Gardening season is upon us in Minnesota, and I wanted to get an early start this year. In mid-April, I started clearing out my backyard vegetable patch. At the time, I wrote on Instagram that my backyard was going to be all about my personality. I was joking… or was I kidding? Either way, I was determined to finally put some personality into my backyard vegetable patch, which had been pretty much untouched since we moved into this house.
Today I’m sharing my backyard garden plans for 2024, what I’ve done so far, and some of the emotional benefits of this new (and quirky) hobby.
How our backyard gardens have evolved since 2020
When we moved into this house in 2020, our backyard vegetable gardens were lush, but overgrown and full of weeds. For years, I had been in a cycle of weeding these gardens and then leaving them alone. I never planted new plants in the spaces I weeded, leaving room for invasive species to thrive.
Our front garden flower beds are in pretty good condition by comparison. We did a major landscaping project to revitalize those gardens after a lot of the mature shrubs, trees, and bushes died last year. We also planted some bulbs in there last fall, and although we fought hard to keep the rabbits from eating them, our efforts were about 50% successful.
Backyard Garden Plans for 2024
So far this year, I’ve been taking note of what’s grown and what’s died since last. Joe and I have raked up piles of leaves and pulled weeds like burdock, garlic mustard, periwinkle, and St. John’s wort. We’ve also mulched all of our flower beds.
It’s been a lot of work, but getting it all cleared out is just the beginning. In past years I’ve cleared out these flower beds but got bogged down when deciding what to plant, and ended up with even more invasive plants growing in as a result. This year I’m going to break that cycle!
The next step is to get the plants planted by mid-June. Our backyard is shady, so anything I plant needs to thrive in the shade. “Chaos Gardening” Use most (but not all) native plants. The goal is to select and plant a variety of species that will grow well in the space without too much care, leaving most wild.
These are the plants currently growing in our backyard:
- Hosta
- Astilbe
- evergreen
- Boxwood
- Fern
Here are some of the things I plan to plant this year:
- Fern
- Foam Flower
- Blue Fake Indigo
- More Hostas
- Bleeding heart disorders
- More Astilbe
- Rhododendron
I try to be realistic about the amount of time, energy, and space I have available, and while the process may not be perfect, I know that filling my backyard with plants that thrive in that area is a big step in the right direction.
The emotional benefits of gardening
My years as a beginner gardener taught me that gardening takes time and effort, and results are always variable. It’s not just about the results, it’s also about the experience and the benefits you get from it. There is a lot of research that supports the positive effects of gardening.This recent article from The New York Times It references many similar studies.
Gardening is a great way to relax and destress, and it’s also a good form of exercise. But the benefits of gardening aren’t just physical; it can have a positive impact on your emotional health, too. I think this is a big reason why I make time for gardening: it forces me to slow down, be patient, and spend time outside. Getting outside and gardening makes me feel so good and satisfied.
I am now considering joining a local gardeners community group to learn more and meet new people – it seems like a great way to learn from other gardeners and I can’t wait to look back at this post in a year and see how much progress these spaces have made.
Kate is the founder of Wit & Delight. She is currently learning tennis and will forever be Testing the limits of her creativity. Follow her on Instagram Follow.
Source: – witanddelight.com
