Do you ever wonder what the staff at Green Bay Botanical Garden are doing during the winter months?  Winter gives the staff and other gardeners time to plan for the upcoming gardening season.  While winter has laid its blanket of white all around us, color is being fed to us through magazines, brochures, seed catalogs, and if we are lucky, trips to faraway places where color abounds.  Winter gives us a fresh start, a clean slate.

So where do you start?  First, seek inspiration- inspiration from fellow gardeners, magazines, other gardens and of course, Green Bay Botanical Garden (check out our resource information section on our website)!  And for special gardens such as our Gertrude B. Nielsen Children’s Garden, inspiration comes from kids.  Consider what you like and what you don’t like… gardening is truly a personal thing.  Then start with the “bones” and work from there (“bones” are fixed objects such as hardscape, trees, etc).  Some things to keep in mind: are the plants you are choosing tolerant of sun or shade, dry or moist soil, annuals or perennials?  (Annuals are plants that have a plant hardiness zone rating that is higher than the current zone that you live in.  Around Northeast Wisconsin, the plant hardiness zone tends to be Zone 4 or 5).  Also consider the space you have to work with.  Drawing or mapping out your plans can be helpful; others prefer to visualize in their mind their plans.  Whichever method you choose, sometimes the hardest part is getting started.

Gardening is truly an expression of you… not anyone else, so let yourself be the guide.  Once you have an inspiration, there will be no stopping you!  Share your inspiration with me – send me an e-mail at spingel@gbbg.org (Sarah Pingel, Horticulture & Education Specialist)

Still don’t know where to start?  Sign up for our Landscape Design classes this spring and get expert advice on how to plan your spring garden!

Think spring and happy planning!