Looking forward to growing great plants, having more fun

At the end of the year, we’re faced with two options: look back or look forward.

From a gardening perspective, 2024 was a mixed bag, with the lushest spring I can recall thanks to record-breaking rainfall followed by a drought that extended into autumn. Deer, rabbits and slugs, along with other undesirables, seemed to have experienced their own record-breaking year, and the end result was gardening season that I’m happy to put in the rear view mirror.

Since looking forward seems like a better option, for the first column of the new year, I offer up some resolutions you may want to consider adopting for the new gardening year.

1. Plant a tree, or better yet, plant many trees.

Other than the hard labor part of tree planting, I’ve never regretted adding a tree to the yard. They add structure, maturity, texture and shade, not to mention habitat for wildlife and year-round interest.

And you get to pat yourself on the back for doing one of the most environmentally friendly things you can do in the garden when you plant a tree.

2. Grow something weird.

If gardening has become a little ho hum, it’s time to change it up, and the best way to inject a little energy is to try growing something that’s outside your comfort zone. From water plants grown in a stock tank pond and giant tropicals to oddball vegetables, the unusual plants I’ve grown are a challenge with no downside. If they don’t thrive, I don’t feel bad, but if they do, I consider it a great triumph and learned some new gardening knowledge along the way.

3. Prioritize soil.

Most gardeners know that soil is king when it comes to growing. Knowing what kind of soil you’re growing in and choosing plants that are happy to grow in it is about 80% of the successful gardening equation. Much of the rest of it is how to improve the soil you do have.

I’ll admit that I was more tuned into my soil a decade ago than I have been recently. Back then I was much better about amending regularly with a couple inches of compost applied as a mulch as well as mulching with arborist wood chips. It created great soil, but then I got lax.

That’s changing this year, but I wish I hadn’t lost many years of soil-improving opportunities.

4. Go with the flow.

It’s easy to advise gardeners to not worry about the things that are out of their control. It’s another thing to maintain that state of zen when your beloved tomatoes get picked off one by one by an uncatchable chipmunk or prized roses refuse to bloom in a drought.

But for every setback in the garden there is usually an unexpected victory. With increasingly variable weather and new invasive species creeping in from all around us, gardeners will probably continue to face more challenges than they used to.

So maybe the best way to sum up a gardening goal for the new year is this: Grow great plants and have more fun.