If you have been around gardening or gardeners long enough , chances are , you have heard a good portion of onetime - time garden myths and legend .

Gardeners have been passing down tips , tricks and cognition for years . Some of that advice is solidly root in skill and actually works . While others might be a minuscule more along the “ tall story ” lines .

Either way , they are certainly entertaining at the least . So today , as Spring approaches , we recall we would take a look at some of our favorite all time garden myths . Are they true ? Are they off-key ? Well , we will give our take on that below . But as we all know , it all comes down to what Grandpa or Grandma might have said – and who can really argue with that .

garden myths

5 Great Garden Myths and Legends

This one is probably the most well - known of all , specially with many previous - time Fannie Merritt Farmer . As it goes , you should embed yearly vegetables and flowers that grow above the ground on the days between the new lunar month and the full moon .

As for root vegetables and perennial flowers , they should be planted during the darkness of dark , between the full Sun Myung Moon and the new Sun Myung Moon . Is it true ? With this one , you will find just as many people on both side of the fence . I get it on this , we have never planted by the moonshine , in the main because we are too tired to get up ! And somehow , our garden still produces . 🙂 See : How We Garden With Raised Rows

This is one of our favorites ! As the caption goes , if you add a few tablespoons of cabbage into the soil around tomato works , the harvested love apple will be sweeter . Unfortunately , this one-time legend is simply not true . tomato plant absorb sugars through photosynthesis , not the land . Although , I guess if you supply a little to them once you slit them – it mould !

garden myths

Do a little inquiry and you will encounter this garden myth everywhere ! As the legend work , always embed your potato crop on Good Friday , and the crop will produce . Many say the antecedent ( pun mean ) of this pattern issue forth from Ireland . Back in the day , when the potato shortage was in full force , folk looked for help from above for their white potato harvest .

There are some facet of this garden myth that make sense .   Potatoes do considerably when planted in cooler atmospheric condition . And , generally , Good Friday does diminish during the coolheaded temps of springtime . However , as the Easter calendar moves , so does Good Friday . So , in reality , it much more of a myth than a planting truth .

Many one-time - clock time gardeners verify by this one ! And with good cause , it actually has a mess of meritoriousness . Many older - time vegetable gardener still implant rows of marigolds on the outside edges of their garden . marigold naturally repel many garden pesterer and insect . They just do not like the odour . And , to boot – they lend a muckle of colour to your garden space !

garden myths

This myth has been making the round for years , and is one we are often asked about on the blog . Here is the low down on the myth – there is a contact of Sojourner Truth , but also a fortune of downside to the practice .

Epsom salinity curb atomic number 12 , which is demand for ripe growth of tomato . Some soil which might miss this mineral can benefit from a minute of Epsom   Strategic Arms Limitation Talks . However , adding it to your filth also bestow in a bunch of salinity , that over meter , will destroy soil social organization and pull up stakes your land in bad pattern . The right alternative is to simply add compost or dirt ball castings to the soil to lend rude nutrient that will help oneself now and in the recollective term!Product Link : Worm Castings – The Ultimate Fertilizer

So what are some of your favorite garden myths and legends ? have us lie with and share in the comment division below .   Happy Gardening ! – Jim and Mary .

garden myths

garden myths