Remember April

April, is that you?

The month of restraint is over. You have shown extraordinary exuberance this spring. It is time to procure a plan, pick out your plants, and dig in the dirt.

As you have no doubt gathered through this newsletter, it is my belief planning is the most important step in any task. Gardening is not the exception. I’ve said it before, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. If you think you have had bad luck in the garden previously, it may be attributable to lack of planning. Luck comes in two sizes; good and bad. A definition of luck that I adhere to is: Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. People who are described as having “a green thumb” are not “lucky” in the random chance sense of the word. With regard to gardening, good luck means having a realistic plan of action. Stack the statistical deck in your favor by having a plan.

The primary part of any plan is soil preparation. Success in plantings is therefore largely premeditated. Failures in the landscape are usually avoidable if provisions are made to give your plants the best chance. It is often hard to suggest soil amendments at the checkout without coming off as “up-selling”; we all deal with that in the form of “extended warranties” and such. Make soil preparation a priority when planting, not an afterthought. If your budget doesn’t allow for products such as EarthMix® Landscape, EarthMix® Garden, or Espoma organic fertilizers, you are purchasing too many plants. It is always better to have fewer plants performing at their peak, than more in mediocrity.

You’ve planned and prepared your soil. Now about the plants: Youcan’t help but notice Monrovia everywhere you turn at Bates. There is good cause for that. Monrovia is the best, period. I contend that real economy in the landscape is through getting the right plant, in the right place, planted the right way, the first time.

Tune into Gardening Inside Out on Saturday mornings at 8 am. Follow us on Instagram for behind the scenes fun on the Know Down. Queue up the podcast to listen to on your next journey.

Let us help,

David Bates