Farming flowers, herbs, and vegetables is an enjoyable activity that offers much satisfaction – but gardening requires hard work and dedication.
Make your garden area ready to plant by clearing away weeds and sod. For lawns, sod-cutting machines or knives may help. Put this grass under your compost pile instead!
Choose Your Plants
One of the most essential steps you can take for your garden is selecting suitable plants. While this task may seem daunting at first, starting with basic research can make this easier. When making this choice, take into account its location and climate – your landscape should ideally suit its growing conditions well, for instance, if you reside in an area subject to severe frosts; look for hardy perennials or annuals which can withstand such conditions. It is also essential that you understand whether there will be full sun exposure, shade from surrounding structures, wind direction, etc as this can have an effect on which plants thrive best within a landscape.
Once you’ve taken into account environmental considerations, decide the type of garden you wish to create. This could range from an organic vegetable patch or flowerbed. If you need help choosing what plants to grow, visit botanical gardens or local parks – many provide staff on hand who can answer your queries about planting options and give advice – before selecting plants based on hardiness and beauty; aim for vibrant colors and textures while don’t be afraid to experiment!
Although creating an aesthetic garden should always be your goal, it’s also essential that plants that require minimal upkeep meet your family’s needs. Search for drought-tolerant or low-water usage plants; these will require less upkeep and watering. Alternatively, adding moisture-retaining crystals or installing a drip irrigation system could keep water at ground level for less evaporation.
Consider who will visit your garden (such as deer, rabbits, badgers, and foxes) when selecting plant species resistant to them; this will save time and money from having to constantly re-plant your garden.
Once you’ve selected your plants, prepare the soil. Start by clearing away any dead leaves or roots from your plot before using a tiller or garden hoe to loosen and break up the soil. Additionally, adding compost or organic matter such as mulch will enrich the soil further, giving your plants an ideal home.
Prepare the Soil
No matter, if you want to grow flowers, herbs, vegetables, or fruits – healthy soil, is absolutely vital! Your garden plants rely on it for water, nutrients, and oxygen as part of their survival.
Before planting, work the soil to loosen and improve its texture. With a garden rake, remove rocks, roots, debris, and clods. This allows seeds to more easily penetrate through the surface layer of soil to send roots deeper down.
If the site of your garden-to-be is currently part of a lawn, use a sod cutter or sharp knife to remove the sod and grass using a sod cutter or sharp knife. When complete, save any sod for use elsewhere or compost/sell/compost back out the sod in bulk. Mark off this area using washable chalk spray paint so you can find it easily next spring when planting begins!
Marked areas can also serve as pathways so that you won’t accidentally step on any vegetables or flowers while strolling through your garden. Furthermore, plan where a drip system or sprinklers should go and consider adding raised beds for easier planting, harvesting, and care of plants.
As a rule of thumb, garden locations that receive at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight daily should be selected. Preferably choose south-facing spots for maximum sun exposure.
Before planting, it is wise to conduct a soil test. This will reveal any deficiencies in the nutrients in your soil and help guide amendment efforts. Your county cooperative extension office can guide this process for you; such as how much soil to collect from each section and when and how often testing should take place.
Consistently adding organic matter is one of the best things you can do for your garden, second only to soil testing. No matter if it’s sandy, clay, loamous, or loamy soil type – compost from your own pile or purchase it at a garden center will improve structure and nutrient content while leaves can also be collected during fall to be turned into layers of mulch for an instant garden makeover!
Planting
Growing your own plants can be extremely rewarding and will allow you to enjoy fresh vegetables and fragrant blooms right from your own garden. But whether you want to grow herbs for cooking purposes or colorful blooms for home decoration, it is essential that the soil be properly prepared so your crops will flourish and flourish.
If you plan to plant from seed, start your preparation in the fall by covering your garden area with five sheets of newspaper (double that number if there’s Bermuda or St. Augustine grass) and spreading a 3-inch layer of compost (or an equal mix of potting soil and topsoil) over it. By springtime, you should have a fully ready garden bed without grass or weeds to contend with as well as plenty of nutritious soil to work with!
Rototill or spade your planting area before amending the soil with plenty of organic matter to improve its texture and fertility. For a faster project, the ideal time and weather conditions to plant are when conditions are neither too hot nor too cool, yet soil moisture levels are right – press a small handful of soil in between your fingers to see whether it crumbles rather than sticking together or molding into a ball when pressed; otherwise it indicates too dry of conditions requiring further moisture addition before working with it effectively.
When planting, read and follow all instructions listed on each plant tag. When planting bare-root plants, ensure there is plenty of room for their roots to spread and check that the hole is wide enough by pushing up on the bottom of their container. If their roots have become tangled or have grown into a mass (known as being root-bound), loosen them by gently pulling with your fingertips before placing them in their respective holes.
After planting, cover the area with 2-3 inches of mulch – such as shredded bark, wood chips, straw, or cocoa bean shells – in order to retain moisture in your soil and prevent weed growth. Mulch will help retain water while keeping out unwanted plants such as weeds.
Water your plants regularly throughout the summer, especially if conditions are hot or humid. Plants lose a significant amount of moisture through their leaves, so it’s up to you to keep them hydrated.
Care
Gardening can be an excellent way to beautify your yard while cultivating healthy food, herbs, or flowers. But gardening does require some maintenance for optimal results: watering, weeding, and getting rid of diseased or dead plant material need to be kept up with. Staking and trellising tall plants will ensure their maximum potential growth without breaking or falling over.
Vegetable gardens can be daunting tasks for beginners due to space requirements. Raised beds can help meet those requirements, or smaller garden beds could be rotated each season by adding fences around them to keep deer or rabbits out.
An important consideration when creating your garden should be your family’s needs and tastes. Consider which vegetables and herbs your family would enjoy eating as well as flowers for their beauty or fragrance – including annual bloomers that need to be replanted annually as well as perennials that return year after year.
Prior to planting a garden, make sure that it will receive enough sunlight for the crops you intend on growing. Most vegetables and flowering plants need between 6-8 hours of direct sunlight each day in order to thrive; you can use washable chalk spray to outline sunny spots in your yard while consulting your local garden center can help identify how much sunlight each type of plant requires.
To keep your garden in tip-top condition, mulch it with organic materials that will break down gradually and add vital nutrients back into the soil. Just remember to leave enough space around each plant so they can breathe; chemical fertilizers or manure could contaminate crops and potentially harm crops in any case.
If you’re new to gardening, photos of gardens with similar conditions as your own can provide inspiration for plantings and layouts. Visit public gardens as part of large estates or country homes to see firsthand which materials and combinations work well. Also, check your hardiness zone on the USDA website and talk with neighbors to determine what grows well locally.