Happy New Years - What's Your 2016 Gardening Hopes and Dreams

[Greenhorn]

Happy New Year to All!

It's very interesting as there are many types of gardeners on the forum, there are those who do formal gardens, apartment gardeners, those that garden for the health benefits of the food they produce, plant specialty gardeners, love it all gardeners, only organic, 1st time home owner gardeners.... So many special and unique perspectives.

So what are your gardening - growing plans for the new year? Not resolutions, but your hopes and dreams for 2016. What things (old) and new are you excited for in 2016?

The typical is good, but what new do you have planned? New plants, processes, techniques, places, tools, opportunities... What new or different gardening things are you excited about for this year? It could be something small or simple, or something on a larger scale. Maybe even something new within the typical?

Having some vacation over the holidays allowed me to get some much needed gardening projects planned and some even started.From my items you might note I'm a bit of an experimenter and like propagation. I tend to learn towards flowers, herbs (both from seed) and drought tolerant plants (hopefully cuttings), but I'm happy growing most anything.

So.....

• I got about 25 packs of flower seeds this past weekend. I had thought I had most of my spring flowers started in the greenhouse, but I'm going to be doing another round or two. I had to get a second row of misters up in the green house ASAP and I plan to do another planting this week. I'm dreaming of the most fantastic year of annual flowers yet. Flower beds and bowls everywhere outside and vases full inside... with plenty to give away.

• I'm just about done developing a plan for germinating and growing of some native - drought tolerant wildflowers (annuals and perennials) from seed. This is going to be an interesting project as scarification, germination light, seed depth, time to germinate and transplanting can be a little less conventional or consistent than typical common seeds.

• Here spring (Feb - Apr...) is a good time for cuttings and I hope to put some emphasis on improving my cutting propagation skills. I have a fair amount of plants in the yard that I can use for cuttings, (some native - most drought tolerant). I've got 1 10" x 20" heated mat and light, and thinking about maybe adding another. There are a few succulents around to cut on too.

• I plan to minimize use of non organic fertilizers and hope to come up with appropriate organic NPK (and trace) blends for my fertilizer needs. Also develop a consistent fertilization strategy. Each year some stuff will get fed promptly and appropriately and others... well not quite with the same discipline.This along with Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on the pest side. I hope to be doing things mostly organic soon.

• Enter a photo on the photo of the month contest here on the forum. I have one in mind for the Winter theme, no snow in it though, winters here a pretty mild compared to most.

With so many great gardeners and such a variety of gardening interests it would be fun to hear everyone's gardening hopes and dreams for 2016..... both large and small.

 

[JBtheExplorer]

For 2016, I hope to get a few things accomplished. Most of these are probably things I've already brought up on the forum but since this topic exists, I've gotta participate!

- I have one main focus this year. I want to continue replacing all my non-native plants with native species. That particularly applies to the plants around my pond. When I first added my pond I was on a small budget, so I generally searched for anything that was on clearance at garden centers. I eventually learned about all the benefits of native plants, but it was mostly too late for my pond area. The damage was done. Instead, I began my native garden in another part of the yard, but now I want to go back and turn my pond area into another native garden.

- I'll also be doing a bigger vegetable garden this year. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to add other than tomatoes, strawberries, and peas, but the garden isn't too big so I might not add too much else. I don't use any chemicals, fertilizers, or things like that, and I know certain fruits/vegetables are hard to grow without bugs getting them, so my options are probably limited.

- My third hope for the year is to get others to add native plants in their yard. I say it all the time, but it truly is a goal of mine. Whether it's other gardeners, nature lovers, or family members. I'll do my best to show my success and hope that others like what they see and decide to add their own native plants.

- My last goal is to continue learning everything I can about native plant species. I've done a lot of research the past few years, but there's always more to know, and I want to know all there is to know about my favorite plant species.

 

[amelia88]

Ultimately mine is just to grow more edibles. The soil here is very fertile and things seem to grow quite well - it's just a matter of nurturing things and ensuring that I'm planting them at the right time for them to flourish. We did tomatoes and peppers last year, as well as having a bunch of herbs which are still thriving. This summer I'd like to have a big crop of tomatoes and peppers again, but also add cucumbers to the mix.

There's something so rewarding to me about growing my own food and being able to enjoy it - plus it just tastes so much better, in my opinion! So that's my main gardening hope.

 

[claudine]

I'm a spontaneous person, I don't like making plans. Life is full of surprises and I feel that gardening is full of surprises too and it's a really good thing. Growing plants can never be boring
So I honestly don't know what I'll plant next. I just hope I'll have more miniature roses

 

[IcyBC]

Condo living gives me very little space for gardening, but I am hoping to get some big containers to grow herbs for cooking. The area where I am allow to grow, will be used to plant some pretty perennials and annuals in the mix.

 

[Pat]

I plan to do mostly container gardening this year. I will have both edibles and flowers. That is as far as I have gotten.

 

[Trellum]

This year I might finally be moving to the new house, so I might finally have the chance to start growing some cooking herbs asap! I am not sure when I am going to arrive, but I hope I can start growing my mint and basil so soon!

 

[zigs]

This season at the National Trust Garden we're hoping to take the vegetable garden back to varieties that would have been available when Thomas Hardy lived there.

Done some research into the Victorian varieties, lots of which are still supplied by the heritage seed companies, and of course I've got a few of my own.

Personally i'm hoping to get a look in on the giant onion competition at the summer show, the seed crop was destroyed by a hailstorm last summer but I've got some saved seed from the previous season.