How I Plan My Spring Garden | Layout and Timing

Lets take my a walk through my garden and discuss the upcoming spring garden plan! Most of my garden is full but I have to start thinking about where all my spring vegetables are going to go. Here I discuss timing, light, size, and layout of my upcoming garden and how I think about it all.
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[@haileycohen8180]

Hey Jacques you gave me advice on planting my first fruit tree in clay soil, just wanted to say thank you for taking the time to write me back! Much appreciated

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Glad to have helped!

[@nathm055]

"OUR favorite chard." Nice save.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

😂

[@MovingBlanketStudio]

I can't hear "fava beans" without hearing a line from a certain movie from the 90's. That being said, great job, Jacques. Love the love for your garden!

[@JWDicus]

I like it when you just grab a camera and take us for a walk and talk through the garden. It feels more real than something too planned out or scripted. You speak well off the cuff, so win-win! When you said you put tomatoes in the shorter raised bed, I see why, but funny thing, I just planted out 20 tomato plants we grew from Botanical Interests seed in the house this winter and because they are supposed to have deeper roots than most of the other things in my garden, I have them in 5 different tall Birdies beds. Reaching the top fruits on my indeterminate varies might be tough. I saw this video one day too late. Haha!

[@JordanShultz97]

I like the causal videos like this. They are very inspiring. We will finally have a yard to garden with this year and videos like this one give me so much excitement for this season.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Glad to hear this was useful, and best of luck on your new garden!

[@smile30981]

Those cabbages are absolutely beautiful!! Here in Colorado, I'm still in the early stages of seeding/seedlings but my Sunday morning views of your garden keeps me motivated and inspired. Thanks for great content!

[@pnwexcso2939]

A PhD class - this rookie appreciates what an expert can do! 👍

[@BergenholtzChannel]

This was the most helpful garden tour I have ever watched!

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Very glad to hear that!

[@darysabelp4301]

🖐 Hi! Geologist gardener from Puerto Rico over here! 😊

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Hello! What plants are you harvesting right now in your climate?

[@salami5050]

Am I the only one who wants a video of these two meeting and talking about their gardens together?

[@Mari.Colombiana.Despertando]

Nope, you are not

[@Mari.Colombiana.Despertando]

@@Wales-62 answering to salami2020... read a bit above

[@xEppy033x]

I love how busy the garden is even through winter. Hope you have a great growing season this year!

[@twitchy_bird]

I'm jealous of their growing season lol.

[@SPW1031W]

​@@twitchy_birdSame! 😂

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Winter is for sure my favorite season, it's not quite a break but everything grows much much slower.

[@2mrchilz]

I would cry if I found out my asparagus bed stopped producing for some unknown reason. Such a long time commitment to get going. So sad to see and glad to see you taking it so well! Those grubs are the worst and I also have major issues with them here in San Diego. Wishing the best harvest season for all as we come into Spring.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

When I dug up the patch I found a lot of the crowns fully rotted. Surprised to have that happen in San Diego.

[@tleigh4583]

This is only my second year gardening but I’ve got kale, broccolini, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, and verbena seedlings going ❤ about to start cold stratifying some milkweed and getting some cucumber seeds going.

[@Oltoir]

looked like a carpenter bee to me! Thank you for giving her a meal!

[@RealBradMiller]

I ordered a thousand carpenter bees, and I was so disappointed. They didn't even help me build my house. Hopefully I have more luck with the mason bees...😂 I have tons of native bees, living on a creek, near a lake, and a river. We put logs on the creek side and drill holes for the bees, and there is plenty of mud for mason bees, we have a large habitat pile, and hibernaculum for insects, as well as for lizards and such. Cheers! Happy SPRING!?!! 🎉🎉🎉

[@judith153]

I saw a bumble bee moving into my garden faucet yesterday. Could hear it gnawing in there. It's still shut off because of winter but the faucet is in the open position. I have no idea how far it went in there. I will try and lock it out tomorrow, which I'm really sorry for. But I kinda need that faucet. I hope the nest isn't too far along...

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Such fun ones to see buzzing around, they love the nasturtiums!

[@HS-qf5of]

I like this sort of video, makes me think and consider my own garden plans and to not be too precious about every decision that I make. Thank you from Allied Gardens. I love that you’re in San Diego and that I can measure my choices and success alongside a San Diego gardener.

[@Plantandpeoplecarer]

Hey Jacques I’m Australian and we are in autumn, so it’s getting cool quick here, your garden lets me live vicariously through you during our cold winter months! Thank you!

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Can you grow through the winter months where you are? Or is it just not worth it?

[@Plantandpeoplecarer]

@@jacquesinthegarden I’m not a huge fan of winter veggies, but I grow a few thing thru winter mainly flowers so the local bees have food!

[@gypsy1111]

​@@jacquesinthegardenI'm in Australia too, where I live we have frost about 40-50 days straight in the mornings, I've given up winter gardening except in my greenhouse 😅

[@gypsy1111]

​@@Plantandpeoplecarerwhat winter flowers do you grow? I want to fill my beds with them for bees since winter gardening is difficult where I am

[@urbancountrygal7672]

I love your wild and structured garden. It looks very organic and unbounded 😊

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Thank you!

[@lisasagmiller1056]

My peppers are now in greenstalks. My son loves to grow a ton of variety and his pepper garden was taking over all my garden space. So now we have 2 lovely towers and the only ones that go in ground are the super tall ones.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

That is awesome, I have seen people with pepper loaded greenstalks and it looks super cool.

[@lynnrector2174]

Hey Jacque, you sure do have a fantastic garden. A tip I learned from Liz Zorab on harvesting carrots. Push the carrot down first before trying to pull it out. I have clay soil too and it has been a game changer. Works great unless it is a really long carrot. Give it a try.

[@jesswelsh9838]

Hi Jaques 👋 my favorite gardener!! Glad you posted today. Everything is looking gorgeous in your garden 😍

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Thanks for stopping by!

[@donnajurewicz4945]

Thank you so much for showing us around. I always enjoy garden tours.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Glad you enjoyed

[@barbaralong8665]

Thank you. Helpful to hear your reasoning about what to plant and why a specific spot makes sense. Love that you share successes and failures so i don’t feel I have to be perfect

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Nobody is perfect, plenty of problems to go around for all of us!

[@TheConlinHomestead]

We got 30lbs of seed potatoes in the mail today. We are up North in a 5b zone and I’m so jealous seeing how your garden is going 😅

[@nunyabusiness7168]

Thanks Jacques. I appreciate seeing how tall Borage gets and how invasive Nasturiums are.

[@connormurphy3085]

Hey Jacques, just an idea for future root knot nematode issues, make your mulch into an oyster mushroom bed. They eat nematodes 👍

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Woah, that is amazing and sounds oddly delicious haha, I will for sure look into that.

[@robyncaddell5269]

When he say let’s get into the actual garden and I’m like dude I have a teeny area that’s an epic space.

[@123WorryFreeGardening]

Love the space planning tips you provide. It is something often overlooked in suitable climates.

[@kiwikatt12]

I like to dry and keep all of my sunflower heads and put them out periodically for the birds, especially when I start planting stuff and making easy targets for wildlife.

[@micheleboyd2662]

This video was incredibly insightful. Thank you for taking us along while you weed through your ideas and rationale for planting your crops. A fellow San Diegan.

[@carolfrueh]

Love love the borage - the bees adore it. I'll be using a bunch of the Epic grow bags this year in my attempt to get away from the blight affecting my tomatoes. I am inspired by your garden!

[@RealBradMiller]

Yeah, borage is such a cool flower and plant!! I love in the mornings when it gets coated in dew. It looks like some new jelly candy. Wish I could share photos!

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Grow bags can be great for exactly that situation and get rotations out of certain parts of the garden.

[@margehayes9096]

Really enjoy hearing your thoughts on planning your garden spaces. Keep 'em coming.

[@northerngirlhobbies]

Totally awesome! I envy that you can grow year round!

[@SKGaskell]

Hey Jacques! Have you ever done a water-in nematode treatment for your grubs? You can buy them on a sponge, they’re organic, and they’ve done a great job controlling grubs. We focus on root crops and heavy feeders that seem to struggle!

[@micaela6915]

Loved the garden tour! Your cabbages are amazing and I love how you put all the flowers with the veggies. Great for the pollinators but it also just looks so pretty

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Thanks so much!

[@jenblindert9093]

I love garden tours! More videos like this please.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

You got it!

[@gratefulMOMent]

I like listening to your thought process as you walk through your garden. So I say, keep videos like this coming! I can look into your garden and form assumptions about what’s going on, but I could be completely wrong. Thank you for taking the time to share.🌱💚

[@jeannamcgregor9967]

I always learn something from these videos as garden timing is what I'm trying to nail down. So, please, more! (And my seed-grown asparagus is now flourishing at 5' tall in a Birdies bed, so I recommend trying that.) 💚

[@jacquesinthegarden]

That's awesome! Seed started asparagus seems to be way faster

[@jessicajordan680]

It boggles the mind seeing how much you can mix and match gardens and just add "a few cabbages and beets here and there to fill space". I would forget about them 😅 Jacques has absolutely made the most of his land and grows many types of food I have never tried or cooked with (daheck is a FAVA bean??) Lots of love went into that space ❤ such a pleasure to see!

[@lindasoaft9303]

Thank you for sharing! You given me some great ideas about where and what plant!🌱 have a great day!

[@lisaf568]

Great tips! Your garden is beautiful! Thank you for sharing. I love seeing how other gardeners think and plan out their spaces.

[@GlowBean_Studio]

Thank you for making this video! Really helpful advice! And also your voice is so nice and calming! Thank you again for making this video!

[@Harper-u1c]

There were a lot of paintings of monkeys waving bamboo sticks in the gallery.

[@davidbrooks9576]

Even though i live on the dark side of the earth in Australia and winter is coming I enjoyed this video.

[@gypsy1111]

Where in Australia are you? What are you growing and sowing?

[@carissalizotte8977]

How exciting! Great video as always Jacques! 💚

[@DL-wc1fq]

You should make a recipe book. I never know what to do with all my produce.

[@JulieCuriel]

Yessssss this is such a good idea 😵 The Epic Recipe Book!!!

[@jacquesinthegarden]

I have thought about it 👀

[@b3thamphetamine]

@@jacquesinthegardenPlease do, I'd love to see what you do with that leaf broccoli.

[@brittany8364]

@@jacquesinthegardenplease do a cookbook!! I would love a chapter on the ridiculously simple things you do. Sometimes you say you’ll pick something and fry it up with butter and pepper or something simple like that and I can’t tell you how much we as Americans need simple, easy, fresh cooking tips that weren’t handed down to us from a rich culture. Your cookbook would sell SO well and would be so worth your time!!

[@melodysmash]

​@@brittany8364 Seriously agree!

[@carriecreates1207]

Thank you, it was a nice tour of your garden. I liked that you explained why you did what you did, and what you will do, when you clean up an area that is finished. That is what I am working around at this time.

[@johnnyalegria]

I live in San Diego also in Lakeside and the crows are going crazy with our last two rainy years! Also ear wigs, rabbits, and spiders!

[@miriamtong8808]

Gorgeous garden! 👏🏽❤

[@jolenef.9548]

I love these kinds of videos. They get me thinking about my layout. ❤

[@ChristinaBarnes-d5d]

Great garden tour! Love the idea of "pollinator patches". Great point about short beds for tomatoes. Thanks so much!

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Glad it was helpful!

[@CraigBuccalo]

Nice I like the way you plan things out. Being fairly new at gardening you have given me a few good ideas that I will use when the weather breaks. An aerial view of your garden would be nice to see could help in designing my garden.

[@jackiek4159]

The garden is looking soo good Jacques!! 😍🙌🏻💚

[@HealyMeans]

hi jacques 🤗 this is another great video. tfs

[@canna_nymph]

3 years for the kale!?! That’s awesome!!

[@bethsands7665]

Nice garden video !! Carpenter bee females are black and robust and lovely. The males are golden with green eyes and just as robust but usually come around next month. Nice garden plan !! Happy Spring-time !!

[@marktoldgardengnome4110]

Amazing! And agree, timing is everything. We have to endure the devastation that Japanese Beetles create. They love Beans and Pea's. Pea's being cold hardy can be planted as early as you can work the soil. When the ground thaws. That's normally mid April. This year the frost is gone in most of our garden already. I swear the Beetles have a calendar, because they show up every year on about July 3rd. Pea's have a maturity date of 60 days. With the frost in the ground all but gone, way early this year, we were going to plant our Pea Jungle this weekend. But, it's snowing as we speak! 3-5" inches tonight, and more coming Saturday. Oh well, they call it the poor mans fertilizer. Guess I'll have to get my rototiller out this weekend. lol TYFS

[@frasersgirl4383]

I really loved this video!!

[@Notable2Nikki]

Carpenter bees are the bane of my existence!

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Luckily I don't have major exposed wood for them to destroy!

[@malapundir1714]

Thank you so much Bhai (bro) I love your garden tour always ❤❤ very nice vegetables gardening

[@carlydillon6926]

You have such a beautiful garden! Those nasturtiums are so pretty! I liked this style of video, but I love them all anyways! Thanks for sharing!

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Thanks for visiting!

[@jordanyeager9220]

This video is so colorful! Beautiful garden, cool bracelet

[@justineheinrichs2798]

Your garden is beautiful and so prolific. I live in zone 3 so totally different gardening out here 😂. I’m trying something new to me and am wondering if you’re familiar with it. Red orach, supposed to be akin to spinach. It can grow to four feet tall, beautiful burgundy color. Plus you can pick leaves off of it throughout our entire season. Which is May to about mid October. There’s a trick my mother in law taught me in regards to cabbage. If the cabbage is close to harvest time but you feel you might not have time to look after it, you firmly grasp the head and give it a half turn. It loosens the plant enough to stop growth ( to keep it from splitting) but doesn’t hurt the plant at all. Enjoyed the garden tour and future layout. I thank you for sharing this with me ♥️🇨🇦

[@francestaylor9156]

I started using the seedtime garden planner to help me map out timing and layout. It’s like min maxing but for the garden. All those years of playing strategy games playing out IRL lol. For those interested, there’s a free version. I highly recommend it as a planner.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

I have messed with that but it's simply too much work to update and work on all the time for me.

[@gwendolynwebster7722]

We really enjoyed your video: listening to all the tips and tidbits of the wheres and whys is really helpful! Thank you 🙂

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Glad it was helpful!

[@nildaotero2933]

Hi Jacques, great garden thanks for sharing it with us. Love it

[@BrightestBlessings7899]

Hey J., I was just reading that growing Nasturtiums and Marigolds with your tomatoes can break up rootknot nematodes. I was so excited to see it! So there is some more hope for your tomatoes. They should be great.

[@ninavandenabbeele9667]

Kind of sad it becomes cold here in winter. In winter you cant do much. It doesnt freeze a lot but you just dont know when it will freeze 😅and it kills everything. I think i might start a bit earlier this year though because weather is quite warm at the moment 🤔

[@veena4245]

Why don’t you net the bed that got picked by the crow? It works 100% of the time.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

I just decided not to bother but I did eventually add cages to the big plants and will replant lettuce elsewhere

[@rayikaikin]

this has been my biggest struggle just figuring out what to plant and where..

[@pavitram123]

Thanks for sharing your gorgeous garden!

[@Sassa328]

For your potatoes, check out Ben at GrowVeg, he spoke about layering potatoes (for determinate or indeterminate, can’t remember which), which could help max yield in a tall grow bed. Love the channel!

[@wesbohn6552]

Id love to hear about your plans for the grape and powdery mildew issue. I have a grape that ive had this issue with two years in a row.

[@baileyvanblarcom4792]

This is crazy lol I am zone 5 and literally just planted peas last week 😂

[@carenmcfarland7034]

Interesting to see all of the nasturtiums taking over. I’m in central California and I struggle with snails and slugs as the main pests in my backyard garden. I feel like planting them would just invite these pests… but maybe it would work as a deterrent to them eating the rest of my garden. What do you think?

[@AlexGomez-ds9xq]

Saw a Bermuda buttercup weed my most hated weed in the garden lol but the bees seem to like them

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Oh yeah, I have some bad weeds but most are kept at edges and so far haven't infiltrated my garden beds.

[@rossburningham22]

I recently discovered your videos and find them so interesting and informative. I love your rapid, engaging style which demonstrates your broad knowledge and experience but in a down-to-earth, understandable way. Thanks so much. Random question: Is there a reason why you have so many large nasturtiums in your garden.

[@eandrgoodwin]

Jacques, you mentioned pickling, but you really need to try fermenting!!! I got a mason jar fermenting kit for Christmas and I’ve been creating some VERY TASTY veg! So far the two that have been the best are radishes and cucumbers (not together!) Oh, and the Giardiniera was great! Give it a try!!

[@KK-FL]

I actually bought Shasta daisy seeds because of your patch! Planted out my seedlings just today.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Awesome! It is such a lovely giant flower!

[@franceshoward7112]

What a fantastic garden and a lot of eating ahead of you!. The big bee you saw is almost certainly a queen bumblebee, emerging from winter hibernation a native spcies and to be encouraged. The queen is the only bumbelbee to survive the winter, all the others die in the fall, they don't have a great life. She is now looking for somewhere to lay her eggs and tend them until the first lot hatch and help with subseuent hatchings etc. Probably not till 3 months from now. They need all the help they can get. They don't get along well with honeybees which are an invasive European species. A honeybee hive could have 10,000 bees and a bumble bee tunnel in the ground 20. Big difference. It's worth getting a bumblebee chart you may have 20 or 30 varieties in San Diego. Many of them have red stripes , it's fun to try and identify them You should know what bees are on your borage.. They like single flowers in abundance like an apple tree, or cosmos, japanese anemone and single dahlias. They starve with the big double dahlias as they can't reach the nectar easily. Love your garden though!

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Very interesting read! I will look into it as that does sound like fun and I often see a large assortment of bumblebees here.

[@rpdx3]

Nice setup, Jaques strap! The nematodes will be waiting for you in that bed. They are next impossible to get rid of. I have a 60 gallon grow bag that got infested by nematodes, probably from a large tomato plant from Costco. Now I always start the year off with a crop of marigolds in that particular bag, to supress the nematodes. Followed by peppers or something else. 🎉

[@barbdawdy7698]

squash and cucumbers on the same small trellis....I am betting on the squash to win the race. I was thinking winter squash. which can be Godzilla in the garden. LOL love your channel and your garden is looking beautiful.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Yeah I grow some vining summer squash and it doesn't get quite as massive!

[@andrewhammill6148]

Heard you say you'd probably break the carrot if you try to get it out of the bed and might have to fork it. Have you tried pushing them down first and then pulling them up? Usually works for me.

[@jacquesinthegarden]

In this part of my yard they still get stuck regardless. I haven't added as much compost here but I probably will after this carrot harvest.

[@KF_Jaymon]

Love the garden updates! Its always helpful to see how other folks plan out their gardens! Did you end up making a video on your irrigation system??

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Unfortunately I haven't organized it all for editing yet. Ended up being a lot of files. But I am planning on getting it out within months.

[@KF_Jaymon]

@@jacquesinthegarden haha take your timeee. Happy gardening

[@CrankyMama44]

Hi Jacques!! 🤗 Quick question for you. Zone 6 here, 3rd year organic gardening. Would you be able to give advice on growing watermelons? I haven't had any luck.😭 Also, the squash bugs that take over my pumpkins every year. 😵‍💫 Thanks!! ✌️🫶

[@neirishsmiles8005]

Jacque have thought about a dedicated rhubarb patch ? Or strawberry 🍓 patch

[@weleanforward]

Hi! Do you have any videos on hugelkultur? We are considering that this year and would love to hear about your experience

[@FioBrio]

That big black bee is a violet carpetner bee

[@FioBrio]

@ 12:45

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Very cool, I see a lot of them around this time!

[@mimosaintheclouds6592]

On the raised bed that was being picked at by the crow, why not put some pvc and mesh?

[@jacquesinthegarden]

It ended up being racoons digging at night for grubs! For now I cagged off the remaining plants.

[@Coco_267]

Great content and great info 🌱 I’m motivated 💕 🌱

[@jacquesinthegarden]

So glad!

[@michellecolledge2355]

Love this video.

[@krazyboy119]

Watch out for that oxalis!

[@deborahcornell5304]

I have some kale that is two years old and yummy.

[@lipl2191]

Is that a martenitsa you're wearing? Happy spring! :)

[@taylordaine3881]

You need an owl for that pesky crow. 😂

[@CWorgen5732]

I'm so envious! I can't even get in to work on my new garden for another two weeks, and it's just muddy grass. What would you do if you were moving into a blank canvas?

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Oh man I kind of hope I do move into a blank canvas at some point to see what I would do. I haven't thought of it much but I would for sure do some proper planning at the start and make sure things are located in the ideal areas for sun.

[@CWorgen5732]

@@jacquesinthegarden We're moving onto the family acreage in southern Oregon and I've been given a full-sun rectangle of beef pasture that's a little under 1,500 m². The soil is that odd orange sandy hill stuff with veins of chunky white quartz and iron. Iykyk. Thankfully, this spot has been a garden before and is closer to good garden soil. Thanks!

[@judymckerrow6720]

Thanks Jacques. 🪻💚🙃

[@marchettejw]

I'm in the process of getting my front yard built for gardens. I had to get one vehicle running so I could move it so I could get to my trailer and move it.. and now I have a pretty good chunk of land to garden on. I'm doing some stuff in my back yard too but that's mostly reserved for the Border Collies.. They do enough land scaping for me that I really don't have to dig anything out to plant... The holes are already there..

[@jacquesinthegarden]

Haha, sounds like you have plenty of free help at least.

[@thepoint20]

Does anyone have any favorite method(s) of crop planning? This is my first year, so I am curious what works for different folks! (Google sheets, Seedtime Layout, paper, planner, etc?) happy planting!

[@erickangelcastro]

I definitely wouldn’t put a pomegranate there if you want small trees. They grow really fast and bushy. Although I’m sure you have another space in your yard for it 😅

[@erickangelcastro]

You can definitely do it if you keep up with pruning.

[@scrapzwtf]

How big is your property? You have so much going on and I’m jealous. My yard has a lot of shade as well as SE Texas heat. I haven’t been gardening long and it’s been tough trying to find what will work where.

[@hedykarim3614]

Give tO your neighbors