How to Plant a Sustainable Garden in Michigan

Make a Plan

• 1

  Pick a site exposed to at least six hours of daily sunlight.

• 2

  Locate a nearby water source. Mother Nature will eventually handle watering chores; for now it's up to you.

• 3

  Test your soil for acidity, organic matter and vital nutrients. Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Service offers a $25 self-mailer test kit with test results posted online within 48 hours. Home test kits are also available at garden centers.

• 4

  Decide what to grow based on light, soil and moisture conditions. Advice is available from fellow gardeners and area greenhouses. Michigan’s 78 Conservation District offices blanket the state. The cooperative extension service hosts a website with native plant suggestions for three basic regions. (See link in resources.)

Gather Your Plants

• 5

  Purchase local stock from nurseries, farmer’s markets and suppliers -- the closer to home the better. Look for perennial native species now extinct in the wild, including purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea).

• 6

  Plumb your own property for buried treasure: bulbs, seedpods, wildflowers and shrubs. Dividing and transplanting times vary, but in general, dormant plants have a better survival rate.

• 7

  To begin sustainable gardening from seed, contact regional seed exchanges and master gardener programs. You can also buy from regional catalogs. Open-pollinated heirloom seeds are the most desirable followed by heirloom and organic. In coming years, you'll have your own seeds to swap.

Preparation and Timetable

• 8

  Smother stubborn overgrowth by covering with cardboard or newspaper for a week or more, blocking light and nutrients. Remove undesirable material.

• 9

  Amend the soil as indicated by the soil test, mixing the amendments into the top 6 inches of soil. Rake cultivated soil lightly.

• 10

  Sow seeds from mid-May to mid-June or mid-October to November, depending on frost dates. Tender plants can go in the ground in mid-to-late May in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 and 6. Frost may persist into June in northern inlands of USDA zones 3 and 4, but many gardeners take their chances after Memorial Day, particularly in shoreline areas where there's less chance of frost because water moderates temperatures. Plant early spring flowering bulbs in the fall, four weeks before the first frost date.

Planting from Seed

• 11

  Give slow growers like tomatoes, peppers and some flower varieties a head start indoors in March.

• 12

  Direct sow other seeds, such as wildflowers and lettuce, as soon as the soil can be worked in early spring.

• 13

  Firm the soil lightly over seeds. Keep evenly moist until germination. Divide when plants are 1 to 2 inches high and have formed leaves.

Transplanting Method

• 14

  Dig holes two to five times the width of plant root balls and as deep as the plant root ball.

• 15

  Fill the holes with water. After the water has soaked in, fill again to pump up moisture content.

• 16

  Mix aged dairy cow manure or other mature organic compost in at a 50-50 ratio with fill soil, adding peat for acid-loving plants such as blueberries or azaleas.

• 17

  Slice 1-to-2-inch-deep indents in three or four areas of the root ball so the roots can branch out. Place the root ball on the soil in the bottom of the hole. Fill in with a soil-compost-manure mixture.

• 18

  Surround the plant with layers of newspaper or cardboard. Soak with water. Add a 4-inch layer of hay and wet thoroughly.

• 19

  Water the transplants deeply once weekly for the next several weeks. Your garden needs 1 inch of water per week to moisten the top 6 inches of soil. Fertilize as soon as new growth is visible using general-purpose, organic timed-release pellets at 1 tablespoon per square foot or organic water-soluble fertilizer with equal parts nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium at the rate of 1 tablespoon per gallon of water.