CORPUS CHRISTI - If you are contemplating a spring garden, then begin preparation this weekend. Most spring vegetable gardens are planted in late February or early March in South Texas, but warm weather may allow an early start. A good idea may be to prepare this week and plant next week depending on weather forecasts.
If you have a regular garden plot, then you are ahead. If you want to start a new garden, then definitely break up your preparation time from planting day to ensure you properly prepare. It always takes more time than you expect to get your garden ready.
Weed control: It is definitely time to hoe and pull weeds to prepare for tilling. Take time to remove the unwanted plants, then plow up the ground.
There is time to apply herbicides like glyphosate aka Roundup to kill persistent weeds like Bermuda grass. If you decide to till in Bermuda grass, you will chop it up into smaller pieces and they will begin to grow, compounding your problem.
Glyphosate is probably the most common over-the-counter herbicide. It is safe to apply before you plant without harming your vegetable plants because glyphosate is short-lived in the environment, breaking down in just a few weeks.
Check for moisture: Before you till, one of the best tools to inspect your soil is a shovel. If you dig down about 12 inches, you can determine how much moisture you have in the tilling depth. Hard dry soil needs water to help you till effectively. Applying water a few days before tilling is a good idea to help the tiller. When you are ready to till, check again with the shovel. If mud sticks, wait a few days. If the soil is still dry, add more water.
Draw a plan: Too often experienced gardeners create a plan without putting it down on paper. I have found that the spaces allocated in my mind don't always match up with the space outside. You need to provide space not only for plants to grow, but access to harvest.
Take time before you plant, go and draw out your area to scale. Start by acquiring a couple of pieces of inexpensive graph paper. Graph paper allows you to quickly count and space out your garden by assigning a uniform value to each square, such as a quarter inch square equals a foot in your garden.
Plan for space: Next, determine how much space each row of vegetables needs. You can get by with narrow rows for short, small crops like radishes, lettuce, turnips and even bush beans. However, allocate more space between rows for larger plants such as squash, tomatoes, broccoli, and eggplant.
Not only do you need to plan for distance between rows but also between plants. Transplants like tomatoes are very deceptive. Three feet between plants seems like a lot when you plant them, but it disappears quickly as these plants start vigorously growing. Even in cages, you need space between plants, because branches will emerge beyond their wire confines.
Providing correct spacing will help your veggies develop to their full potential, allowing more sun penetration needed for flowering and fruit ripening, and improved air circulation that reduces pest and disease problems.
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