Gardening can make your house and property look beautiful and people have been doing it for pleasure for years. New homeowners who have never had a garden before may take one look at a landscaped home in the community and want their house to look like it immediately. Making your garden look like one that has been there for several years will take a lot of time and a lot of hard work but it can be done if the effort and time is put into it. The novice gardener's yard will eventually look as good or better than the one they envied. Follow the gardening tips for beginners below and you should be able to create that beautiful garden.
Tip one and the most important is to start slow. A newer garden is not going to look like an older one for a few years. Anyone with an established garden will tell you how long it took to achieve that look. Trying to build a large garden at first will open the opportunity for defeat and discouragement so it is much better for the beginner to start smaller and add through the years. You need to get used to gardening just like you need to get used to exercising. Go little by little and eventually it will be easy. Flower gardens can be started to go across the front of the house and maybe trail down the driveway. Vegetable gardens should start out no bigger than 100 square feet.
Decide what type of garden you can actually put in the available space you have. If your yard is primarily shady, you can not grow plants that need sun. Some flowers need 6 to 8 sunny hours per day and if they don't get it they will wilt and die. You will have to choose plants that enjoy shade in a shady yard so make sure to observe how much sun hits the yard per day. The minimum amount of sun required by a vegetable garden is six hours per day.
The spot in which you place your garden must be well drained. If you plant where water collects every time it rains your garden will rot and die. Pick a spot where you rarely see water gather when you have a storm. Too much water will rot the roots of your plants and they will not survive. This applies to flowers and vegetables.
Check your soil for the amount of acid in it. Buy a kit that tests soil at the local discount store or any store that sells plants and perform the directions on the box. A great amount of acid in the soil or too much alkalinity needs to be corrected by adding minerals to the soil. Take the test to the nursery and they will be able to tell you what you should add. They will give you instructions on how to do it as well.
Don't start with seeds the first time you plant. This is a big mistake. Most flowers and vegetables take forever to grow from seed and if you don't put it in the right time the growing season will be over before you see flowers or vegetables. Most seeds need to be started indoors at the end of the winter in order to be ready to plant in the late spring. Do yourself a favor and purchase plants to put in your garden, both flowers and vegetables. Do a search online for each of the items you plan on planting so you can learn how deep to plant and other tips about planting that specific plant.
Weeding, watering and feeding is necessary to make a great garden. Taking care of your garden can be equated with caring for a child in some sense. You need to watch over it and give it all it needs to grow. Take a walk daily through your garden to see if any bugs are eating the leaves and fruit of your toil. Watch for diseases that may overtake your garden. Weed at least every week because if you don't your garden will not survive and it will look terrible as well. Feeding the garden with a plant food on a periodic basis is also necessary to keep your garden producing both flowers and vegetables.
Become friends with the people at the nursery during your first few years of gardening. They will be a valuable resource as is information online. Be sure to check information to see if it is for your area before you take any online information. Join a garden club as they will probably be one of the best resources you can find locally. The best tip that can be given to a beginning gardener is to have fun. You will have successes and failures. Learn from both and always ask for help. - 29957
Tip one and the most important is to start slow. A newer garden is not going to look like an older one for a few years. Anyone with an established garden will tell you how long it took to achieve that look. Trying to build a large garden at first will open the opportunity for defeat and discouragement so it is much better for the beginner to start smaller and add through the years. You need to get used to gardening just like you need to get used to exercising. Go little by little and eventually it will be easy. Flower gardens can be started to go across the front of the house and maybe trail down the driveway. Vegetable gardens should start out no bigger than 100 square feet.
Decide what type of garden you can actually put in the available space you have. If your yard is primarily shady, you can not grow plants that need sun. Some flowers need 6 to 8 sunny hours per day and if they don't get it they will wilt and die. You will have to choose plants that enjoy shade in a shady yard so make sure to observe how much sun hits the yard per day. The minimum amount of sun required by a vegetable garden is six hours per day.
The spot in which you place your garden must be well drained. If you plant where water collects every time it rains your garden will rot and die. Pick a spot where you rarely see water gather when you have a storm. Too much water will rot the roots of your plants and they will not survive. This applies to flowers and vegetables.
Check your soil for the amount of acid in it. Buy a kit that tests soil at the local discount store or any store that sells plants and perform the directions on the box. A great amount of acid in the soil or too much alkalinity needs to be corrected by adding minerals to the soil. Take the test to the nursery and they will be able to tell you what you should add. They will give you instructions on how to do it as well.
Don't start with seeds the first time you plant. This is a big mistake. Most flowers and vegetables take forever to grow from seed and if you don't put it in the right time the growing season will be over before you see flowers or vegetables. Most seeds need to be started indoors at the end of the winter in order to be ready to plant in the late spring. Do yourself a favor and purchase plants to put in your garden, both flowers and vegetables. Do a search online for each of the items you plan on planting so you can learn how deep to plant and other tips about planting that specific plant.
Weeding, watering and feeding is necessary to make a great garden. Taking care of your garden can be equated with caring for a child in some sense. You need to watch over it and give it all it needs to grow. Take a walk daily through your garden to see if any bugs are eating the leaves and fruit of your toil. Watch for diseases that may overtake your garden. Weed at least every week because if you don't your garden will not survive and it will look terrible as well. Feeding the garden with a plant food on a periodic basis is also necessary to keep your garden producing both flowers and vegetables.
Become friends with the people at the nursery during your first few years of gardening. They will be a valuable resource as is information online. Be sure to check information to see if it is for your area before you take any online information. Join a garden club as they will probably be one of the best resources you can find locally. The best tip that can be given to a beginning gardener is to have fun. You will have successes and failures. Learn from both and always ask for help. - 29957
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