My Number One Gardening Tip

I want to share my number one gardening tip with you. I have moved around to some pretty different climates and gardened in vastly different situations. But this tip will work for anyone no matter where you are trying to garden.

There is so much information everywhere for how to garden and everyone seems to have their best and most correct way.

It can get very overwhelming trying to figure out what to do, and unfortunately that leads to a lot of people giving up before they even begin to try.

So before you start collecting the wrong advice or give up, read about my number one gardening tip.

My Number One Gardening Tip

It’s really pretty simple to start right. The best thing you can do for your future garden is to know your garden growing zone and get to know others who garden in that zone.

There are so many amazing gardeners on the internet to follow, but if they are not in your zone or close to where you live, you might be following the wrong advice for you.

If you look up a map like this of the United States growing zones, you will be able to enter your zip code and find out the plant hardiness of your growing zone. Knowing your zone is helpful. It guides what types of plants to look for and what will grow well in your area.

Then you can find your local mentors who are able to help you with avoiding the following:

• Plant too early – things get ruined in the frost
• Plant too late – not enough time to have your produce mature
• Plant wrong varieties – won’t thrive in your area
• Perennials – may not be a perennial in your area due to cold hardiness
• Trees/shrubs – may not be the right climate and die in the winter or not enough cold hours if in a warm climate

Know Your Garden Zone and Find Others Near You

When you know your gardening zone, and find others that garden in that zone. It will help you guide what types of plants to plant along with times that you should be planting.

For most of my adult gardening life, I have lived in zone 6B and got to understand when I was able to plant in the spring and summer and then when I could expect the last frost to be. It is never quite the same, but there is an average you can go by. I missed some of the warmer weather plants of my childhood, but I knew they would not survive where I lived and did not bother trying to plant them.

Then I moved to Arizona zone 9B and was so confused. Everything was backward and I wanted to cry when I first got there. But then I found a garden mentor that was just down the road and had a great online presence too. Her knowledge that she shared was the only way I got to garden a little bit for the time we were there.

And now I am in Wisconsin Zone 4 right on the line of 4A and 4B. So I am having to learn again. Thankfully I already followed some ladies on Instagram that aren’t too far away in Wisconsin and Iowa that I can learn from. But even better, I have neighbors who garden and have given great advice.

Last Average Frost Date for the Spring

The last average frost date in your area is what you need to know for being able to plant your warm season crops (tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, etc) without the threat of frost. This is an average for a reason and you could still have a frost beyond it or beautiful weather prior to it. Go here and type in your zip code to find out your last frost date.

When I lived in Washington, we could be pretty sure that planting by Mother’s Day was going to be ok. Yet, there were also a few sayings around the area from people who had gardened a long time, about when the snow melted off a certain peak, you were for sure good for the last frost date. Having that local wisdom from the years was a helpful tool to remember when planning the garden.

Moving to Wisconsin, I was happy to read online that my last frost date was the same as my Washington one. I planned everything for mid May when starting my seeds. That is what the internet said. And then…

I talked to my neighbors who said that they never planned to plant out their warm season crops before Memorial Day! I was so surprised that I would be having to wait another half of a month! But also so glad I talked to them. What if I had planted mid May and then lost everything in a frost before the end of the month?

We seem to be in a bit of a snow belt here and when it snows locally, we get a bit more and our temps dip more than the towns surrounding us. So knowing my gardening neighbors is really helpful in that case.

I have also been following a fellow Wisconsinite on Instagram. It is helpful for planning when to start seeds and plant out my cool season crops.

Just this week, I also heard another gal from Minnesota who I follow on Instagram have a great gardening tip. She said that her family always plants their potatoes the week of Good Friday. That was tradition, yet this year was extra cold and their ground was still frozen. So like me, they were not going to be able to follow that plan. Hearing real time news like this is helpful.

But most of all, make sure when you listen and follow advice like this, you have the same last frost date along with same/similar growing zones.

First Average Frost Date for the Fall

The reason you want to know your average first fall frost date is so that you can plan to plant crops that will be ripe and able to be harvested before that frost hits in the fall.

Some types of squash and melons take a long time to mature and you want to have the correct varieties for where you live. You don’t want to be planting melons that take 120 days to mature when you only have 90-100 growing days.

Garden Tip – Get to Know A Gardener in Your Zone

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all had family or friends that lived in the same place that had been gardening for generations? You wouldn’t have to search out anyone to help you with your gardening. But since a lot of us don’t have that, we need to find mentors.

Where to Find Garden Mentors

• Talk to your neighbors if you have them. I am in a rural area, but still have people on my street who garden and have experience. Thankfully they have shared tips with me when I ask.
• Look at events that your local library offers. A lot of times there will be garden classes. Maybe you know what they are teaching, but you can go to meet others who are also gardeners. If you are like me, you will love to talk about what you are growing and when to plant.
• Find a seed swap. Also held at a lot of libraries, you can go and talk to people about their favorite seeds, what they are growing, what does well in the area. You can also ask when they like to plant out cold and warm weather crops.
• Head over to a small local nursery. Try to go when they aren’t too busy so you are able to ask questions without worry.
• And if you cannot find anyone local, try some of these gals I’ve found online.

Online Garden Mentors for Tips

Below I have compiled a list of gardeners that I have found to be super helpful. They share content either on their website and/or Instagram. I know there are even more on Youtube, but I didn’t focus on that today. Hopefully you will find one or two of them to be helpful to you also.

I went ahead and organized them by zone so you can look up ones that are close to you and find out if they have a similar frost date as you.

Gardeners by Zone

Zone 3 – Breanne in Alberta Cananda – burchacres.wordpress.com
Most of her info is on Instagram @burchacres

Zone 4 – Crystal in Wisconsin at wholefedhomestead.com
She also a ton of info on her daily instagram @wholefedhomestead

Zone 4B – RuthAnn in Northern Iowa. She shares so much good and practical information on her large in ground garden on her Instagram @ruthannzimm and through her newsletter when you sign up.

Zone 5 – Quinn lots of great info on her Instagram @quill_haven and her website has taught me a lot over the last 10 years – reformationacres.com She has also started writing on Substack, where you can sign up for her newsletters.

Zone 5 – Beth in Michigan has been such a wonderful garden mentor. She does large scale gardens and shares on Instagram @bethdeclercq You can sign up for her newsletter for more garden info.

Zone 5B – Jess in Ohio is such a breath of fresh air with all she shares on her Instagram at @sunshinefamily.adventures and she also has a website – sunshinefamilyadventures.com

Zone 6A – Jenn @sunshinefarmlife on Instagram has really great information for permaculture
and no-till gardening

Zone 6B – Linda in West Virginia gardens big for her large family and has an Amish background. I’ve learned a lot from her Instagram @linda_allgyer

Zone 7A – Kathleen in South Carolina has a lot of great garden content on her Instagram account @rootsandbootshome and also her website – rootsandboots.com

Zone 9B – Angela in Mesa, Arizona is where I learned about growing while living there. Her Instagram and website both are full of so much information – growinginthegarden.com and @growing.in.the.garden

I hope you find someone to connect with on this list and also locally as you are just starting your garden or looking to improve or be inspired with what you have been growing.

What is your number one gardening tip you have learned? And who would you add to this list?

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