The process of starting a home garden is among the most enjoyable things that you do. Plant beautiful flowers or begin an edible garden and get benefit from it. You might find it challenging to discover some fantastic home gardening ideas to start with. However, it won’t be difficult if you break down your tasks into easily manageable steps.
You can begin gardening at your pace. Soon, you’ll get the benefits of your work with gorgeous views, delicious flavor, and beautiful flowers. The following steps will help you to begin with a fresh start.
Table of Contents
1. Plan What You Want to Plant in Your Home Garden
Do you wish to have a vegetable garden or a flower garden, or a herb garden?
If you select green herbs and vegetables to be used on your dinner table, choose those that your family members will consume or are willing to try. If you’re looking for flowers for their beauty, color, and fragrance, consider whether you would like annuals that bloom all summer long but must be replanted in spring or perennials with less time to bloom; however, they bloom every year. Combining them will create a fantastic garden but will require thorough maintenance also.
To materialize your home gardening ideas, begin with a small garden to learn the art of gardening step by step.
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2. Select a Perfect Place for Your Home Garden
The majority of vegetables and kinds of flowering plants require six to eight hours of sun every day. It means you should be watching your garden throughout the day to find out the areas that receive full sun and which receive partial or complete shade.
Do not worry if your backyard is mostly shaded. It’s not possible to cultivate tomatoes under shade; however, some plants can thrive. Make sure to check the plant tags or consult the gardener at your local nursery for help in understanding the amount of sunlight a plant requires.
It’s better to choose a flat area for your garden since managing a sloped garden is more time-consuming, challenging, and costly. Make sure that your garden has a reliable water source.
3. Clean the Chosen Space
Remove stones, sods, and weeds in the place where you’re planning to set your home garden. If you’re looking for quick results, cut it up. Cut through the sod using spades, break the sod into pieces to be easier to get rid of, and place it in the compost pile to break down.
4. Test and Improve the Soil of Your Home garden
To know more about your soil’s characteristics, we recommend having a soil test conducted. It will help you understand the basic soil properties of your selected space. The results will also help you know the deficiencies in your soil and the best way to improve it. You can also use a DIY soil testing kit that can provide an estimate of the nutrient content in your garden soil.
The soil in your home garden usually requires a boost of nutrients, particularly when new construction is being built and the topsoil could be sucked away. Apart from being deficient in plant nutrients essential to the plant, Your soil may be poorly drained or compacted. The remedy is typically a simple one to add organic matter.
You can add a layer of mulch of compost, leaf compost, grass clippings that are dry or old manure to the soil each time you till or dig the new bed. Suppose you choose not to dig or work on an existing bed. In that case, you can place the organic material on the surface, turning it into hummus. Earthworms do the majority of the mixing of humus into the subsoil.
5. Preparing Seed Beds
Before sowing or planting seeds in your home garden, soil loosening in new beds can help roots develop more quickly and get the nutrients and water they require. You can either till the soil manually or use a mechanical device like the rototiller.
Tilling the soil is an excellent option for mixing the amendments in large quantities. But, it’s possible to overdo it and could result in soil structure damage. Digging is a better option for making small-sized beds.
Dig the soil only in the case of earth that is moist enough to create an unruly ball inside your fist, yet dry enough that it will break when dropped. Doing digging when soil is dry will be more complex and could cause damage to the soil’s structure when it’s wet. Make use of a spade or spading fork to gently move over the soil’s top six to eight inches mixing with the organic matter while you do it.
6. Select Plants to Be Planted in Your Home Garden
Visit a nearby nursery to buy the plants you wish to plant. Make sure to select plants that can thrive in the climate, soil, and sun. You can also search and order plants online to set up your home garden idea. Here are a few easy to grow plants that are suitable for you as a beginner:
Annuals: Sunflowers, Calendula, Zinnias, Impatiens, Cosmos, Geraniums, Marigolds, etc.
Perennials: Lilies, Petunias, Pansies, Phlox, Kalanchoe, Dianthus, etc.
Vegetables: Bottle gourd, Bitter Gourd, Cucumbers, Lettuce, Coriander, Spinach, Chillies, Peppers, Tomatoes, etc.
7. Planting
Make sure to read instructions on the seed packet to find details on planting times, the depth, spacing, etc. As a beginner at gardening, you can get an early start on the spring season by planting seeds indoors, a couple of weeks before the frost.
Certain plants, like pansies and kalanchoe, etc., are tolerant of cold temperatures. You can plant them in autumn or the latter part of winter. On the other hand, most annual flowers and tomatoes prefer warmer temperatures; therefore, don’t plant them till the danger of frost has gone out in your region.
Mid-spring and mid-autumn are the best time to plant perennials in your home garden. Many annuals are simple to plant from seeds that are directly sown within the gardens.
There are pots or containers designed explicitly for seedlings and seed-starting soil mixes at nurseries or gardening centers. Follow the directions given on the seed packets and set them on your sunny window or under grow light. Make sure you keep the seedlings and seeds dry but not wholly moist, or they could turn rotten.
The easiest method of starting the garden would be to buy new plants, commonly referred to as transplants. Create holes in your bed according to the tag’s instructions. Get rid of plants by pushing them up through the lower. If the roots have grown into a large ball, use an older fork or fingers to loosen some of the outer roots before placing them in the hole. Apply soil to the roots and then soak the soil in water.
8. Watering Schedule
Seedlings should not be allowed to become dry, and that is why it is essential to keep them moist daily. It would be best if you trim your plants whenever needed. Transplants also require regular watering until they become established.
Once they are established, the frequency you’ll have to water is contingent on the condition of your soil as well as humidity and rainfall. However, once per week is an ideal time to begin.
Clay soil tends to dry out slower than sandy soils, meaning you won’t have to water it as frequently. Windy, sunny conditions dry out soil much faster than cloudy, calm, and cool weather.
If you are unsure whether water or not, check the soil three to four inches beneath the surface. If it’s dry, you need to water your plants. Take your time and allow the water to seep down slowly to ensure proper watering instead of evaporating. To reduce the chance of evaporation, we recommend watering early in the morning.
9. Protection by Mulching
Cover the soil with a few inches of mulch to keep out weeds and moisture in the ground. It will not be necessary to water as frequently as possible to block sunlight from getting into the soil. It will also prevent the weed seeds from germinating.
You can select from a range of mulches with their advantages, including straw, shredded bark, or river rock. If you choose to use organic mulches like compost, bark, and cocoa bean shells, they will feed the soil while it is decomposing.
If you plan to plant a vegetable garden or a bed of annuals in your home garden, we recommend picking mulch that will decompose in a couple of months. For perennials, choose an extended-lasting mulch-like bark chip.
10. Regular Maintenance of Your Home Garden
When your home garden starts to grow, help it reach its maximum potential by staying up with gardening chores. The plants should be watered before they begin to wilt. Take weeds out before they go to seeds. Eliminate dead or dying plants. Provide tall plants with stakes, trellis, or a Tepee to keep them in good shape and easy handling.
Get rid of harmful insects by removing them from plants and dropping them in the bucket of soap water or hosing them away and spraying them with an insecticide soap. Additionally, we recommend harvesting your vegetables as soon as they are at their peak and ripen.
Start Your Home Garden
So, as we see it, a home garden isn’t as daunting as it appears. It is possible to enjoy your garden year-round as long as you are prepared ahead. Select your plants with care, and provide your soil with a boost of nutrition. Buy seeds and start gardening………
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Gardening can be actually fun
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