Plant a Cocktail Garden

If you love making your own custom cocktails at home, a fun project can be growing your favorite herbs, fruits, and vegetables yourself. This will make for fresh, delicious cocktails for friends and families to enjoy. You will need to plant your cocktail garden in a sunny area in your yard with quality soil. Plant a variety of herbs, fruits, and vegetables commonly used in cocktails and harvest your plants once they're mature. With some time and dedication, your cocktail garden can thrive.

Steps

Establishing a Location for Planting

  1. Establish a soil pH between six and seven. Most herbs, fruits, and vegetables thrive in soil with a pH level between six and seven. Test your soil's pH level using a testing kit, which you can buy online or from a greenhouse. After getting a reading, adjust the soil as necessary.[1]
    • You adjust soil pH by mixing organic materials into the ground. To raise pH, use limestone. To lower it, use sulfur. You can purchase limestone and sulfur in powder or pellet forms and mix this into your soil.
    • Limestone and sulfur should be mixed in with the top six inches (15.24 centimeters) of your soil. The precise amount you use depends on the soil you're treating, so refer to package instructions.
  2. Create a small section of acidic soil. Berries, such as blueberries, are often planted in a cocktail garden.[2] Blueberries thrive in acidic soil with a pH between four and six, so provide a small patch of acidic soil somewhere in your garden to grow berries.[3]
    • Remember, limestone is used to raise soil pH levels, so mix in limestone in a powder or pellet form to raise your soil's pH level.[1]
  3. Use an area with loamy soil. Dig into the ground in various parts of your yard searching for loamy soil. Loamy soil should be easy to dig up. Stay away from areas where the ground is hard. In addition to being easy to dig up, loamy soil holds it shape when squeezed. Pick up a handful of soil and try to squeeze it into a shape when searching for loamy soil. Look for this type of soil in your garden when planting a cocktail garden, as it's ideal for gardening.[4]
  4. Find a sunny location. Most fruits, vegetables, and herbs require plenty of sun to be healthy. When choosing an area for your herb garden, find an area not blocked by shade from tall trees, bushes, or other plants.[5] Most plants need anywhere from six to eight hours of sun exposure a day, so avoid shady areas. Make sure the sun shines down solidly on the area you choose for much of the day.

Planting Herbs

  1. Choose moist soil for basil and mint. Basil and mint are both used in cocktails and are an excellent addition to a cocktail garden.[2] Both thrive in moist soil, so choose damper areas of your garden to plant them.
    • Basil tends to do better in soil that is both moist and well-drained.[6] Well-drained soils are usually fairly wet and brownish in appearance.[7]
    • Mint tends to do best in covered soil, so you should cover your soil with a small amount of mulch after planting mint.[8]
  2. Choose drier locations for rosemary and sage. Rosemary and sage are other herbs frequently used in cocktails and a great addition to a cocktail garden. They do well in loamy soil that is not overly moist. Plant these seeds in areas of the garden with loamy soil, saving the moister parts of the garden for herbs like basil and mint.[9]
  3. Plant your seeds with proper spacing. Herbs need different amounts of space to thrive. When planting your seeds, make sure you give each herb proper spacing.
    • Basil seeds should be planted 12 to 24 inches apart (about 30 to 60 centimeters).[6]
    • Mint spreads, so only plant one or two mint plants. Keep them about two feet apart (about .6 meter).[8]
    • Rosemary grows in thick hedges, so plant your seeds about three feet apart (about one meter).[10]
    • Sage grows in bushes, so plant your seeds about 24 to 36 inches apart (about 60 to 91 centimeters).[9]
  4. Pick a sunny location. Most herbs benefit from medium to full exposure to the sun.[9] When choosing a location to plant, make sure your herbs have adequate sun exposure so they can thrive.
    • The amounts of sunlight vary, but most herbs benefit from around six to eight hours of daily sunlight.[10] An area with little shade is optimal for herbs.
    • Basil can thrive on slightly less sun than other herbs.[6] If you have limited sunny space in your garden, save the sunnier areas for other herbs and plant basil near the shade. If you care for your basil plants otherwise, they should still thrive.
  5. Water your herbs regularly. Sage, rosemary, and basil only require watering when the soil becomes dry to the touch.[9] Monitor the soil of these plants and water as needed. With mint, however, water every day so the soil stays consistently moist.[8]
  6. Harvest your herbs when ready. Most of your herbs can be harvested as necessary once they begin to grow. For best taste, harvest herbs just before they begin to flower.
    • You harvest basil and mint by snipping their stems just before the point where two large leaves meet. Do so just before flowering and harvest as much of the plant as you need.[6]
    • Clip off the pine needle leave portions of rosemary as necessary. Make sure never to clip an entire rosemary stem away.[10]
    • Clip sage in the morning, just after the dew as dried. Take sage leaves as needed, clipping the leaves at the point where two leaves meet.[9]

Planting Fruits and Vegetables

  1. Start growing cucumbers and tomatoes indoors first. Cucumbers and tomatoes should be planted as stalks outdoors. If you're planting cucumbers and tomatoes in your cocktail garden, start off growing them indoors in pots with loamy soil. After a few weeks, you can transport these plants into your garden.[11]
  2. Start planting in the spring. The vast majority of fruits and vegetables should be planted in spring, after frost has passed. For the most part, aim to plant your fruits and vegetables in early spring after the frost has passed.[11]
    • Tomatoes, however, are the one exception. If you're growing tomatoes in your cocktail garden, plan to plant them about six to eight weeks before the last frost date. This means you'll be planting your tomatoes a little earlier than your other fruits and vegetables.[12]
  3. Plant cucumbers and tomatoes in neutral soil. Cucumbers and tomatoes are both frequently used in cocktails or cocktail mixers and are a great addition to a cocktail garden.[2] These plants tend to do well in pH levels from five to seven.[3] As these levels are closer to a neutral range, plant tomatoes and cucumbers in these areas of your garden. Save the areas with acidic soil for fruits and vegetables that require acidic soil to thrive.
    • Cucumbers require a lot of space, so make sure to plant seeds between 36 and 60 inches apart (about 91 to 45 centimeters).[11]
  4. Plant blueberries and watermelons in your acidic soil. Watermelon and blueberries tend to thrive in soils with pH levels between four and six. Therefore, plant your blueberries and watermelons in the small, acidic portion of your garden.[13]
    • Watermelon does better with a slightly higher pH, so try to find a portion of your garden with a pH level hovering around the six range. Watermelon seeds should be spaced around two feet apart (.6 meter).[14]
    • Blueberries thrive better in lower pH levels, between four and five. They should be planted about five feet apart (about 1.5 meter).[13]
  5. Provide mulch. Most fruits and vegetables require a layer of mulch kept on the ground nearby. Provide a two to four inch (5 to 10 centimeter) layer of materials like wood chips, sawdust, or pine needles to protect your plants.[13]
  6. Water your plants properly. Regular watering will help your fruits and vegetables grow to maturation. Make sure to water your fruits and vegetables according to their type so they thrive.
    • Blueberries and tomatoes need two inches of water per week.[13] Watermelon thrives with one to two inches of water per week.[14]
    • Cucumbers should be watered each day in the morning or afternoon.[11]
  7. Harvest your fruits and vegetables properly. Once fruits and vegetables begin to grow, you can begin harvesting your plants. When you harvest your plants, you can then use the fruits and vegetables in a variety of cocktails.
    • Watermelons are ripe when they feel hollow when tapped and there is little color contrast between the stripes near the top. Remove watermelon from the branch by cutting it off from the stem with a sharp knife.[14]
    • Harvest cucumbers once they're four to six inches long. You can simply pick cucumbers from the branch to harvest.[11]
    • Tomatoes should remain on the vine as long as possible. For best results, wait for tomatoes to fall on their own and then transport them inside as they fall.[12]
    • Blueberries are usually ready to pick between July and August. Pick the berries a few days after they turn blue.[13]

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.finegardening.com/four-things-you-need-know-about-soil-ph
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 http://www.birdsandblooms.com/gardening/fruit-and-vegetable-gardening/fruit-vegetable-plants-cocktail-garden/
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.almanac.com/content/ph-preferences
  4. ↑ https://www.lowes.com/projects/gardening-and-outdoor/soil-and-soil-amendments-guide/article
  5. ↑ http://www.gardeners.com/how-to/growing-fruits-and-berries/5067.html
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 http://www.thekitchn.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-growing-basil-221272
  7. ↑ https://www.agry.purdue.edu/soils_judging/new_manual/Ch2-natural.html
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 http://www.thekitchn.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-growing-mint-220865
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 http://www.thekitchn.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-growing-sage-221035
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 http://www.thekitchn.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-growing-rosemary-221276
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 http://www.almanac.com/plant/cucumbers
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 http://www.almanac.com/plant/tomatoes
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 http://www.almanac.com/plant/blueberries
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 http://www.almanac.com/plant/watermelon

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