The active, outdoor gardening season is coming to a close. After you clean up your garden and put your clean tools away, take some time to reflect on how your garden performed this season.  Aren’t there always some improvements to be made?  What sort of corrective or preventive strategies might you implement to make next year even better?

The Master Gardeners in Dakota County grow gardens that trial vegetable and flower varieties for the UMN Extension. Much of the produce from these gardens is delivered to local food shelves so success is important. These gardeners also review garden wins and disappointments as they consider future practices. In early fall I chatted with Master Gardeners at one of the seed trial and community gardens about their gardening practices. Of course, every year is different. While drought was an issue last year, this year the impacts of a very wet year were top of mind. Even so, the team kept returning to fundamental practices. This article will encourage you to look at your garden through the lens of these practices. And I’ll share some reflections from the seed trial garden.

Fundamental Practices

1. Start with quality seeds and plants 

• Locate reputable sources through research. Look at their growing practices and ask other gardeners for their favorite sources. 

• Are your plants suitable for our northern climate? (Hardiness zones 5a (in some places) and above)

• Look for disease resistance or tolerance, especially if disease has been a problem.

• If purchasing plants locally, look for signs of insects and disease. “Reject any plant with dark, discolored or soft sunken spots on leaves, stems or roots.” UMN Extension 

2. Maintain a healthy, living soil - Add organic materials to your soil in combination with soil testing. 

• Know your soil. UMN extension recommends testing every 3-5 years.

  • I am 100% convinced I need a soil test for my garden because the same plant that struggled in my garden produced beautiful red peppers in a new garden bed!

  • You can obtain a soil test through the UMN soil testing lab for a small fee.

  • The test will give you the estimated soil texture, pH (acidity), percent of soil organic matter and levels of phosphorus(P) and potassium(K).  

  • There are optimal levels of Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus, and Potassium for plant growth. For example, too much nitrogen can stunt growth and, in some plants, may encourage leaf growth but delay fruiting. 

  • Finally, the soil test will recommend soil amendments and fertilizers that address any deficiencies that are found.

• Add organic matter as needed. A common practice is to add a couple inches of compost each year.

• Consider cover crops.

• Do frequent health checks - disease and pests can establish very quickly. Remove diseased material immediately and clean your tools. Only fully composted disease-free compost should be returned to the garden. 

• Rotate Crops. Diseases are usually shared within a plant family. Did you know peppers and tomatoes and eggplant are in the same Solanaceae (nightshade) family?

UMN extension references:

• Soil testing for lawns and gardens

• Compost and soil organic matter: “The more, the merrier?”

• Living soil, healthy garden

3. Maintain moist but not water-logged soil 

Moisture is tightly coupled with soil health. Saturated soil can lead to nitrogen loss and flooding can prevent the roots from taking up oxygen and other nutrients. 

• Assess watering practices in the garden - Watering from above can cause disease to splash up from the soil and over saturate plant material. Soaker hoses are one option to minimize spread of diseases. 

• Improve drainage as needed – One strategy to control water is raised beds. Forming raised beds ensures good drainage, which is more crucial for some plant families. An example of this is the Gourd family (Cucurbitaceae): cucumber, melon, summer and winter squash, pumpkin and gourd.   

• Use mulch wisely. Mulch keeps soil moist longer and helps maintain healthy soil by limiting loss of nutrients from runoff. Use mulch that is both disease and chemical free (e.g. wet mulch may be diseased and avoid grass clippings from a treated lawn).   

UMN extension references:

• Watering the Vegetable Garden

• Raised Bed Gardens

• Fertilizing and Watering Container Plants

4. Maintain airflow between plants - Be generous with spacing. 

• Provide appropriate structure to maximize airflow and keep produce off the ground. Take into consideration the weight of produce and the spacing increments; for example, a pole bean loves twining around a string, peas love some chicken wire and tomatoes need a good strong cage. Get these in place early and keep an eye out, as plants often need ‘training’.

• Prune as needed. An indeterminate tomato plant, for example, will keep growing. Prune plants if crowding impacts airflow and sunlight. 

UMN extension references:

• Trellises and Cages to support garden vegetables

• Preventing Plant Diseases in the Garden

5. Invite pollinators in 

Combining vegetables and flowers in one area is becoming more common. Mixing not only helps with plant pollination but provides more color and variety, keeping the garden beautiful and supporting beneficial insects.  See article “Companion Gardens are the Best”

And finally, what reflections on the year did the seed trial and community garden gardeners come up with?

• In general, it was a very wet year and overall production was lower than previous years.

• Beans struggled early but rebounded in late summer as the sun returned and the soil was no longer saturated. 

• Despite valiant efforts to manage squash beetles and limit impact of mildew and other disease, squash and cucumber plants eventually succumbed. 

• Tomato and pepper plants started slow but were very productive in the long run despite some tomato blight. A mulch of loose, not too dense straw was a good choice and plants were spaced for sufficient airflow. 

• Cocoa mulch smelled delicious but became wet, compressed and slick from the rain. 

• Flowers and pollinators were abundant and admired. 

At the end of September, the team is still delivering quality produce to the food shelf:

And that is success!

I hope in this recap of gardening fundamentals you will find a couple of helpful strategies to try next gardening season. Each year is a bit of an adventure - expect the unexpected, learn and be willing to adapt.  Happy gardening! 

If you need assistance beyond the articles provided, try these resources:

• Contacts for yard and garden: Ask a Master Gardener

• Diagnose problems in the yard and garden caused by insects, diseases and nonliving factors: What’s wrong with my plant?

Photo Credits: Alyce Neperud (1,3-8), University of Minnesota Extension (2)