why our seed list has grown to more than 450 varieties of over 60 different vegetables and herbs. But it’s really a cheap thrill. For a few bucks we get to try something new. Sometimes it will turn out great and become a favourite. Other times it’s a disappointment and we never grow it again. But it’s always fun experimenting!

The first week in January is always seed ordering time. We pour over the seed catalogues devouring the particulars of all the vegetables, herbs & flowers, choosing the varieties we will grow in the upcoming season. The selection of seeds is overwhelming making it a delightful yet daunting task.

Here’s how we make our choices …

1. We know what we grew in previous years.

We keep a master list – a spreadsheet that names each crop and variety we grew last season, the amount of seed we have on hand, the year purchased, the company it came from, and the number of days from seeding until harvest. This gives us someplace to start. When the seeds are ordered, all this data is updated & any new varieties are added and those we will not be growing are eliminated.

2. We keep good records – an awful lot of records.

We have a chart where we record every seed we sow in the greenhouse – the date we seeded, the amount, the date the first seeds poked up through the soil, the date we transplanted them and how many, and a spot for random comments. We have more charts where we record everything that gets planted out in the fields – whether it is direct seeded or transplanted from the greenhouse, the variety, the amount, the date. Throughout the growing season we make written notes – both quick observations that we jotted down on the run and more formal evaluations of the different vegetables and how they grew, and produced, their yields, taste, plant health … Photographs are also very helpful for this and so easy to take with cellphones. We find these records invaluable and refer back to them often.

3. As commercial growers we look to our customers for information

What crops sold well and which ones did not, what caught the customers attention, what vegetables are they asking for … We have more charts. For each day at the farmers’ market we record what we brought, how much we sold, the prices and the weather for the day. There are similar charts for each Community Support Agricultural Program (CSA )pick-up. These give us a clear picture of what to grow and how much based on actual sales.

4. What would be fun and interesting to grow!

We always try to grow something new that we have not done before. Recent examples include kalettes , cauliflower artichokes and fava beans.

The seeds are arriving almost daily now

Close to 500 packets of seeds – different sized envelopes, some paper, some foil, even a cloth bag or two, and at least one larger 25 pound sack (snow peas). Add in any leftover seeds from other years, various jars of seed that I saved myself, and we end up with well over 600 different containers of seeds.That’s a lot of seed to deal with and to keep organized!

Proper storage is necessary to keep the seeds viable

Cool and dry storage being the most important conditions. We keep the seeds in our workshop in small, plastic shoe boxes. A label on the lid notes what seeds are inside. These plastic boxes are then stored in larger plastic bins all with secure lids. This keeps them dry, clean & safe from curious animals (ie cats, or even mice – in case the cats are not doing their job!).And there the seeds wait until it’s time to plant them.