Flower bed full of salads.Sow spring leafy vegetables!

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Leafy vegetables belong in every vegetable garden. It doesn't matter if you set aside just a piece of space for it or the entire flower bed. You can sow it from spring to the end of summer and grow a classic lettuce, spinach, arugula or red colored salad for cutting. Leafy vegetables will comfortably grow together and create a beautiful mosaic on the flowerbed.

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1. Lettuce

Do you love the classics? Then you must not miss lettuce among the leafy vegetables. You can buy it pre-grown as seedlings, but you can also sow it directly in beds and then transplant the plants after they have grown. The seeds are sown in the beds right now, about a centimeter deep, two or three rows will be enough for you to grow enough plants. Plant the lettuce seedlings in a clip about 25 centimeters apart so they can round out nicely. Dig them up regularly and water them well. The more sun and water the salads have, the crispier and tastier they will be.

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2. Lettuce for cutting

Lettuce for cutting is harvested by simply cutting off the leaves. Cut them off gradually, more will form and thus you will prolong the harvest. In horticulture, you can find both green and red varieties of leaf lettuce for cutting. You can also buy a mix that will create a nice color combination on the flower bed. Sow again about a centimeter deep, leaving 20 centimeter spaces between rows. Lettuce for cutting can also be conveniently grown in larger boxes on the balcony or in raised beds (it is better protected there from snail raids). Also leaf salad needs sun and plenty of watering. The soil should be moist, but not soggy, so that the lettuce does not rot. Therefore, adapt the watering to the weather.

3. Spinach

If you have a rather shadier spot on the flower beds, set it aside for spinach. It thrives mainly in semi-shaded beds, where it gets sun for part of the day and shade for part of the day. Spinach is also sown directly in the bed, in rows about one centimeter deep. Leave about 15 centimeters between them. Do not transplant, harvest straight away. As with lettuce for cutting, you can also harvest spinach leaves by cutting or pinching them off and waiting for the next one. You can harvest until the spinach begins to flower. Once it blooms, the leaves become bitter and not so good. Then it is better to process the spinach or freeze it for the winter.

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4. Rocket and arugula

They are similar, yet slightly different. They differ in the shape of the leaves (rucola has sharper cuts) and taste (rocket is milder, arugula is sharper). In Czech garden centers you can get rocket seeds. It is an annual and you can sow it directly in the beds in early spring. Make the rows one centimeter deep, leave about 20 centimeters between them, and feel free to sow the seeds more densely. Rocket is undemanding and will grow in almost any soil. It is also suitable for growing in boxes. Occasionally water and dig the plant, but it does not need special care. It has a short growing season, so you will harvest the leaves in just three weeks.

5. Leaves from non-leafy vegetables

If you grow radishes or beets, you can enrich your fresh spring salad from leafy vegetables with additional leaves. Young leaves from radishes or beetroot are delicious and refreshing, and they are also slightly colored red, so they are also suitable as a decoration.

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What to watch out for: humidity and slugs

The harvest of leafy salads can be threatened mainly by slugs. Proven advice often does not work against them, but every gardener tries his best. Offense is the best defense, so go collect slugs after the rain. You can also try mechanical obstacles, such as eggshells sprinkled around salads or aromatherapy. Some snails are deterred by lavender or the pungent smell of Africans.

Also pay attention to overwatering and humidity so that the salads do not rot. It can help if you stretch black non-woven fabric over the beds before sowing or planting. It prevents direct contact of the leaves with the ground and also attracts the sun's rays, which every leafy vegetable craves.

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