It’s springtime — the time of year to break out your green thumb and start gardening. Wouldn’t it be great to take what’s likely the largest covered room in your home and turn it into your own functional plant nursery? It doesn’t have to be a dream. Here’s how to make this a reality and have beautiful starts to begin your garden — grown right in your garage.
Plan It Out
It helps to start early. Sit down with that seed catalog in January and plan out your garden. Dream a little, get excited. This is where the fun part comes in — where you conceptualize your growing space.
Decide which plants you want to grow. Map out where you’ll set them up in the garage. Card tables, shelves, bookcases work great. Plan to lay out plants side by side that take similar nutrients, have similar light needs, and similar growing patterns.
Basil, for example, is great to grow with tomatoes because it will protect them from insects. Cabbages, however, will stunt tomatoes and shouldn’t be grown close together.
Plan out what you’ll transplant when.
Arranging Space in Your Garage
Decide how much space you’ll need for your starts. Unless you are planning on only starting a few plants, you’ll likely need to dedicate at least half if not the full garage to your growing area. It may be a good idea to park your car outside for the time being.
Arrange card tables or shelving to hold the starts. 2x4s are great are a great use of space. Arrange for space to transplant so you have room to work. Plastic on the ground and around the growing area can keep the space clean and avoid any contaminants from compromising the starts. You’ll want to keep all the plants elevated for ideal growing temperatures.
Pay attention to drafts from open windows. Is your garage insulated? Do you have an insulated garage door? You might consider it as an option. Consider installing electric heaters for cold days.
How much natural light does your garage get? Garage door window slats are helpful, but might not provide enough light. Growing lights may be used to supplement natural light.
Pay attention to soil and humidity. These things can make or break an indoor plant space. Open the garage on nice sunny days to give the plants plenty of sunlight.
And of course the garage is just where you get the starting plants off and running. When the plants are the right size, you’ll transplant them to an outdoor garden area when the season is right.
Comments are closed.