Gardening is incredible fun, once you have a functioning garden that is. It is an amazing hobby, but it needs hard work and sheer determination. As a new Gardener myself, I struggled in starting my garden, however these 10 tips made the gardening-life a whole lot easier.
1. Starting Your Garden
You need to locate a spot in your garden that is not blocked by shade, gets plenty of sunlight, healthy soil and has quite a large, flat surface area. If you are unable to fit a garden in your ground, there is always the container route, however a lot of the time, they're clunky and look horrible. In both ways you need to make sure the soil is fertile, and you can easily prevent weeds. There isn't a huge rush into completely filling your garden with plants just yet however, as being a newbie to gardening, you don't know if you like it. Therefore you need to start small and work your way up. If you can't care for some kitchen herbs, how will you ever care for larger scale plants. Since you'll likely start with a small plant, I recommend placing it near a window or a door so you're more likely to keep taking care of it.
2. Healthy Soil, Healthy Drainage.
Your plants NEED good soil and drainage (i.e. compost) or they will never grow and will die within weeks. How to compost? You ask; well it's simple! All the scrap food you don't eat throughout the day (e.g. apple cores, banana peels, eggshells, coffee grinds etc). Mix it together, then mix that in with your plants' soil. Simple! Drainage is also super easy to master (this is for containers); just ensure there's holes in the bottom of your container, and to be safe, line the bottom of your container with some big rocks.
3. Placement
The placing of each plant depends on what their plant needs. It may need sun and thus needs to be in a bright, sun-hit spot. Others prefer shade and must be put in shade. It is recommended that you always read your plants description, as it will inform you on what your plant requires.
4. Who and When?
A good gardener will know when to plant a plant depending to seasons. Some plants don't grow in winter, some don't grow in summer. It is all about researching your plant before planting it. If you plant it in a season it won't grow in, you'll be waiting even longer for your garden to look good.
5. Start Basic
You don't want to rush in and start growing plants way above your capability. No matter how good you think you are, I assure you gardening isn't something you can rush the skill of. It takes patience and determination. The first plants you should be growing are plants like tomatoes, basil, foxgloves, roses etc.
6. Water
The key to growing your plant is simply water. Make sure you always water your plant, as it needs plenty of water. However, be careful not to get the leaves wet, as this can lead to mould and rot etc. If you're asking how much water each plant should have, it is recommended the average plant needs a minimum of 1 inch of water every week. This is why step 1 is also so important with the positioning of your garden, as if it's close to your backdoor or on your window, it makes it super easy to pop out and give them a quick water. A final tip on this point as well is to look out for leaves turning or completely yellow. This usually means your plant is being over-watered.
7. A little off the top
The final tip today is to remember to trim your plants. By trimming leaves, you allow your plant increased air circulation. Plus there is less leaves for you to spill water on (step 6).
In Conclusion, gardening is not a skill you get over night. It takes a lot of practice and hard work. I'm not the perfect gardener, I only started earlier this year; however, by using these tips I have given you, my skill dramatically increased. I hope these tips can do the same for you. Thanks all for reading, comment any more tips you have to help out garden newbies.
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