The 2020 cutting garden season has come to an end in these parts (eastern Massachusetts) for this girl. I’m looking at what went well and what needs improvement for 2021. How did your cutting garden grow this year? Please share your experiences in the comments below.

The Good Stuff:

1. I had better luck this year with growing flowers from seeds, including cosmos, zinnias, cornflowers, dill, basils and more. Practice makes better (TM), and growing from seed gets easier every year. My preference is to direct seed into the beds, and handle those seeds only once. In 2021, I’ll try starting seeds indoors using the seed blocking technique, which means paying attention to seed starting dates and timing. You can’t “wing it” and be assured of flowers before the frost!

2. We expanded the cutting garden area from 10 ft x 20 ft (with a 3’ path in the middle) to 10 ft x 36 ft, almost doubling it in size. The work seemed to triple though! I grew a greater variety of tulips, annuals and perennials. It forced me to become more efficient with maintenance. The cutting garden should be fun, not endless chores!

3. We harvested many flowers in the spring and again in the midsummer into early fall, that was great! We had an abundance of flowers for our customers, friends and neighbors, our home, and the local nursing home. It’s GREAT to share your flowers and spread beauty!

Needs Improvement:

1. I grew a greater variety of flowers this year, but somehow ended up with fewer colors. Oopsy! I intended to grow apricot/peachy and more white flowers, but my usual source for starter plants fell through. Arghh! I also learned the wisdom of succession planting. Once the dill plants flowered (so graceful!), that was it, no more. Most flowering plants aren’t cut-and-come-again flowers like zinnias and cosmos. Yessiree, we need more careful planning and growing more plants from seed next season.

2. Like so many people, we had a severe drought in 2020 this summer, with a complete watering ban for several weeks. Usually we were allowed to hand water, but hand watering over a 10 ft x 36 ft area was time-consuming and not fun. Next season, it’s time to step it up with either irrigation lines or soaker hoses.

3. It’s also time for some kind of borders around the beds. Edging with a hand tool is effective but not the most fun to do every year to keep the grass from moving in. Time for cedar or composite planks around the outside edges. Hopefully I can get the handyman husband to tackle this one…..

I hope you had had a good gardening season, despite the covid pandemic and the heat/drought. Enjoy your well deserved time off from gardening. Dream away and plan for next year!