Helpful Tips for Starting a Garden
Maintain Your Garden Gardens need care. Decide who will water, weed, and harvest the garden. You will need funding to keep the garden in good condition, to pay for seeds, plants and soil each year and to repair beds and paths every 3 – 5 years. Get Organized Be clear about who will manage waitlists, assign beds, or do special tasks at your garden. Appoint a garden coordinator, a volunteer committee, or a staff person at your organization to take the lead. If your garden is volunteer run, have clear written guidelines and expectations for the role(s) and agree on how the person or committee will be selected or succeeded. For community gardens, you need clear rules that gardeners agree to before you start. This will include who
Start Small New gardeners often underestimate the amount of care and work a garden needs and can easily get overwhelmed if they take on too much. It is best to dream big and start small. You can expand in the future, once the garden gets established, gardeners learn skills, and interest grows. As we like to say on BC Housing’s People, Plants, and Homes team “grow with the flow.” Pick the Right Location You must pick the right location for your garden to be successful. Think about sun exposure, water, and accessibility. • Does your site have six hours of sun per day, or more? This is best for growing vegetables. • Is there an easily accessible hose bib close to the garden? Do not expect your gardener to carry water with watering cans, they will give up! • How exposed is your site? Do you need a fence? • How easy is it to bring soil, mulch or other equipment to the garden to be able to maintain it?
is allowed to garden, consequences for not following the agreement, what can be grown, and how common areas will be cared for. It is best to have plots renewed each year and have members sign an agreement to ensure that gardeners are aware of their commitment. Connect with Your Neighbours Gardens that focus on community-building are more successful. Engage gardeners in all the stages of creating the garden and continue to have garden meetings throughout the life of your garden. Having social events, workshops, and celebrations to allow gardeners to get to know each other and work together, will make your garden project more successful.
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online