Top 3 Spring Gardening Tips for Beginners
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Gardening is not just a perfect way to beautify your yard, enhance your outdoor living space, or grow delicious, nutritious vegetables. Working in your garden is also a fun hobby, and a great way to stay active and relieve stress. There is no end to the excellent gardening advice offered by long-time home gardeners and industry experts. Here are a few tips we’ve identified among the most important for beginner gardeners.
Create Sufficient Drainage
You may opt to start a container garden, if you don’t have a suitable space in your yard. Container gardens also allow easy control of soil fertility and weed prevention. For best drainage in your container garden, fill pots one-third to one-half full with pebbles. Use potting mix with lots of vermiculite and peat moss to further increase drainage.
For a garden in your yard, use plenty of compost to help ensure sufficient drainage. You can purchase very inexpensive bags of ready-to-use composted material at your garden supply store. Or, you can create your own compost using egg shells, potatoes and squash peelings, apple cores, watermelon and cantaloupe rinds, coffee grinds, etc., to promote drainage and increase soil nutrients.
Relieve Root-Bound Plants
A common problem in buying potting plants is discovering that some are root-bound. As a plant grows inside a pot, roots can outgrow the space and begin to grow in increasingly tight circles inside the pot. This binding of densely packed roots prevents water and essential nutrients from reaching the leaves and other parts of plant above the soil surface. This can also occur in roots of plants planted in compacted soil in in-ground gardens.
This condition can promote rotting of roots, and can attract insects that nest in the empty space created as roots push away surrounding soil, among other problems. To correct this condition, use your fingers to gently pull roots apart. If roots have toughened, it may be necessary to make a few careful vertical cuts in the root-ball with a knife.
Choose Easy-To-Grow Plants
Some types of plants are famous for being easy to grow, and others are notorious for being difficult to keep alive and healthy. Depending upon your region, if you want to grow vegetables, consider starting with tomatoes, yellow squash, peppers, onions, basil, leaf lettuce, potatoes, and other choices recommended by experts. Check with the gardening store professionals in your region for advice on floral plants that thrive in your area.
However, if you are especially inspired by certain plants, you can grow the plants you most enjoy. If you want to grow plants that do not thrive in your region, consider creating a small greenhouse or use some of your indoor living space. Or, if you’re very committed to making it work, many people do transfer certain plants from indoor to outdoor locations as seasons change.
Keep In Mind
Your gardening success will depend upon a consistent routine of following the above and other fundamentals, including planting during periods recommended the types of plants you choose. Also, place plants to accommodate those that require more shade, or need more direct or indirect sunlight. Diligently follow watering instructions. Weed as necessary. Watch for insect infestation, and treat plants according to recommendations for organic pest control. Finally, take time to enjoy your excellent achievement in creating something very special—a living system—a garden.