When I was first learning how to raise vegetables, I did not make a lot of “big mistakes”. Most of my mistakes seemed very small at the time. But, they still resulted in a lot of damage to my crops. This is because the small mistakes are often cumulative in nature, or they are not caught until it is too late to change anything. The majority of the mistakes I made are common gardening mistakes that no one talks about. I am going to spend some time discussing them because most of you will encounter them at some point. Fortunately, they can all be easily avoided with a little preparation or planning. Sometimes, you just have to be aware of these pitfalls ahead of time. Then you will not be scrambling later in an effort to fix something after it has already become a problem.
Pin this for Later!
So, What Common Gardening Mistakes Does No One Talk About?
- Planting too early.
- Not addressing the pH of the soil.
- Planting too shallow.
- Planting too deep.
- Letting the weeds get a head start.
- Letting pests get a head start.
- Waiting too long to harvest.
- Letting yourself get overheated.
Now that we have identified these common gardening mistakes, we can discuss how to prevent them. Hopefully, this will make your gardening season more relaxing and enjoyable. And, it should increase the quantity and quality of your harvest (since that is the whole point of having a garden).
Mistake #1: Planting Too Early
So, you might ask how I know about all these common gardening mistakes if no one talks about them? As you may have guessed, I know about them because I have made all of them myself at some point. Planting too early is no exception, and it was a particularly embarrassing mistake.
My embarrassing mistake:
I live in Maine, so our growing season is very short compared any of you who live towards the south. Except for some of the cold-hardy crops like peas and kale, it is recommended not to plant before the first week June. Maine is known for having some random late frosts. Well, a couple of years ago, we had an abnormally warm spring. We went through most of the month of May without a single frost. So, on the last Sunday of May, I put all my seedlings into the ground. Well, you probably guessed, it frosted hard that night. And, I lost every single plant – the ones I bought and the ones I had started from seed myself. Not only was did a lose a lot of time and money, but now I was scrambling to try to find seedlings after everyone was almost sold out for the year.
As if that was not bad enough, it gets worse. I purchased a new set of seedlings, including some pepper plants. I planted them, and cared for them all summer. And, I finally harvested my first little pepper in late September. Then we had an early fall frost, and I lost every single pepper plant again. So, let me just say, that one little pepper I was able to harvest, was the single most expensive vegetable I have ever eat.
In other words:
Learn from my mistake, and do not be in a rush to plant your garden. Wait until the recommended safe time for your area before planting your precious seedlings. And, just to be safe, definitely check the weather for the coming week as well to make sure there are no signs of a frost-warning.
Mistake #2: Not Addressing the pH of Your Soil
When we first bought our land, it had been used exclusively for grazing cattle for decades. So, the soil was very compact and tended to be on the acidic side. Plus, we then added manure to the garden, which raised the acidity even more. The soil’s pH did not seem to have a big effect on the crops that I grew that first year. However, I had the most insane amount of Thistles popping up everywhere. Most of my garden was literally carpeted with them.
Did I mention I was also 7 months pregnant with my first child? So, bending over to pull thistles out of the ground that have insanely long taproots was definitely not on my list of fun things to do. But, I did that for two years before I finally made the connection between the Thistles and the pH of my soil. So, we started mixing in food-grade gardening lime with our cow manure. We had an immediate 50% improvement in our Thistle population, and it has steadily improved every year since then.
If you are concerned about the pH level of your soil, you can purchase an inexpensive Soil pH Meter through Amazon. You simply push it into the ground and it estimates your pH for you. The ideal pH depends on what you are growing. Some crops like Blueberries can tolerate acidic soil (even below 5), but most need much closer to neutral before they are happy.
Mistake #3: Planting too Shallow
This mistake caught me for 3 years in a row. I was super frustrated because certain vegetables never came up well (Cabbages, Brussel Sprout, and Leeks were some of the worst offenders). The, I finally realized that they all had something in common. They were really small seeds, and the recommended planting depth was shallow. I had only been half-heartedly following the recommended planting depth, and I was planting them deep enough that they often were not able to germinate and grow correctly. (I know, I can be a slow learner sometimes).
The first year that I realized what I was doing, I was super careful to plant them at the correct depth. And, every single one of my “problem children” germinated and grew beautifully.
For any of you who have a tendency to plant too deep, try using a Bow Rake instead of a Hoe. I find that when I “rake” soil cover over my small seeds, it is much easier avoid burying them too deep.
Mistake #4: Planting too Deep:
This was the mistake that I stumbled into during the most recent gardening season. Due to my experiences narrated above, I have become paranoid about planting anything too shallow. So, this year, instead of planting my peas 3/4 to 1 inch deep, I only covered them with about a 1/2 inch of soil. Well, I waited a few days, and was excited to see the first few plants poking up out of the ground. Then, I noticed something strange. Only half of each row was popping up (the half of the row closest to our house). Apparently, the seeds were shallow enough that the Crows were coming in and feasting on all of my little pea seeds. Fortunately, our Crows are pretty timid, so they did not want to come close enough to the house to decimate the entire row.
The Moral of the Last Two Stories:
Just follow the recommended planting depth listed on your seed packets, and do not try to get creative with this part of gardening. Trust me, there’s a reason those depths are recommended.
Mistake #5: Letting the Weeds Get a Head Start (this is my favorite common gardening mistake that no one talks about)
I know you are probably wondering how many more embarrassing stories I can tell about myself while I was learning how to garden, but there are more than I will ever admit to.
During one of my early years of gardening, there was a year that every green thing just exploded and grew like wildfire. Unfortunately, this included the weeds. This was before my husband bought me my really nice Rogue Field Hoe, and I was using an old, clunky, dull, heavy hoe that was miserable to work with. That is basically my excuse for letting the weeds in my garden get way out of hand. By the time I started doing some consistent weeding, the weeds were about 8 inches tall. I have a huge garden, so by the time I made it all the way across, the weeds were over 2 feet tall and the root systems were well established. So, when I would pull or hoe them, I risked disturbing the surrounding crop plants.
That is definitely a mistake I have not let myself make again. My current rule of thumb is that I hoe any row that has weeds 2-3 inches tall. This, plus the amazing new hoe that my husband bought me as a gift, has kept the job of weeding to a sustainable level. A level where I can even enjoy it.
Mistake #6: Letting Pests Get a Head Start
Pest issues can quickly devastate a garden if they are not caught and dealt with very quickly. Over the years, I have dealt with everything from deer to voles to bugs, and just about everything in between. It is impossible to garden and have no issues with pests. It just comes with the job. But, there are a couple things you can do to help minimize the pest issues.
- Do a daily walk-through. I walk my garden at least once a day. This allows me to quickly check on everything. I can see if anything needs watered, if anything is ready to harvest, and also check for any early signs of pest activity. I look for things like eggs on the my potato plant leaves, signs of chewing on root vegetable tops, animal tracks, etcetera.
- If you find any signs of pests, treat the problem aggressively and quickly. And, if you are unsure of your success, then consider harvesting that crop early. It is alway better to get a smaller and earlier crop than none at all.
- Do some organic prophylactic treatments. For example, I treat my cucumber plants with Captain Jacks beetle repellent when they first pop up. I dust my potato plants with diatomaceous earth. And, I spray mint around the perimeter of my garden to help deter deer.
Mistake #7: Waiting too Long to Harvest
This mistake is a close twin to the one we just discussed. It is very risky to leave a crop out in the garden after it is ready to harvest. Not only will the flavor and nutrition content suffer, but it increases the likelihood that pests will get to it before you do. I lost a lot of my beets and carrots one year because of this. I saw that they were ready to harvest, but I was busy working on other projects. So, I decided I would deal with them in a couple of days. Well, during those 2 days, the voles (field mice) found them. Apparently, they were well satisfied with what they found, because they ate about 70% of what I had grown. Fortunately for those voles, I was not able to find them, or those beets and carrots would have been their last super.
Mistake #8 (The Last Common Gardening Mistakes that No One Talks About): Letting Yourself Get Overheated
This has always been a tough one for me. I have two small children at home, and we are always busy with everything going on around our homestead. So, when I finally carve out some time to get into my garden, I tend to become oblivious of passing time. I usually have a set number of tasks I want to get done that day, and my brain becomes obsessed with getting them done. My husband often has to come out to the garden and remind me of obvious things like:
- “Where’s your hat?”
- “Have you had water lately?”
- Or even a comment of “you’re turning really red, honey”.
So, for your own health and comfort, be more observant of these things than I am. It is important to:
- Stay hydrated
- Wear a hat
- Avoid getting sunburned
- Take breaks. I find that I am actually more productive if I pause my gardening every hour or so to take a 5-10 minute water, bathroom, and rest break. My favorite break is to sip on some water while swinging on on my porch swing for a few minutes. Then, use the bathroom, and get right back at it for another hour.
Some Bonus Advice
But, now that we have discussed all these possible mistakes, let’s look at it from a different perspective. You cannot make mistakes unless you are actually doing something. Let me say that a different way. If you are making gardening mistakes, then that means you actually have a garden. So, congratulations on a successful start. Do not let the possibility of mistakes or mistakes themselves stress you out. Mistakes will happen, you will have good years and bad with your garden (I still do).
My biggest piece of advice would be to just have fun with it, and enjoy wherever your garden takes you each year. There is nothing more satisfying than feeding your family something that you grew yourself. It does not have to be anything elaborate. Maybe a balcony container garden is all you have room or time for. That is absolutely okay. Enjoy that container garden, and revel in anything you are able to grow in it. And, if the bugs get to the produce first, then just enjoy the experience and look forward to the next growing season.
Gardening with Kids
On a whim, I gave my 2 year old a small section of one of my gardens this year. I did not really think that he was old enough to be into it yet. But, he stood out there for over an hour carefully planting one pea and pumpkin seed at a time. And, the funny thing is, his peas and pumpkins are actually doing better than mine this year. At the rate he is going, he will probably be teaching the next list of Common Gardening Mistakes that No One Talks About.
So, if you have children, definitely consider involving them in whatever level of gardening you are doing. It is such an important skill for them to develop. A skill that they will probably continue to use in some way throughout their life, and then will be able to teach to their children someday.
Comment below if you know of some additional common gardening mistakes that no one is talking about.
Watch our Youtube video on The Common Gardening Mistakes that No One Talks About.
And, check out my post on How to Plan Your Garden with Dollar Tree Items.
Check out our Youtube video on Rototilling and Preparing the Garden for Planting.
[…] one year that was a particularly awful year for the Colorado Potato Beetle in our area. One of the common gardening mistakes is not catching a pest issue in the earliest stages. And, during that year, we fell victim to this […]