Basic Steps For Beautiful Garden
The lush green grass surrounded by a splash of colors is not only appealing to the eyes but also provides a soothing and serene effect on the human mind, body and soul. Gardening is one of the most enjoyable and relaxing activities, provided you have right knowledge to go about it.
Here are some basic ideas to help you get started with gardening
Start small
Probably you may have dreamed of a garden with beautiful flower beds, greenery all around and a variety of vegetables and fruits growing in it, but it is always good to start small. If you want to begin by planting your favorite flowers, select a site that can be viewed straight from your bedroom window so that you can enjoy the beauty of your garden quite often. This will always stimulate you to work harder to improve your gardening skills.
Deciding upon a site
If you are keen on growing some specific plant, find out the growing conditions required for it. Vegetables need sunlight for at least 6 hours a day. Same is the case with flowering plants, but there are many plants that need a partially shaded site. If you have chosen a shaded place for your garden, you will have to content yourself with limited choices for your garden.
Examine the soil
After having decided the site for planting, examine the soil carefully. It is the most important part of gardening. Check your soil pH to find out whether the soil is more acid or alkaline. The plants cannot feed on nutrients alone unless the soil pH is within an acceptable range. Most plants thrive on neutral pH, ranging from 6.2, - 6.8, but some need specific pH. If you are buying plants from a nursery, check the plant tag for specifics. If no pH is mentioned you can go for a neutral range.
Check out the soil texture, the minerals and nutrients in it. You can get it examined at your local Cooperative Extension office and some nurseries. The soil texture can be either sandy, heavy clay, rocky or the ideal, a sandy loam. No matter what the texture of your soil, it can be further improved by adding organic matter such as compost to it.
Also consider the amount of sunlight reaching your site and the exposure required for the plants you have decided to grow.
Tilling of the soil
This may be the toughest part of gardening. Before planting on your chosen site, make sure you weed out everything to clear off the ground.
Fall is the best season for tilling the earth so that the grass decomposes during the winter months. Even then you will see the appearance of new vegetation with the coming of the spring season. It’s better to either remove the existing vegetation completely or to smother it.
It maybe a hard task to remove all the unnecessary sod. Probably you may loose some good soil along with the sod. If you have a good soil, you can start without removing the grass. Just begin by laying down thick sheets of newspaper over the ground. Cover the newspaper with 4-6 inches of good soil. The newspaper will gradually decompose and the weeds will be smothered. If you begin your gardening with good soil, you won’t have to add a lot of artificial fertilizer later on. A good soil will nourish your plants properly.
What to grow
Deciding what to grow is not easy. If you want to start small, you have limited choices. If planting vegetables is what you want to start with, then choose your favorites and the ones you can’t find fresh locally. Tomatoes, lettuce and beans makes a good start.
Growing flowers may be difficult for beginners. But many dream of beautiful flower beds stretched across their gardens. Check out a few garden centers and pick the plants that require similar growing conditions so that you easily take care of them. Since you have just started gardening, keep the plant varieties to a minimum. It’s better to choose more plants with lesser varieties than vice-versa.
Planting
The ideal time to plant is on a calm, cloudy day. Stress your new plants as little as possible. Wet the plants in their pots a day before planting in the ground, let the roots dry in the sun, if roots are densely packed, de-tangle them so that they can spread in the soil, plant it deep and water your garden daily.
Mulch
Use mulch to improve the quality of your soil, conserves water, block weeds and cool the soil soon after planting. Use as much as is required inadequate amount of mulch may result in rotting of the stem leading to mice and voles around it. Plastic mulches are good for vegetable gardens. They keep the soil warm for summer crops like tomatoes, peppers, melons and squash.
Labeling and maintenance
Label your plants to keep record of what you have planted. This will help you maintain your garden in a better way.
Now, is the time you can sit back and enjoy the fruits of your hard labor. Perhaps you can start planning to expand your garden in the coming year.