A Simple Plank Of Wood Is The Secret To Sowing And Growing Better Carrots

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During the busy spring garden season, any time-saving hack that actually works is welcomed by gardeners. That goes double for tough-to-grow plants. "Carrots can be challenging to grow for a number of reasons: They're picky about soil and environmental conditions, and sometimes birds or other critters will dig up the seeds for a snack," says Tiffany Selvey, House Digest's Garden Editor and in-house Master Gardener, in an exclusive interview with House Digest. So, when Instagram's @nettlesandpetals showed how to use a plank of untreated wood to create a trough for carrot seeds, before using it to scrape soil over the pre-soaked seeds, and then protect the seeds until they germinate, we wondered whether this is the secret to sowing and growing better carrots.

"Sometimes the best solution is the most simple, and I think that's the case in this video," says Selvey. One piece of wood solves a variety of garden problems, inexpensively and with very little effort. There are also many TikTok garden hacks to make the rest of your work just as easy.

If you're looking at your pile of garden tools and wondering why you can't just use the trowel you've always used to plant your carrots, Tiffany Selvey makes a good case for why you should give this hack a try. "I think this is a brilliant way to plant carrots," she says in her exclusive interview with House Digest. "Using the side of a plank of wood ensures the seeds are planted at a correct and consistent depth, unlike digging a trench by hand." In other words, the edge of a board will create a more consistent trough than you will be able to do with your trowel.

That's not the only benefit of this method. "The soil of the planting area is also consistently moist, thanks to the 'trough' made by the wood," says Selvey. "Placing pre-soaked seeds speeds up germination, while raking the soil back over the area ensures the seeds aren't displaced." You could use any tool to rake the soil over your seeds, but why dirty something new when you've already got the board handy? And, let's not forget, we still have one more use for that board. "Covering the planted area with the wood protects the seeds from getting eaten before they have a chance to sprout," says Selvey. If you've been working on how to attract birds to your garden, this step may be especially helpful, keeping your feathered friends focused on the right seeds.

There is one major issue that the board hack does not specifically address: planting depth. "If you don't have measurements marked on the wood, you may end up planting your seeds at the wrong depth," Tiffany Selvey exclusively tells House Digest. The good news is that there is a very simple fix that will make it easy to ensure you're planting your carrots at the right depth — and it can be used for other seeds as well. "I recommend marking each end with spacing from ¼ to 1 inch to be sure the depth is consistent all the way across," says Selvey.

It's also critical that you don't forget about the board and leave it there for too long. "It's important to note that all seeds don't sprout at the same time, so if you want to attempt this planting method, be prepared to check for sprouts daily," says Selvey. Leave it for too long and you may find your seedlings have suffocated. You can also try another simple carrot growing hack that uses burlap in place of the board to protect your seeds. Still, no hack can make up for neglecting your seeds' needs. "Carrots like loose, fertile soil, so amend your planting area with some compost and make sure it's easy to dig down to about a foot below the surface," Selvey advises. We've all seen strangely shaped carrots, and dense or rocky soil is usually the culprit.