Lubbock Gardeners, Here’s What You Should Be Planting This Weekend & Some Other Tips

I love gardening. It's so immensely satisfying to nurture and love a plant, and to get awesome herbs, flowers, fruits, and vegetables in return. Homegrown food tastes better, is generally more nutritious, and is a beautiful and fun way to utilize your space.

I've been planting gardens off and on for quite some time and have taken Texas Tech's awesome horticulture class. Still, I am no expert and I'm constantly learning new things- generally the hard way.

Luckily, if you're new to gardening or even a little way on your journey like me, there's an excellent free resource at your disposal. Lubbock Master Gardeners have a great website with good information that's specific to our area.

First, here's what to get in the ground this weekend from their website, if you haven't planted these already:

• Plant ground covers and warm season annuals and perennials as soil temperatures warm and the danger of frost has passed.

• WAIT UNTIL NEXT MONTH TO PLANT HOT SEASON ANNUALS! (around Mother’s Day in our area.)

• Plant Bermuda grass seed ONLY when nighttime temperatures average 65 degrees. (Farmers will be planting cotton!) ​

• (click the links to go to specific directions on the Gardenate.com website)

  • ​Beans –  Plant in garden. Harvest from June.

  • Cucumber Plant in garden. Harvest from June.

  • Eggplant – Plant in garden. Harvest from June.

  • Jerusalem Artichokes – Plant in garden. Harvest from August.

  • Mint – Plant in garden. Harvest from May.

  • Okra – Plant in garden. Harvest from July.

  • Oregano – Plant in garden. Harvest from May.

  • Peas Plant in garden. Harvest from June.

  • Pumpkin Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from July.

  • Rosemary Plant in garden. Harvest from 12 months.

  • Sage Plant in garden. Harvest from 18 months.

  • Snow Peas  Plant in garden. Harvest from July.

  • Spinach  Plant in garden. Harvest from May.

  • Squash  Plant in garden. Harvest from June.

  • Strawberry Plants Plant in garden. Harvest from July.

  • Sunflower Plant in garden. Harvest from June.

  • Sweet corn Plant in garden. Harvest from July.

  • Sweet Marjoram  Start undercover in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks. Harvest from June.

  • Sweet Potato Plant in garden. Harvest from July.

  • Thyme – Plant in garden. Harvest from February.

  • Tomatillo Plant in garden. Harvest from June.

  • Tomato Plant in garden. Harvest from May.

  • Watermelon Plant in garden. Harvest from June.

  • Yam/Oka Plant in garden. Harvest from July.

  • Zucchini  Plant in garden. Harvest from May.

I'll give you some learned-the-hard-way advice myself. There's an adage: "plant a 10 cent plant in a $1 hole." This is painfully true.

If your soil isn't up to snuff, you're going to have problems. I bought soil/compost mix in bulk, mixed in peat moss to help retain moisture, and will cover my plants with plenty of mulch. Lubbock sun is meaner than the sun elsewhere to you might want some shade through the day depending on your plant varieties, even if they say "full sun." Water early in the morning near the base of the plant, and DON'T water at night; you'll have a mosquito zoo instead of a garden.

I've had tremendous success growing the following plants in Lubbock: dinosaur kale, rainbow chard, lemon balm, blackberries, oregano, basil, eggplant, bell pepper, habaneros, hatch chili,  yellow grape tomatoes, hardy lettuce varieties, Cherokee purple tomatoes, hollyhocks and sunflowers.

My "never again" list includes okra (plants are itchy), tomatillos (I love them, I just can't get them to produce before it gets too cold), zucchini and cantaloupe (grows very well, but my dog breaks into my garden to eat them right off the plant), broccoli (attracts cabbage moths) and delicate lettuce varieties, because they just get fried in the sun.

Your experiences will almost certainly differ. Good luck, and have fun getting dirty.