Yogi Gardener

Late February forces me to practice patience. The sun comes out following a late-February snowstorm and it’s tempting to begin planting outdoors as the ice melts away, especially as the lavender’s fresh growth begins reaching towards the sky and hints of strong green come through on the rose’s branches. Spring is coming!

When we first moved to this region, I made the mistake of planting seeds directly outdoors around this time of year. The occasional light spring snowfall was fine since I had planted in large pots that I could just pull under shelter–Or so I thought. I hadn’t accounted for clever woodland critters, and a late-May snowstorm froze everything that was left while I peacefully slept, assuming the temps could never drop that low so late in the season.

I wasn’t even a good gardener when I lived in Long Beach, CA, arguably one of the easiest growing locations for year-round gardening bonanzas, so there was a pretty significant learning curve when I moved to the frigid side of a mountain and decided to become a gardener at 7,000 feet altitude with four real seasons. We’re blessed with over 300 days of sunshine each year, but I’ve learned that sunshine is not always an indication that plants will grow. I’m sure this is common knowledge for most readers who grew up with seasons, but please forgive my complete ignorance. I had a lot to learn. A lot.

It’s been four years of trying and failing and learning, and I think this year is going to be a real turning point for our garden. We have a few solidly established lavender and rose bushes, a promising hyacinth, and a collection of bulbs that give our previously barren landscape a nice pop. We also have gladiolus that will burst with color in the summer as the spring bulb flowers fade away, extending our garden’s blooming season a bit further. This is a good foundation that’s taken four years to establish, and this year we’re ready to add a lot more to our space. I’m ready for plenty more failures and learning scenarios again throughout this year, but I’m also confident that I’ve learned enough to come out with a much stronger garden than I’ve ever had this year. And once we’re heading that direction, each year’s garden will only get better.

So what can a yogi gardener do with such lovely late spring temps if planting outdoors is not ideal yet? Prep, prep, prep! Like yoga, a gardening practice thrives when we put time and effort into building a strong foundation. While it’s tempting to rush out and begin planting all the allium, daffodil, Russian sage, dogwood, jasmine, and marigold I have in mind for this year, it’s foolish to put down all of those plants at this time of year. I would have absolutely made this mistake in my first year here if I had been able to get my hands on any of those plants in February. Thankfully, the lack of plants available at the local nursery and DIY store served as a hint that perhaps even the pros weren’t bothering with flowers in the ground this time of year.

I’ve got my garden shovel ready for Memorial Day weekend (don’t give in before that sneaky late-May snowfall, mountain folks!), but here’s what I’m doing to set the stage for a strong gardening season ahead in the meantime:

1. Work the compost bin. We keep a small, simple compost bin outdoors and don’t bother with it during the winter months. I give it a little churning every now and then throughout the warmer months, but in winter it stays closed, gets snowed upon, freezes over, and then I begin working and churning it when everything thaws around this time of year. I wasn’t sure what to expect the first year I tried this “lazy composting” technique, but it’s worked beautifully, giving us rich, dark compost ready for spring planting. February is a great time of year to start churning that compost bin so it can begin mixing again in time for spring planting. And if you have more material to add, I’ve found that settling over the winter usually creates space to begin adding more from the kitchen again. Our household is getting close to ready for a second compost bin, so that’s another spring gardening component I can begin planning for now.

2. Take a garden inventory. I’ve acquired and broken plenty of planters over the years, and no two growing seasons have ever had the exact same set-up as I’ve been learning where and how to plant various vegetables and flowers in this region. I love gardening nowadays–I love walking through my neighborhood in spring and admiring the daffodils surrounding the neighbor’s front tree and daydreaming about how daffodils might look in my own yard–and I’ve made the mistake of just buying whatever plant looked good and was within budget without thinking about where it would go once I get it home. To keep myself from daydream-purchasing the moment I walk into the first nursery in spring, now I take a count of everything I have beforehand. I break down my inventory by planter size so that I have a clear idea of how much potting space I already have to work with. I also break down my fertilizer by type, this way I’m ready to pick up specifics like rose fertilizer or bulb fertilizer. I also have far more bell pepper seeds than I’ll need (and we’ve learned that bell peppers don’t thrive in our region), so I’m now wrapping and prepping these to share with friends and family in warmer growing climates.

3. Make a wish list. Let yourself indulge! The inventory does not need to be a strict guideline. In fact, it can help identify what you need to purchase or acquire in order for your year’s gardening goals to be possible. I’m always happy to grab a deal, and knowing well ahead of time what I need gives me a chance to take advantage of seasonal sales that might pop up. For example, one of my hopes this year is to attract more wildlife and pollinators to our garden, and I’d love to get a hummingbird feeder. That’s something I now have on this year’s gardening wishlist, so if I happen to see one I like anytime between now and Memorial Day, I’ll let myself indulge. I also hope to hang a few ferns in our shaded patio area, and I’ll need the hanging hardware and baskets. Those kinds of things are frequently available in limited supply at our local DIY this time of year, sometimes even on sale when it’s not the gardening season. I can’t indulge in purchasing the plants yet, but there are pieces I can begin putting together for the overall garden impact I’m aiming for this year.

4. Start seedlings indoors. Not every plant needs or wants to be started inside, but for those that could benefit from a safer, warmer seeding environment, this is the time of year we start them in our kitchen window. Tomatoes are a great example: We had delicious tomatoes last year, but we have to give them a very solid start inside before we move them outdoors in our region. We’ve had great luck starting tomatoes from seed in our kitchen window, so we’re giving it another go this year.

5. Work the soil. I love getting into the garden, sitting down right in the dirt, and working the soil with my little garden trowel and rake. I know that with thousands of dollars, we could have hired a landscaper to clear out and plant everything that I’ve done over the past four years. But I love that I’ve put so much physical labor turning this dirt into soil over the years. When I first started digging in our space, I discovered an astonishing collection of rusted nails and small pieces of plastic trash mixed into the wood chip-covered landscaping. I’ve worked by hand to remove the rusted nails and plastic trash, churn the dirt with compost, and feed it with fertilizer. After years of care, we have soil that’s ready for planting this spring, and I’m so excited to place down beautiful plants that will thrive naturally in this region. As the ground thaws, this is the time of year when I spend hours outside beginning to churn the soil with a fresh round of fertilizer, prepping it for the plants that will come in a few months. It’s also a chance to see what the soil is like and discover the spots that are naturally quick to dry and those that might remain wet longer, potentially leading to rotten roots. Since I'm keeping our space as natural as possible to the region, I'm not adding irrigation systems; instead, I'm matching the plants to the soil's state. I have a mixture of soggy earth spots and super dry spots in our space, depending on the natural shade and how long it takes the ice to fully thaw in different spots of the property. I don't want to control the cycle by chopping down the long-standing pine trees or building a sprinkler system, so instead I'm observing what the natural melting cycle is like and planting accordingly in spring.

6. Nerd out. This is a great time of year to research the details of the plants you want to introduce into your garden this year, or learn more about the plants you’re expecting to grow back on their own. I love taking walks through my neighborhood and admiring some of the landscaping my neighbors have employed. There’s a house along one of my favorite walking routes that has astonishingly beautiful daffodils that grow back year after year; I enjoy checking in with these neighbors this time of year to see how their daffodils are doing, as it gives me a chance to connect with fellow locals (rare in these parts), get some tips from someone who’s successfully grown these specific flowers year after year in the same region, and get a sense of what to expect in my own space. This is also a time to get to know your own space. What are the sunlight cycles and how do they change over the year? Which spaces in your garden are going to be full-sun, and which are going to be shadier? What is the ph of your soil, and does that work with the plants you had in mind? More knowledge doesn't guarantee more blooms, but it gives you a sense of what to expect and an opportunity to make changes before setting new plants in the ground in spring.

What about the yoga and prayer, though? Sitting in the garden is a great opportunity to stretch the legs and strengthen the core.

Yoga Poses in the Garden

Start with Easy Pose. Yes, this counts as yoga! Find a peaceful spot to sit in your garden. You can sit right there in the dirt like I enjoy doing, or you can find a spot on a rock or bench or wall, whatever is available to you in your garden space. Find a comfortable seated position and inhale deeply, observing the smells of the garden around you. How do those smells change over the year? What would you like to bring to it this year? For me, it’s more lavender and a pop of jasmine that I hope to bring into this sensory experience this spring! Right now, I inhale and smell a hint of the new lavender greenery that’s filling in, and always the scent of pine in the mountains.

If space allows, try sitting in your garden with your legs fully extended in Staff Pose. This is a great opportunity to check your posture. Be sure you are sitting tall, finding length in your spine. Try leaning forward slightly and observe how this changes the work your core does to keep you stable. Find a comfortable place here that allows you to sit tall without curving your back drastically, as though a string is gently pulling you up from the top of your head.

From here, bend the right knee and bring the right foot to your inner left thigh, keeping your left leg extended in preparation for Head to Knee Pose. I usually don’t go into a full Head to Knee Pose while gardening, but instead allow myself to sit with one leg bent while extending the other. Like gardening preparation in late winter, this is a gentle way to prepare your body for the full Head to Knee pose later in the year. For now, let yourself just enjoy the leg part of the pose while you experiment with your upper body movement. Can you rotate and reach something in your garden while keeping one leg extended and the other leg bent? Try reaching for a weed to pull, or simply digging a little in the dirt next to you, while allowing your legs to stretch here. Don’t forget to switch legs!

Are you also a yogi gardener? Want to add or modify poses for your personal needs? Sign up for a Quick Yoga Consultation to walk through the routine together one-on-one, or request an Individual Yoga Plan to include additional poses specific to your needs.