Do you think you have a green thumb? Or, would you like to learn what it takes to become an efficient gardener?
If you answered yes to either question, there are a few things you’ll need to know before you run outside and start digging holes in your yard. Believe it or not, many people who begin to try to learn gardening give it up rather quickly because they haven’t performed any research on the subject prior to starting out.
Gardening requires patience, and it also requires a bit of know-how and knowledge of how natural ecosystems work. It’s easy to plant a seed. But, it’s not easy to plant it in the right conditions that will ensure its growth.
Here, we’ll explore a few basic gardening tips that will get you started on growing your first garden.
Garden Placement
You might take a walk out into your yard, place your hand to your brow and survey the land, looking for the best spot to place your garden. But, if you think you have it figured out, hold that thought.
Garden placement is just as important as tending it and ensuring that it grows properly. Believe it or not, garden placement has more to do with the survival of your crops than most people realize.
For starters, placing the garden close to the home, where you can see it and access it easily is what you want to plan for. This will ensure that you’re more likely to tend your garden when it’s not placed far away. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
But, there are also other factors to consider.
Before deciding on where to place your garden, you’ll have to account for the path of the sun, and the amount of shade your garden will need. Most vegetation requires ample sunlight (at least 6 hours of full sunlight) in order to mature.
Garden Maintenance
Maintaining a garden requires patience and tender loving care. You’ll begin to notice that as your garden grows, you’ll begin to have many unwelcome visitors that frequent your garden area.
These visitors will come in the form of invasive weeds and pests, and you’ll need to secure your garden by getting rid of these in the most nonharmful way possible.
Many gardeners use herbicides to deter the growth of weeds and invasive plants. The only problem here is that they’re harmful to you and to the environment. In fact, the chemical herbicide, Paraquat, is known to cause Parkinson’s disease in humans. And, people suffering from exposure to Paraquat have been filing lawsuits to receive compensation for this debilitating disease.
Instead of using harmful chemicals to remove weeds, get out in your garden and pull them by hand. You can make this a daily or weekly practice, and it will enable you to tend to your garden more as it grows.
Pest Protection
While you could use pesticides on your plants, this is also another harmful practice that should be avoided at all costs.
Instead of using harmful chemicals, use natural methods instead. Some of these include planting naturally pest deterring flora in and around your garden. Marigolds have the uncanny ability to reduce the number of insects that feed on plants. When planted around the garden, you won’t have to worry about using harmful pesticides.
Several other plants are great to use for pest deterrents, and can simply be planted in or around your garden.
Enjoy Your Garden
The best advice anyone can give is to enjoy the process of owning a garden. Many of us are so used to getting everything handed to us quickly without having to wait. But a garden is not like this at all.
It’s a process that requires patience and care, and in a world full of so much business, a garden can be something that allows you to slow the pace down for a little while.
In many ways, a garden can bring you back to the natural rhythm of life. And, as you care for your garden, water it, and watch it grow, you can simply sit back, relax, and smile at the fact that you’re a part of this natural rhythm.