Q. I’m moving into a new home where the previous owners had a small garden. What do I need to do this spring to prepare it for planting? Also, are the inexpensive seeds you buy at the department stores adequate, or should I go to a garden center? Is it better to plant seedlings than seeds? – Carrie Powell, West Lafayette, Ind.
A. Start with a soil test of your new garden. Your Cooperative Extension Service office can put you in touch with a company that does soil testing. The results will help you determine what your soil needs.
The inexpensive garden seeds germinate and grow quite well (And even if they didn’t, you’d only be out 10 cents.), but the variety is limited. If you want anything unusual, like a pixie tomato or Easter egg colored radish, you’ll need to use a garden center or seed catalog. Some of the “home” stores now have extensive garden sections, too.
Using transplants is easier than starting seeds, but it’s more expensive and fewer choices are available. Seeds give you a world of choices and a winter gardening activity that can be fun or a challenge. If you decide to grow from seed, try to do it well. A healthy transplant is better than a yellow, leggy seedling, so fertilize regularly, provide bright light, and don’t overwater. Personally, I buy transplants of common plants like tomatoes, green peppers, petunias and impatiens. I seed easy crops, including sunflowers and beans, directly in the garden. I grow unusual plants like Osteospermum and Diascia from seed because I’m not likely to find them as transplants. Enjoy your new garden.
Q: I have a south-facing hill along the roadside. I’m tired of mowing! It’s a windy site with poor soil. Can you recommend a shrub or ground cover to replace the turf? – Mary Firestone, Lafayette, Ind.
A: Consider ‘Grow-Low’ fragrant sumac, a low-growing, spreading plant, excellent for mass plantings and bank control. It has small, aromatic flowers in spring, followed by large fruits in summer. If you want to screen the road, you could use forsythia or bayberry. Both will eventually take up quite a bit of space and shade out any weeds.
My personal choice would be an ornamental grass. Little bluestem is about 3 feet tall with bronze to orange fall color. Big bluestem is 4 to 7 feet tall with purplish flower spikes. It was the primary grass of the tallgrass prairies. Both are drought tolerant, prefer full sun and will give you a natural look.