Gardening can be an excellent hobby. It gets you out into nature, taking care of the garden burns calories, and you’ll see tangible results for your efforts. If you’ve never gardened before, or if you believe you have a black thumb instead of a green one, you might feel like it’s more than you can handle. With these tips and tricks for beginners, however, you’ll find that gardening is easier than you think.
Start small
Instead of worrying about finding a large plot in your yard and going all out, start small. Grow a few plants or veggies in containers. This will make them easier to take care of, especially when it comes to limiting weeds, and it also allows you to put the garden wherever you’re more likely to see it and remember to take care of it. Leave the containers right outside your door, or in a corner of your patio.
Timing, type, and location
To have a healthy, successful garden, timing, type, and location are critical factors. Planting the right plants, at the right time, and in the right locations will help ensure that your fruits, veggies, herbs, or flowers grow large, lush, and plentiful. A site like garden.eco can provide you with information about what to plant, when to plant it, and which plants can be planted together and which ones should be kept apart.
Make a portfolio
As you begin your gardening journey, and continuing throughuot it, keep a portfolio of your garden. Use a cheap photo album and include the tags for your plants from the season. Add information such as where you bought the plants, where you planted them, and whether or not they grew successfully. You can add sketches or photos if you like. The main purpose of this is to help you see what works and what doesn’t. You may discover that certain plants just don’t do well in your yard, or that buying them from a particular store results in lower quality plants that don’t grow well.
Make a long-handled tool do double-duty
When plants need a specific amount of distance between them, you have to bring out a yardstick along with all the other tools you need for gardening. Instead, grab a shovel, rake, or hoe that has a long handle, lay the yardstick next to it and use a permanent marker to mark the inches and feet on the handle. Now when you need to measure distance, you can use your tool instead of going to get the yardstick.
Sun or shade
Pay attention to the descriptions of the plants you intend to put in your garden. Whether they need plenty of sun or a shady location is of particular importance. Consider not just how much sun or shade your yard gets, but whether you might need more than one garden plot if you want a mix of plants. More than one plot means more work, but allows you more flexibility in what you plant.
Start with easy-to-grow plants
Some plants are just naturally easier to grow than others, and will give you a leg up when it comes to being a successful gardener. Consider veggies such as tomatoes, peppers, chard, basil, bush beans, and onions. Flowers like dahlias, clematis, sunflowers, roses, or petunias also thrive easily. You can also ask for suggestions at the nursery or home improvement store where you buy your plants.
Start with plants, not seeds
A plant that is already growing a bit gives you a bit of a head start and is often easier to care for than planting seeds and trying to make sure they sprout. They’re also visible, which makes it harder to forget about them, and gives you more confidence that you’re taking care of them properly. As you are more successful with your garden, you can move on to planting seeds.
Planting a garden can be fun, save you money on groceries, and provide a beautiful patch of nature that you can feel proud to call your own. By starting simple, you build your confidence, ease into it, and find your sweet spot.