Summer Garden Planning

Ah summer in a sub-tropical garden. Hot, humid, afternoon storms and pests galore. Whilst the rest of the world rejoices summertime in their garden, Summer can be super difficult in our climate zone.

How to figure out what to plant

You’ll mostly be driven by your climate as to what you can plant for the season, my biggest tip is to try and grow what grows well first. Then second of all, it must be something you will eat. Over the years I've determined what I grow best but I always try to grow something new each season. I look at all those combinations and plant what works and I've shortlisted my summer go to plants here.

What I am planting in my Sub Tropical Vegetable Garden this Summer

Aquaponics

Our aquaponics is really great for churning out leafy greens, and summer time we eat a lot. So we'll be loading it up with lettuces, beans and spring onions. We're also trying zucchini and cucumber this year.

Large Garden Bed

Our large bed had an infestation of nematodes so for spring we gave it a rest with a green manure crop. We've now added a tonne of manure to the bed as well and it's loaded with worms. We've planted it out with Zucchini, beans, cucumber and corn.

Front Garden Beds

Our front beds will have sunflowers, zucchini, beans, basil, marigolds, carrots, beets, rockmelon (my summer experiment) and corn.

Pots & Containers

We obviously have all our fruit and herbs in pots around the place, but I am looking at this year growing my capsicum in a grow bag and looking at somehow to net it from fruit fly. The sweet potato has gone nuts in the trug again and we've also had some peanuts pop up as well. One thing that I haven't planned this summer is eggplant, as much as I love it (for it's versatility and ease to grow) my daughter is allergic to it, so it's off the menu for us. If you're after a full list of things you might want to grow this summer you can download my free summer growers guide here especially for subtropical climates.