Gardening Zones

The country is divided into 10 zones based on climate and length of growing season. It takes into consideration the average first and last dates of frost and hours of sun light. If you live in areas 2-6, you have a shorter growing season. The lower, the number the shorter the season. In zones 7-10, you can almost count on year round gardening by succession planting.

Don't know your zone? Find it here.Zone Finder

Mulching
If you want to cut down on labor in the garden, less watering, increase your harvest and hold your own against the bugs, mulching is the best thing you can do for your garden and you. A layer of mulch will cut down on the number of weeds that germinate. Less weeds mean less work for you and the weeds aren't robbing your veggies of the nutrients they need. Organic mulches add humus to your soil as they decompose. They also encourage beneficial organisms and worms to grow and work in your garden. Mulching also keeps the soil from drying out in hot summer afternoons or washing away in thunderstorms. It will protect the soil from crusting and compacting, keep the fungal spores and soil off your plants. Then in the fall, just till or spade the mulch into your garden beds to improve the soil.
Things you can use to mulch your garden are grass clippings, compost, seaweed, peanut shells, cocoa bean hulls, marsh hay, straw, chopped leaves, sawdust, pine needles, black plastic, landscape fabrics, roofing paper, burlap, and newspapers or any shredded paper. If you use plastic, roofing paper or such, it should be removed after each growing season. The other items can just be worked into the soil.
As soon as your ground can be worked in the spring, prepare your garden area by spading or tilling 12-15" deep, turning last years mulch in with it. Add 15-20 pounds of fertilizer for each 100 square feet of area. Adding peat moss is a good idea too. If you have access to fresh manure from a farmer, (horse, cow, sheep, chicken or zoo doo), be sure to compost it over the winter as fresh manure can burn the plants. After the garden is planted, put 2 or 3 layers of newspaper on the soil between the rows and around plants. Cover this with 4-6" of natural mulch. Leave some space around the stems or stalks of plants so you won't have a moist hiding place for little critters that like to munch on them. Remember to add more mulch as the older material breaks down.
Mulch your flower beds and around trees also. In these areas, you can also mulch with stones, lava rock, pea gravel, wood chips, old carpet or shredded bark. As the mulch break down, it adds nutrients to your soil which benefits the plants. Of course, if you use none organic materials, you will need to ferterlize your plants since you won't have the benefit of organic mulch doing this for you as it breaks down. If you live in areas that freeze in the winter, mulching after the ground freezes will protect your plants. The alternate freezing and thawing can heave some plants out of the ground. Mulching protects the plants and stops harmful expanding and contracting Just starting out or want to make another garden or flower bed? If you aren't in a hurry, mow the grass or weeds as low as possible before you cover the ground. Just leave the stuff on the ground. Cover the ground with cardboard (boxes broken down) or a thick layer of newspapers (1-2 inches). Cover this with 8-10 inches of straw, leaves, grass clippings, spoiled hay or alfalfa. A combination of organic matrials makes a better balanced soil as it breaks down. Add material as needed to maintain a depth of 8-10 inches. Start all this in the summer or fall, and you will have a nice planting bed for the next season.
In a hurry and want to mulch and grow at the same time? Again, cut down the weeds or grass, leaving the clippings where they fall. Cover with a thick layer of newspaper, 8-10 inches of spoiled hay or straw, top with 2-3 inches of compost or good garden soil and add some worms. Plant veggie seeds with strong roots such as beans and grains. If planting tomatoes, stick a large can (like a 3 # coffee can) with both ends cut out, into the ground. Just put it in far enough that it won't tip over. Fill the can 1/2 to 3/4 with compost or garden soil, then add the plants. You can also plant potatoes. Just lay the seed potatoes on the ground before you start covering with all that other stuff. While your plants are growing, the roots of the plants and the worms will help break up the soil, the mulch and compost will break down over the season improving your soil. If your are doing this for a flower bed, try cosmos or sunflowers.
Cover crops also improve your soil and choke out the weeds in your garden. These are called green manure. Any winter annual such as hairy vetch, red clover, wheat or annual ryegrass or cereal rye will work. Sow the seeds in mid-to late August and let it grow until it is winter killed. Just leave it there and you will have a protective mulch over the winter. In the spring, when it resprouts, let it grow until about May or just before it sets seed. Cut it down with your weed wacker or a scythe, leaving the material where it falls. You can transplant your seedlings (the ones you started in the house or greenhouse or bought at the local garden center) directly into the soil. Just dig a hole in the mulch, plant the seedlings as usual and watch them grow. If you prefer, you can till in the crop but wait at least four weeks before planting.
One word of caution. If you use worms in your garden, using a tiller can be less then beneficial to them. Turning the ground with a shovel or spading fork will get the same results and be less harmful to them. Of course, this means a little more work for you, but the benefits you get from the worms is worth the extra effort.

You'll find information on my other pages, such as the benefits of worms in your garden, where to find them, how to raise them, plants that attract birds, hummingbirds and butterflies to your yard, companion planting, composting and more.