When you’re just starting out with gardening, it can seem like there’s so much to know, and you’ve got a thousand questions. How should you plant your veggies, and what kind of soil is best? When should you prune your hydrangeas and divide your hostas?
Is everything getting enough sunlight and water?
The good news is that nature is a terrific teacher. The more you garden, the more you’ll learn about what works and what doesn’t.
But for now, use this list of basic gardening tips to find the answers to some of the most common questions beginners have. And don’t forget to have fun while growing your own food and beautiful flowers in your yard!
Take Photos and Notes
Take photos of your garden before, during, and after you make changes in every season in order to be able to decide upon additions or deletions you would like to make.
Plan Your Garden Beds
After you have figured out where you plan to put your garden, your next set of choices revolves around the type and size of the garden bed(s).
Raised beds are attractive and may make it easier to work in your garden, but they also dry out more quickly.
In very dry areas, sunken beds can be used to gather available moisture.
Think about planting your garden in blocks or beds of plants instead of single rows.
Planting beds should be three to four feet across, narrow enough that you can reach the center from each side, and roughly 10 feet long or less so as not to step into the bed.
Inside the garden beds, you should place plants in rows to minimize walkways and maximize growing space.
Only add fertilizer and soil amendments to the planting area.
Start small, and make sure to give each plant enough room to grow because overcrowded plants have difficulty thriving.
Pick the Right Place
When it comes to fruits and vegetables, most of them need full sun, including a minimum of five hours of direct sunlight per day.
On the other hand, greens, herbs, and root vegetables will grow in partial shade.
With that in mind, southern gardens may do well with late afternoon shade and whereas northern gardens are most likely to need as much sun as they possibly can gain.
Before planting, consider how you will access the garden for picking, watering, and caring for your plants, and avoid high wind areas and low areas where frost is likely to settle, which are known as frost pockets.
Be aware of nearby wildlife, pet damage that occurs, and children’s play areas that would normally be occupied.
Know What You Want to Grow
If there are crops that you know for a fact that you won’t eat, there is no point in growing them in the first place unless your intention is to give them away.
Along with concentrating on planting the fruits, vegetables, or herbs that your family enjoys, be sure that they can grow properly in your area and
figure out your gardening zone and estimate the first and the last frost dates.
Feed Your Soil
Before you start digging into the start of building your garden beds for planting, make sure that you get yourself properly informed about your garden soil.
Your soil could be acidic, alkaline, or neutral pH; it could have clay, rocks, sand, or silt in it.
Balanced nutrient levels for soil are important, along with the presence of organic matter as well.
Does your soil have enough basic nutrients to be able to grow things properly, or does it run the risk of contamination from nearby roadways?
Some of these questions can be figured out by looking at the soil using home tests, or your soil may need professional lab tests.
Lead contamination from really old house paint or roadways with heavy traffic that is not far away from your property can present a problem.
The majority of garden crops need soil with a pH around 7 (neutral), while some garden crops like potatoes prefer conditions that are a little bit acidic.
Preparing in the autumn season is the best, but there is nothing wrong with getting your garden going in the spring.
Generally speaking, plants desire fertile soil that is rich with organic matter, deep, and well-drained.
In order to produce fruits and vegetables properly, plant roots require good garden soil.
Having the right tools makes working in your garden a pleasure, especially when you cover the basics by purchasing gardening equipment such as durable expandable hoses, a garden hoe, a leaf rake, a scuffle hoe, garden shovels, and a dirt rake.
Get your hands on tools that are the right size for you to prevent the chance of injuries and to save time and energy that can be wasted with cheap products.
