Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension’s horticulture educator for Morgan, Calhoun, Cass, Greene and Scott counties, sweeps a hand over the soil in a raised bed at Extension’s Lukeman Garden and Education Center along West Morton Avenue in Jacksonville to cover newly planted seeds.
Angela Bauer/Journal-Courier
West-central Illinois started experiencing the joy of early spring well before spring actually arrived just days ago.
Spring planting in backyard gardens? That’s only now starting to be a good idea — and only with some caveats, according to garden experts.
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“Ideally, people will be doing soil prep” about now, said Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension’s horticulture educator for Calhoun, Cass, Greene, Morgan and Scott counties. “They’re finding out what their soil pH is like, so if there’s a deficiency, they can address that.”
Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension’s horticulture educator for Morgan, Calhoun, Cass, Greene and Scott counties, plants spinach seeds in a raised bed at Extension’s Lukeman Garden and Education Center along West Morton Avenue in Jacksonville. This is the time of year when planting for spring gardens can begin, as long as what’s being planted can withstand some late weather swings, Johnson said.
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On the plus side, Illinois “generally has pretty fertile soil” requiring minimal fuss, he said.
Testing can help determine what nutrients are missing from the soil and allow backyard gardeners to channel their efforts in the right direction.
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Basic soil testing will measure pH and such nutrients as phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium and magnesium. Nutrients do their best growing work when the soil pH is between 6.5 and 7 with some flexibility to a range of 6.0 to 6.8, according to Extension.
Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension’s horticulture educator for Morgan, Calhoun, Cass, Greene and Scott counties, holds spinach seeds ahead of planting.
Angela Bauer/Journal-Courier
“If someone is going to do a soil test on soil from their home garden, you want to make sure you say ‘this is a home garden,’” Johnson said. “Otherwise, the lab’s most likely going to tell you the fertilizer for (growing agricultural crops of) corn and beans. Just make sure you indicate it’s for a vegetable garden, a flower garden, tree fruits.”
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Those eager to get something in the ground and growing should be aware that late cold snaps remain possible and plant accordingly, Johnson said.
In late March, it should be safe to plant vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and kale, Johnson said. By early April, lettuce, carrots and peas can be planted.
Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension’s horticulture educator for Morgan, Calhoun, Cass, Greene and Scott counties, uses a stick to dig a shallow trench in a raised bed at Extension’s Lukeman Garden and Education Center along West Morton Avenue in Jacksonville. While he dug trenches the width of the container in one raised bed, he dug this one length-wise because he was preparing to plant peas that will need a trellis to grow, he said, noting longer rows make it easier to build such a trellis.
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“Those are things that, if you get a frost, they can tolerate it,” he said. “Tomatoes, peppers, things like that need to wait.”
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Those looking to start a backyard garden can just about make it as simple or as complicated as they want, but University of Illinois Extension has a few tips to help point new gardeners toward success.
• Decide where to plant your garden, looking for an area exposed to full sun. (Most vegetable crops need at least 6 hours of full sun to grow well.) Pick a spot with loose, healthy soil that drains well. (Vegetables do not like standing water.) Have a supplemental water source nearby. (Ideally, rainfall meets your watering needs; realistically, you’re likely to need to water on occasion and probably will want to make it as easy as possible to do so.)
• Decide what to plant, taking into consideration what you want to grow and eat and what your garden has space to grow. (For example, watermelons take up a lot of space.)
• Plan your planting. Keep taller plants from blocking smaller plants’ access to the sun by planting the taller ones on your garden’s north side. Keep perennials to one side, since they will pop up in the same spot next year. Group vegetables that mature quickly and provide a high yield to provide easier access for picking.
• Starting seeds indoors leads to higher germination rates and is cheaper than buying transplants later in the season. It also offers a wider variety.
• Installing raised beds using a blend of topsoil and compost can help avoid weeds. Mulching the beds can help suppress any weeds (or weed seeds) lurking in the topsoil and compost.
• If you’re using an herbicide to kill of a lawn or weeds to put in a garden, be sure the chemicals involved are safe for use in a vegetable garden.
• If yard space is in short supply, consider a container garden, which can fit on a porch or deck and can be moved to chase available sunlight. And, if a late-season cold snap happens, simply carry the container indoors to protect it from drastic temperatures and increase its growing season. Any container works as long as it can hold soil and has drainage.
Carrots can be planted directly from seed, while lettuce and broccoli can be planted as transplants.
“They should have started them indoors (from seed) already or buy transplants,” Johnson said.
Illinois’ fertile soil means backyard gardeners really have their choice of what to grow, he said.
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“We have a growing season that’s too short for some things,” Johnson said.
Some of the “more tropical” produce also may need extra attention — including being brought inside if the temperature drops — and some items, such as ginger, aren’t going to grow as prolifically in Illinois as they do elsewhere, he said.
But those are relatively minor barriers to growing pretty much what one wants.
“If there’s something you really want to grow, try it,” Johnson said. “Get a (grow) tunnel to extend that season. If you’re determined enough, you can do it.”
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Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension’s horticulture educator for Morgan, Calhoun, Cass, Greene and Scott counties, sweeps a hand over the soil in a raised bed at Extension’s Lukeman Garden and Education Center along West Morton Avenue in Jacksonville to cover newly planted pea seeds.
Angela Bauer/Journal-Courier
Grow tunnels are similar to greenhouses, using steel frames and plastic sheeting to cover and provide increased warmth to a patch of soil. The additional heat makes it safer to plant earlier and grow later in the year.
Johnson grows artichokes in his home garden and has grown cotton and peanuts, he said.
Artichokes aren’t something “you’d typically see” in a west-central Illinois backyard garden, Johnson said. “But I wanted to try it, to see if I can. Peanuts? You’re not going to get tremendous yield, but it’s fun to try.”
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Those seeking the gratification of growing their own produce rather than the challenge of growing something more exotic still have plenty of options in west-central Illinois.
A raised bed awaits planting at University of Illinois Extension’s Lukeman Garden and Education Center along West Morton Avenue. Seeds can be placed in the shallow trenches and lightly covered with soil to encourage growth.
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“There’s a reason people grow tomatoes and peppers, potatoes, onions, things like that,” Johnson said. “It’s because they grow well.”
While there are some considerations for planting a backyard garden — from where to place it so it receives the appropriate amount of sunlight for what’s being grown to whether to plant in the ground, in raised beds or in containers — getting started need not be complicated.
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“I don’t till my garden at all,” Johnson said.
Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension’s horticulture educator for Morgan, Calhoun, Cass, Greene and Scott counties, plants carrot seeds in a raised bed at Extension’s Lukeman Garden and Education Center along West Morton Avenue in Jacksonville.
Angela Bauer/Journal-Courier
Instead, on a recent sunny day, he used a stick to scratch rows into the dirt in raised beds at Extension’s Lukeman Garden and Education Center along West Morton Avenue in Jacksonville. He added spinach, carrot, radish and pea seeds to the resulting shallow trenches and then brushed over the soil surface with his hand to cover the seeds in a loose layer of dirt.
Planting can be that easy.
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And keeping it simple is, perhaps, the best advice Johnson has to offer beginning gardeners.
“If somebody is new to gardening, don’t bite off more than you can chew,” he said. “Start off small and expand. I don’t think (newcomers) realize all that goes into gardening. You can start expanding as you become more familiar with it, when you kind of know what to expect.”
Ken Johnson, University of Illinois Extension’s horticulture educator for Morgan, Calhoun, Cass, Greene and Scott counties, drops pea seeds in the planting trenches of a raised bed at Extension’s Lukeman Garden and Education Center along West Morton Avenue in Jacksonville.
Angela Bauer/Journal-Courier
Weeding is “probably the most time-consuming part” of maintaining a backyard garden, Johnson said, noting that layering mulch in between the seed-filled trenches can help suppress weeds.
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Watering — and knowing when to water to supplement rainfall — also can be a stumbling block.
“If you’re working the soil, you don’t want it too wet,” Johnson said. “Then you’re dealing with compaction of the soil” that can prevent growth and water absorption.
Garlic shoots show signs of returning this spring after being planted last summer at University of Illinois Extension’s Lukeman Garden and Education Center along West Morton Avenue in Jacksonville.
Angela Bauer/Journal-Courier
For more information on when to plant for home vegetable gardening, Extension has a fairly thorough list of fruits and vegetables and when to plant and harvest them at extension.illinois.edu/gardening. It also has individual sections on such considerations as planning, planting, weed control and extending the growing season, among others.
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While Extension does not offer soil testing, the Agricultural Laboratory Testing Association maintains a list of labs that do at alta.ag/certified-labs.
A sage plant that died back during the winter shows signs of returning this growing season at University of Illinois Extension’s Lukeman Garden and Education Center along West Morton Avenue in Jacksonville.
Angela Bauer/Journal-Courier
The bottom line of successful gardening is making it your own and having fun with it, Johnson said.
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“Grow what you’re going to eat,” he said, noting that getting children involved in the process can encourage them to try more fruits and vegetables. “If you don’t like eating tomatoes, don’t grow tomatoes.”
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