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When to Plant a Garden in Western Maryland?

Vegetable gardens are rewarding enterprises, with healthy, growing plants and full fruit and vegetable harvests, but are also a challenge. They require planning, timing and work for planting, and then more work for maintenance. This is especially true in cold areas like western Maryland's U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 and 6, where spring comes late. Get the timing and preparation right to plant a successful Maryland garden, then stagger your plantings to keep it productive into the fall.

  1. Season

    • Western Maryland is colder than the eastern side of the state, and features later spring thaws and earlier fall frosts. Start your garden preparation one month before the last frost to amend soil early and get cold-hardy vegetables into the ground. Last frost in this area occurs from mid to late May, and as late as June, so start your planning in mid to late April.

    Site and Soil

    • Site and soil are important aspects of any garden preparation. Find a site that gives you full sun for six to eight hours a day, with an even growing surface and good drainage. The University of Maryland suggests starting with 50 to 75 square feet of space to give yourself plenty of room. Dig into the top 10 inches of soil to break it up, and add 4 to 5 inches of organic compost to warm and nourish the soil. Add starter fertilizer per the manufacturer directions to increase soil nutrition for planting.

    Spring Planting

    • Plant your first spring vegetables according to their cold hardiness. Put leeks, shallots, onions, lettuce, broccoli, peas, potatoes, radishes, turnips and kale out up to three weeks before the last frost. Mulch these crops to protect them, and put them on a schedule of 2 inches of water a week. Set out sensitive crops like corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash and herbs when nighttime temperatures rise over 65 degrees F. Choose crops that have region-appropriate growing seasons. Mulch these crops as well, and put the entire garden on the same watering schedule.

    Midsummer Planting

    • Stagger your plantings to keep the garden fresh and productive through summer and into fall. Summertime plants tolerate plantings into summer, but must always have time to mature and bear their fruit before frost descends. Replant vegetable plants every couple of weeks, but discontinue plantings three months before the first frost date, in late June.

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