New to Gardening in Hawai’i or need some advice for a makeover? Here are a few ideas.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about all the gardeners in Hawai’i who are new to gardening, or recently moved here, or maybe your garden simply doesn’t really work for you and you’re ready a garden make-over.
So I thought I would dedicate this short blog to some thoughts about setting up your garden in order to maximize it’s growing potential and minimize the amount of maintenance to grow delicious, nutritious food for you and your family or ohana. We’ll talk about placement, creating beds, weeding and edging, and of course making the all important compost pile! In my own gardens I always apply these ideas, and I’m always looking to simplify things and make life easier by working with nature’s systems.
Ok let’s get started with the basics.
1. Placement: You know how much space you have and where available space might be around your home or in your backyard. Start small and keep in mind room for expansion. Where is the most sun? Vegetables, flowers, and herbs need sunlight (at least 6-8 hours a day!) so look for that first. Its a good idea to try and find the best soil area, with the least amount of rocks, but no worries - rocks can always be gathered up into buckets and incorporated into something. My small rocks went into the center of my rock walls.
2. The Nursery: Set aside an area to start seeds and cuttings. Until I built my current home, my “nursery” was always under a tree on pallets, held up by concrete blocks, very simple and inexpensive. You need a water source (and not direct sun!), a wheelbarrow or table for potting, and a place to store some flats, pots, potting mix, etc.
3. Form up your beds: Now that you know where your garden will be, and it might be a little here and a little there, i have found that if you designate and form up your beds first it helps the process. Start by making either a raised bed with soil with a small path between, or build raised beds out of some material (wood, trex, banana stumps, logs, concrete blocks, etc). Then you know where you are going to plant. Look at the path of the sun and make sure your beds will get good light. Always leave enough space to walk between beds.
4. Water Source Nearby: This is critical, if you don’t have that look into running a simple line over to your garden area and putting in one hose bib. You really don’t need a drip system or irrigation lines, watering with a hose with a sprayer on the end works really well, even with larger gardens. Watering is a time that I enjoy and use to observe my plants, their growth, and catch any problems before they take hold.
5. Mulch: Think about getting your mulch together before you start. Mulch material should be smaller and light if possible. Once you get your beds made, you can put mulch on the paths between your rows to keep the weeds out. Another option is to use black weed-mat & U-pins as pathways. You can buy a bale of straw and use that, or cut ti leaves or vetiver (or any kind of leaf!) and use those to cover your pathways. I have used whole long banana leaves on my paths to discourage weeds from coming up. Less weeds equal less work.
Nature always wants soil to be covered so if it’s covered by something, weeds won’t grow there.
Beds are always easier to keep weeded if they have had some mulch added after the initial planting, because as plants grow out and touch one another they cover the soil and act as a mulch. Don’t use wood chips in your garden beds, as they can rob nitrogen from your soil as they decompose. Dry grass without seed heads is also a good choice. I like to rake up dried leaves from under a tree, run my mower over them, and store the ground up leaves in an empty trash can. If I’m not going to use them soon, I usually dump the leaves & grass out on a piece of black plastic to cook in the sun for a day and dry before putting them away. Wet organic matter turns to compost.
1. Edging: I have grassy paths down the center of all my gardens, and some gardens are surrounded by a lawn, and I do have to edge those beds probably once a month. It’s the old “stitch in time” theory. I also try and mow close to that edge first, then I go back with my “pony shovel” and cut off the grass running into my beds. This kind of bed requires higher maintenance, I just like the look and feel of the grass under my feet. If you use raised beds and mulch all your paths……NO edging.
2. The Fence: Where I live wild pigs and wild chickens want to come and dig up my gardens, so I have a low 3’ fence around all of them. A simple green-wire fence tied onto wood posts. I hope someday to figure out a way to keep them out of the property all together, and while this problem has gotten much better, I still can’t take them down yet.
3. The Compost Pile: Compost is the heart and soul of the garden so if you don’t have one, find a shady corner somewhere and begin piling up leaves, clippings green and brown, kitchen compost, grass cuttings, etc. Keep out larger sized woody stems (over ½” diameter), as they require long term breakdown. No need turn the pile and when it’s high enough, just make sure it’s plenty moist and cover with a piece of black plastic to let it do its thing for a few months. I try and have 5 to 6 piles going in different spots around the garden. It’s kind of like putting money in your savings account! Compost is the perfect soil builder and microorganism feedstock.
4. If you don't have backyard space then try growing in containers. Container gardening can be so rewarding, and it looks so beautiful. There is little weeding, no edging, easy to water, and everything is contained! There are many good internet sites available to get you started. You can read this container gardening blog we published to help you get started. https://www.hawaiiseedgrowersnetwork.com/post/gardening-in-small-spaces-inspiration-for-growing-in-containers-on-lanais-and-windowsills.
Gardening is a perfect form of exercise as it is consistently engaging multiple muscle groups, providing both cardio and strength building, and is accessible to people of most fitness levels. Gardening is also a fantastic stress reliever, and in today’s world those moments where we can get away from the screen and spend time connecting with nature are most welcome and very beneficial to our mental health.
It’s never been more important to start or continue your home garden. The price of food and its availability will become more challenging this year, so remember to plant a little extra for a friend or family member who may be in need of support.
A couple last things. A good garden book for reference is so important. One of our HSGN growers, Evan Ryan from the Pono Grown Farm Center on Maui, has written an informative all -around home gardening book that will help you to be successful in your home garden. The book is called Hawaii Home Gardens: Growing Vegetables in the Subtropics using Holistic Methods and it’s available here. https://hawaiihomegardens.com/
Finding gardening buddies to share the work, or find inspiration with are important for long term garden success. I rely on my garden friends and they rely on me. I visit them to talk out challenges, share successes, or exchange saved seed. If you have specific questions shoot me an email, nancyredfeather@hawaii.rr.com
Sending much Aloha for your continued success!
The Hawai’i Seed Growers Network
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