Learning how to plan your garden using Dollar Tree items is a fun and inexpensive winter project. I will usually treat my kids to some of their restricted screen time (usually something along the lines of Little House on the Prairie), and then set up at the dining room table.
I definitely have a few things on our homestead that I look forward to every year. These include the days the piglets and chicks arrive, the day the first calf is born, when I see the first seedling successfully poke through the soil, when the first item is ready to be harvested from the garden, and when haying is completed for the year (I get my husband back on that day). Another favorite time for me is when I start to plan my garden for the coming growing season.
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The winter months are relatively slow for me here in Maine. My husband and kids enjoy winter activities like skiing, skating, and re-building tractors. But, my winter months end up seeming a little monotonous, and mostly full of routine housework and chores. So, ordering my seeds and starting to plan my garden is a promise that spring is coming, and I will soon be busy outside in the gorgeous sunny weather.
Setting Boundaries
First, I decide how much ground I am going to dedicate to my garden in the coming year. Currently, even though I love flowers, I do not do a separate flower garden. I satisfy my craving for floral beauty in two ways:
- First, I plant in pots on my front deck. I will use a variety, but Marigolds are my favorite for this. They help repel insects, are very hardy, come in bright colors, and will continue to bloom all summer long (if they are routinely deadheaded).
- Second, I plant a border of flowers around my vegetable garden. I simply take any seed packets that I have bought for this, and mix them together in a single bag. Then, I plant a border. This helps act as a visual marker for the garden’s boundaries, looks gorgeous, and helps bring pollinators to the area.
For this coming year’s vegetable garden, I am dedicating three separate areas.
- The Main Garden will be where I plant most items. I am planning on making it 100′ x 40′.
- The Youth Garden will be dedicated to teaching Roger and Apollos the basics of gardening. I have ordered some seeds that are fun and easy to grow (things like squash and sunflowers) so that their first experience will be encouraging. This garden will be approximately 20′ x 20′.
- The Grain Garden will be mainly for Corn this year. I will be planting some Sweet Corn as well as trying some Flint Corn for the first time. Then, I will mix in beans and pumpkins in the same area. This garden will also be approximately 20′ x 20′.
For the purposes of this post, I will be showing you how I am setting up my Main Garden.
What Items Do You Need to Plan Your Garden Layout and Seed Order?
Make sure to have your favorite seed catalogs on hand. Half the fun of picking out seeds is the catalog. A really good seed catalog will tell a story about each variety that is so clear you will not even need a photo to be able to picture it. Personally, the only catalog I use is Fedco. They are local to my home-state of Maine, and they sell a lot of local and organic varieties. Plus, their catalog is chock full of every pertinent piece of information (including many fun history tidbits). I sometimes use it just for good reading material.
Learning how to plan your garden with Dollar Tree Items can be so much fun. And, it is inexpensive, so it will limit the financial stress around this project.
Dollar Tree Items:
- Lined Notebook
- Pens or Pencils (at least 2 different colors)
- Two Sharpie Markers of different colors
- White Posterboard (one board for each separate garden plot)
- Highlighters (minimum of 3 different colors)
When you plan your garden with Dollar Tree items, do not forget that Dollar Tree is also a great place to check for seeds. Their seed packets are small, but they are 4 for only $1. I will usually grab some flower seeds to add to my border mixture. And, I will grab some extra seeds of things that I grow a lot of and that are prone to be demolished by the deer (things like broccoli and kale).
How to Use the Dollar Tree Items to Plan the Layout of Your Garden
Dimensions and Shape
On the Posterboards, sketch the outline of your garden with the black Sharpie marker. Try to use most of the surface for this, and only leave a minimal border. Use the Sharpie to label each side of your garden with the dimensions. You can mark something on the Posterboard that helps orient you to which position you drew it from (for example, label the side the house is on).
Orienting Your Rows
Next, you need to decide how you want to orient your rows. There are a few factors to take into account:
- Row Length
- Sunlight
- Shade
- Access
Row Length:
Most commercial gardeners plant in long rows. There is certainly nothing wrong with this, and it does work better when growing on a commercial scale. However, I prefer working with short rows. I also like variety with my row length. For example, I plant tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes in long rows. But, I plant things like herbs, carrots, and lettuce in short rows. This is just a personal preference for me.
Sunlight:
Unless you are planting things that really love shade, I try to orient my garden in such a way that everything gets equal sun exposure. This also keeps watering simplified, because everything dries out around the same time.
Shade:
If you have a small area to work with, then you may be forced to put one side of your garden in a more shaded location. Try to either put plants there that love or tolerate shade. Or, put the taller plants there and the shorter ones in front so that the taller plants do not completely block the sunlight.
Access:
If you have a garden located in the middle of your yard, this probably will not be an issue. But, my garden is bordered on three sides by our electric fence for the cows. So, I want to orient my garden so the pathways open on the fourth side (the side I enter from).
How to Use the Dollar Tree Items to Plan and Label the Garden’s Rows and Paths
I make my main pathways 36 inches wide and my minor pathways 18 inches wide. This is because I use black French Drain fabric on my pathways to cut down on the amount of weeding I have to do. The fabric comes in a 36 inch wide strip, so I either use it whole or cut it in half.
Once you know where you want your rows and paths to be, then color them on the Posterboard. This is where your 3 differently colored highlighters come into use. Choose one color for your 36 inch pathways, a second color for your 18 inch pathways, and the third color will be for your vegetable rows.
Pro Tip: Remember to make yourself a color key somewhere on the page. You would not be the first person to forget which color was which by the time planting season rolls around. Naturally, I am not sheepishly talking from personal experience here.
Your Seed Order
Now that your garden is laid out in neat paths and rows, you need something to fill those rows. Add up the total length of all your rows and figure out what the total linear feet is and write this in your notebook. This will help you when determining seed quantities. Most catalogs or seed packets will tell you approximately how many feet will be planted by that packet size.
- In your notebook, write out a list of the types of vegetables you want (keep it generalized). Use one of your colored pens for this.
- Then, peruse your seed catalogs or local stores and determine what specific varieties you want to plant. Write these with your second colored pen underneath their appropriate general category in your notebook.
- Determine what size packet you need or how many packets you need for the amount of space you want to fill with each variety.
- As you go, label the rows on your Posterboard. If you are dividing a long row between multiple varieties, make sure to use your Sharpie to draw a dividing line and mark how many feet you are dedicating to each variety.
- When the Posterboard is full, then your garden has successfully been laid out. Congratulations!
Extra Tips for Planning and Creating Your Garden with Dollar Tree Items
- Even after your garden is planted, make sure you hang onto your posterboard and notebook. The posterboard is useful for remembering where each vegetable was planted in case anything disturbs your row markers. Make sure you make notes about the pros and cons of the varieties you chose throughout the year. This will be useful next year when you are determining which varieties you want to repeat and which ones you would rather avoid in the future.
- Dollar Tree has some awesome hanging baskets that are only $1. The ones I have seen are dark green plastic with a white rope. They look great the way they are, or you can buy some of the nautical rope that Dollar Tree sells and upgrade to that. I am definitely planning on using these on my covered porch this year.
- Dollar Tree also sells Irish Spring Soap. You can lay this out in your garden to help deter deer. This is especially useful around any rows of Brassica vegetables, which deer love.
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If you cannot plan your garden with Dollar Tree items because you do not have one of these stores near you, do not worry. You can easily order these items from Amazon and have them shipped directly to your door for only a few extra dollars.
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