This is the journal of my endeavours to grow a range of fruit, veg and flowers from seed, grow organically, and my attempts to create a personal paradise with 1/2 acre of maintained gardens and 1/2 acre wild meadows. Northern Ireland's average daily high temperatures are 18 °C (64 °F) in July and 6 °C (43 °F) in January. Soil type: Clay

Thursday 3 January 2013

Planning for 2013

Happy 2013!

Happy New Year - here's hoping 2013 is a fantastic year for you and a really productive growing year!


I've been thinking about what I'd like to improve on and achieve in the garden this year. Initial thoughts include:


  • less slugs and snails in the garden (if that's possible);
  • continue to grow organically;
  • more vegetables especially carrots as I really enjoyed their flavour this year;
  • succeed at growing something new e.g. kohlrabi, asparagus;
  • more colour in the garden using perennials and annuals.
  • and a more tidy and productive garden (than the year before).
Well quite a bit on my wish list and lots of work cut out for me this year. I don't generally start working in the garden until March so January and February are months for planning, reading, and doing small jobs outside when the whether is good.

Hope you're getting on well with any plans for 2013 and will be sharing them on your blog! I learn a great deal from reading other garden blogs so thanks everyone for sharing your photos, tips, stories and dilemmas, etc. Hope 2013 is a really good year... for us all!


Copyright: All words and photos are property of Kelli's Northern Ireland Garden.

10 comments:

  1. I believe that all of us gardeners spend our winter planning and scheming for next year's garden, and every time we think "this will be the best garden EVER!"

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  2. Happy New Year. Your list looks a bit like mine. We planted two asparagus plants late last summer. They were half gallon at half price and I wish I had planted six. The research I did said that 6 were required for a family. Because of the heat and poor soil, we mulched them with both lawn grass clippings and horse manure. We were amazed at how well the new plants did. By summer's end the plants were sending up new shoots that actually looked like asparagus. I resisted cutting any because I wanted to plants to grow strong. They also require heavy watering to get them established. And finally a weed free area. Ha. Around here no weeds? We are also rethinking how to grow tomatoes and we will continue to learn how to start sets.

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  3. Less slugs and snails is a gardeners' heaven. I guess they will have been in a breeding frenzy with the wet conditions last year.

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  4. Happy New Year, Kelli. When you find out the secret to having less slugs and snails in the garden, do please share. They've been the bane of my life in 2012. Here's hoping for a better 2013.

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  5. These seem like great resolutions! Good luck! (And here's hoping I'll be more adventurous!)

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  6. Kelli, you'd be hard pressed to make your garden MORE colourful! Have you got a pond yet? "Tidy and productive" sounds like my kind of thing, btw!

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    1. No pond in the garden. Although my nephew and I made a little pond out of a plastic container over the summer as an activity for him (which is still in the ground). I couldn't imagine digging out a proper pond!

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  7. Its great at this time of the year making plans, I would also like to be more tidy and productive.

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  8. Isn't it fun making new plans for the year! Hope the slugs pack up and leave!

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  9. Hi Kelli, wishing you a very Happy New year and a great gardening year! I smiled at your wish for less slugs and snails as I was reading recently that 2012 was a magnificent year for slugs and snails, they increased at an alarming rate and the equally alarming news is because of the very mild winter they are still out there waiting for us to venture out with our veg!

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