6 Gardening Tips for Beginners
If you’re new to gardening and have been motivated by lockdowns or home isolation to start on a new garden, then you’re in the right place! We know that gardening might seem a little daunting, especially if you’re new to getting things growing in the backyard, the balcony, or even your bedroom.
Though with some practice and a little help you’ll be on your way to some incredible fruits, veggies, or flowers in no time.
Whether you’re in summer, spring, winter, or fall there’s never a bad time to get started on gardening and with our tips below, you’ll be able to get started right away!
Choose a Site
Off the top, the very first thing you’re going to want to work on is choosing a place for your garden. If you already have one, and things aren’t working all too well, then it might be time to consider moving your garden to another space in the yard of the home.
It is good to keep in mind that plenty of light is essential, though you want to ensure that part of your garden is well-shaded during some parts of the day.
Too much heat, sunlight, and warmth can easily kill offshoots, for example, and so you will want to choose a space that offers the best of both worlds… light, and dark.
However, for our readers with garden beds that aren’t able to be shifted, you can consider installing shading devices that keep your garden shielded from the sun for at least some part of the day.
Use the Right Tools
To our second tip, you’re always going to want to make use of the right tools for the project you’re undertaking.
For example, those who need to do a lot of pruning should make sure that you’re investing in tools that give you the chance to do this effectively. You don’t want to half-prune a plant and accidentally tear a large chunk of it off, leaving it to die.
Another point to keep in mind is that gardening with bulbs will mean you have to be ready and able to plant and transplant quite often, and so the right gardening tools like a daisy grubber will need to be in your arsenal and ready to go!
Enhancing Your Garden by Attracting Honey Bees
To infuse your garden with a more natural and vibrant feel, consider welcoming pollinators like honey bees. Honey bees play a pivotal role in pollinating the diverse array of plants that add life and color to our gardens. Furthermore, their diligent work directly influences the growth and yield of essential crops like fruits and vegetables. Cultivating a bee-friendly garden is a straightforward and highly rewarding process, primarily involving including plants that honey bees find appealing, such as sunflowers, lavender, and rosemary.
By creating an inviting environment for these industrious pollinators, you not only promote a healthier ecosystem but also ensure a more abundant and flourishing garden. Honey bees are nature’s invaluable workers, and by embracing them, you champion the vitality of your green space. So, in your journey to nurture a thriving garden, always remember the indispensable role that honey bees play in making it truly bloom.
Pick the Right Plants
A tip you may have guessed is choosing the right plants.
You’re always going to want to make sure you’re selecting plants for your local climate zone and soil type to try your hand at planting. Not all plants grow in every climate zone, and this means that no matter how hard you’re trying and nurturing a specific plant, it simply won’t grow correctly, flower or fruit.
With that in mind, take a look at some plant species guides and find out which grows best in your climate zone and go from there. Though you might not be too thrilled by having to forgo planting strawberries, per se, there is typically a range of other plants that offer a similar flower, fruit, or vegetable that will grow where you live.
When buying live plants tick to a local plant nursery for the best plants possible. A plant nursery is a place where plants are grown. Plant nurseries may sell their stock directly to the public, or to other nurseries for resale.
Nurseries that produce plants for the wholesale trade typically grow a wide variety of plants and employ specialists in the production of different types of plants.
Be Ready for Frost
For our readers in frost zones, you’re going to want to make the frost dates your best friend.
If you accidentally ignore a frost date and find yourself planting something a little too early in the season, you run the risk of all the shoots being killed off by the frosting and needing to start all over again, and with that, we suggest you keep a close eye on all projected frost days in your city.
To add to this, in some cities, cold weather will simply kill off all of your plants regardless of whether they’ve grown completely or are still seedlings.
That said, checking your fall time weather predictions and getting prepared to harvest or completely move your plants indoors is an essential part of gardening in cities that experience all four seasons.
Mulch is Required
Regardless of where your garden is, you’re going to want to make sure you’re mulching. This will keep everything from weeds to water loss at bay. The mulch you use will dictate how thick you’re layering it on, though ideally between two and three inches is a good place to start.
The mulch you add to the soil will help to starve out weeds from taking over your garden, reduce solar penetration, and thus cut back on the number of times you need to water your plants.
Keep Your Plants Fed
Whether a fruit, vegetable, flower or grass, you’re always going to want to make sure you’re fertilizing your soil as best you can. The more fertile the ground is, the better your plants are going to grow and the more resilient they will be to just about everything life throws at them.
It’s good to get into the habit of fertilizing your soils at least twice a year in order for your plants to keep growing happily and healthily without showing any signs of decline in their leaves or the output of fruit or vegetables you’re getting.
