Tips for Beginning a New Garden Project

Tips for Beginning a New Garden Project

By: David Cook, UT Extension Agent & Donelson Gateway Volunteer

           With any new project, and especially gardening, planning is one of the most important factors if you want to achieve your goals of establishing a healthy landscape, growing beautiful flowers, or having a bountiful harvest of fruits and vegetables. Here are some basic steps for beginning gardening.

Select a Site:  It is best to start small. Bigger is not always better when a lot of digging in hard, compacted ground is involved. If your hands are not accustomed to using gardening tools, purchase a pair of gardening gloves. These will become your new “outdoor friend” by helping to prevent painful blisters. Here are some basic questions to ask yourself about the potential garden site: Does this site receive full sun, partial sun or filtered sunlight during the course of the day? Are there large trees or nearby structures that block sunlight from reaching the site? It’s important to know the light requirements of the plants you plan to grow. When purchasing plants, always read and save the information on the plant tags. The plant tag will tell you about the light and water needs of the plant.

Correct Any Soil Drainage Problems: Plants like water, but over-watering or poor soil drainage is one of the main reasons many outdoor plants die before their time. Not all Tennessee soils are alike. The soil in your yard may be totally different than what is in your neighbor’s yard. There are three basic types of soils: sandy, loam and clay. A simple method to determine which type you have is to see how fast your soil drains water.  Dig a one gallon-sized hole in the ground and fill it full of water. If the water has completely drained out in about one hour, then your soil is sandy. If the hole is still holding water, come back in about two hours. If the hole is empty, you have loamy soil, which is what your plants will like. If after six to eight hours there is still water, then you have a soil with lots of clay, which is not good unless you want to grow rice. Drainage problems can always be corrected by adding sand, humus (mature compost) or creating raised beds.

Test Your Soil: Before you rush out to purchase plants or put any seeds into the ground, take a soil test. When you get the test results back, you will know about the fertility of the soil (the current mineral nutrients and the pH). Only then will you know if additional nutrients or amendments need to be added. Most importantly, you will know the exact pH of the soil. A soil test is the only way to determine if the soil is acidic, neutral or alkaline.

Know Your Planting Zone: Most of Tennessee is zone 7. This simply means there are certain plants that will grow year-round here and survive the winter cold, the hot summer months and the average amount of yearly rainfall. Plant tags usually provide information about which zone is best for the plant. Also remember that temperature throughout the state will vary from region to region. West Tennessee is usually warmer than Middle Tennessee and East Tennessee usually experiences colder winter months.

Go Native with Tennessee Plants: The benefit of native plants is that they are adapted to grow and thrive in zone 7, so at least consider a few. No matter where you live, there are nurseries and garden centers that offer a wide selection of both native and non-native plants to choose from. One last tip, don’t ever be afraid to ask questions about plants, because that’s how we learn.

Volunteers Turn Out To Landscape Gateway East

On a cool and clear October morning, people representing all of the neighborhoods in Donelson turned out to do one thing: make thier community better. It took shovels and dirt and rakes and muscle to turn what was once a neglected highway easment into a colorful display of nature. As seen from both the Stones River Greenway and Lebanon Pike, Gateway East presents to travelers the idea that the Donelson Community is committed to its identity and is staging a rebirth. “I always remind the Mayor that Donelson is hidden gem in the Metro crown” say district 15 councilman Phil Claiborne. He was one of the many volunteers that helped to plant the Cedars, Pansies, and Knockout Roses at the new site.  Other contributors to the project include Joslin Sign Company, Emdenon, Gaylord, JVI Garden Center, SmartSpace, and EnviroScapes. Thanks for everyone’s help.

Donelson Gateway New Location

On Saturday, October 8 at 9:00am, the Donelson Gateway Project will add landscaping to the Welcome to Donelson sign near the Stones River bridge. This is an important milestone in that the fourth of five main entrances to Donelson will have welcoming signage & landscaping. We welcome you to come join us in completing this project! None of this would be possible without support from our neighbors and community businesses. As we carry on our mission of beautifying Donelson, we look ahead to the many possibilities of expanding our efforts in the community. We need your help and ask that you support the Donelson Gateway Project 501(c)3 group with a tax-deductible donation. Any amount is welcome. Please click on the “Donate” button and make your contribution by using PayPal or mail a check to PO Box 148983, Nashville, TN 37214. Thank you for your support!