PLAN YOUR GARDEN SPACE. If this is your first year, schedule your development of the garden area in phases to allow for soil preparation, planting, maintenance, finances and energy. Consider the impact on the community. Work as much as you can, you DO NOT HAVE TO DO IT ALL AT ONCE. Often a flowering Forsythia or Crab Apple will encourage participation and overcome vandalism.
Choose a sunny location for most annual flowers, herbs and vegetables; bulb beds and perennials do best in open sunlight. Roses do best when sheltered on the north and east, where there is sunlight for at least half of the day, and where there is good air circulation all around the plant. The vegetable garden demands very careful attention. Good southern, southeastern or southwestern exposure is preferred. Rows planted from north to south favor even distribution of the sunlight. Your tall crops like corn should be grown at the north so that your shorter plants will not be shaded. Corn also likes to be surrounded by corn and should not be planted unless you can provide enough space for at least four rows. It makes a good communal crop, as do Zucchini and Cabbage. These plants take up a lot of space. Leafy green salad crops will tolerate a somewhat shady location. Asparagus, Rhubarb and Strawberry beds are permanent areas.
Trees and shrubs should be chosen with care to their function in the garden for shade, ornament, specimen, evergreen, windscreen, wildlife, etc. Important questions to ask might include: do you want a fast growing tree for an interim project? Do you have an adequate soil depth? How much air pollution is there? Few Evergreens can tolerate our urban environment. Be sure you have good drainage. Check varieties carefully for height and growth rates, as well as tolerance to wind, pollution and drought. For shady locations you can try planting shade-tolerant annuals, perennials and bulbs that flower in the spring and fall when the trees are not in leaf. Whatever you decide, put your plan on paper, study it and keep in mind that a garden is an evolutionary project.
Take account of your vertical growing space potential - cyclone and other fences, brick walls and raised beds or trellis plantings. You may want to just dig in and get started and see what happens. Whatever your plan, the perimeter should be cleared of rubble first. Get your debris to the center and/or mound it and cover it with soil and plant it when you can.
ORDER or arrange to obtain those trees, shrubs, evergreens and roses you need and CAN PLANT BEFORE MAY 10th.
INDOORS. Start those seeds in February that you will be able to plant outdoors in six weeks. Check seed packets for best starting time. To start seeds indoors you will need to purchase the ingredients for a sterile soil-less mix (vermiculite, peat moss and charcoal, sand or perlite). Pre-mix and moisten the ingredients before you put it in the seedling container or seed flat. You can use regular garden soil if you prefer but the sterile growing medium is a deterrent to a fungus disease called damping off which causes early seedling rot.
You need 3 inches of soil-mix depth to start your seedlings. Old foil bread tins, milk cartons or juice cans can be used for this purpose after a thorough washing and sterilization providing you punch holes in the bottom for drainage. RULE: Check the seed packet for any special planting requirements the seed might have like, soaking in water overnight before planting or scoring with a file or even exposure to an open fire (in the broiler). ALWAYS PLANT THE SEED THREE TIMES THE DIAMETER OF ITS NARROWEST PART IN DEPTH.
If you have a garden to plant this spring you can start these seeds by the end of February: Anise, Basil, Marjoram, Thyme, Sage as well as Cabbage and related plants in the cabbage family like Collards, Kale, etc. If you cannot maintain even temperatures, consider the purchase of a soil heating cable for your larger flats. Until your seeds germinate keep your flats covered with a plastic bag or a pane of plastic or glass to help conserve moisture. Label all the seeds you plant, including eventual height, special soil requirements and last possible germination date so you will know something is amiss if the seeds do not sprout.
If the seeds have come up you will need to fertilize your growing medium with a liquid fertilizer to provide nutrients. Plants grown in a sterile soil-less mix without fertilizer will be weak and spindly. Keep your seedlings watered. Transplant to plastic pots when the seedling has its first set of true leaves. The first leaf-like set is called the cotyledon and serves the function of supplying the seedling with nutrients. If using electric lights keep the lights close to the growing tops of the seedlings and raise lights as the seedlings grow. When the light is not intense enough the seedling will be leggy and weak. Continue to keep them moist.
DIFFERENT PLANTING METHODS. Raised Bed planting is sometimes the only option on no-soil, all rubble vacant lots. Advantages include better drainage, neatness, speeded-up spring planting and less soil compaction. People with bad backs or confined to wheelchairs can enjoy gardening in a 30" high raised bed. Crop Rotation is difficult in a small garden. Nevertheless insects and disease will have a harder time finding those favorite squash and tomato plants if they are in a different area year after year. Your soil will benefit as well because certain plants like corn require large amounts of nitrogen and other plants such as soybeans, replaces nitrogen. Marker Cropping consists of planting quick-sprouting seeds like radishes with slower sprouting seeds like carrots or parsnips.