Top Tips for Beginning Gardeners

Have you recently moved into a house with a new yard? Are you wanting to try your hand at gardening and growing your own fresh veggies? Gardening is the best way to get the freshest possible vegetables. Unfortunately, a few minor mistakes can make it feel like you're not meant to be a gardener at all. Most of these mistakes are easily avoidable by doing a few simple things. Things you should do include:

Start with good soil: It can be tempting to simply buy a few nursery plants and stick them in your yard. However, if nobody has ever done any gardening on the property that you now own, the dirt in your yard may be little more than cheap fill dirt. Fill dirt has very little in the way of nutrients and almost no organic material, making it difficult for plants to grow. Fortunately, you can amend fill dirt with fertilizer and organic matter, making it easier for your plants to gain a foothold. Whether you want to try organic gardening or more modern gardening practices, there are soil amendments available at your local garden center.

Don't start with seeds: Seeds are a fun way to get started growing your own garden. However, seeds are also the most prone to failure. Depending on what variety of plant you want, you may have to plant dozens of seeds just to get a few to sprout. Of those seeds that sprout, only a fraction of them will eventually grow to maturity. While you may want to start a few plants from seed as well, you'll get the fastest results by purchasing at least a few nursery plants. Nursery plants take much of the guesswork out of gardening. Instead of having to deal with things like warming mats and wondering if your seeds are too moist or not moist enough, you can simply put the plants in the ground and watch them grow. Just don't forget to add fertilizer as needed to the soil when you plant.

Take a gardening class: Sometimes, libraries or local community colleges offer gardening classes for free or for extremely low prices. You should certainly take advantage of these to learn more about gardening locally. While you can look some information up online, the available information may be for a different area of the country entirely and could have you planting things at the wrong time of the year, potentially causing you to lose your plants due to frost or heat. If you can't find any gardening classes, see if there is a Master Gardener Extension Office nearby where you can get your various questions answered.

About Me

Planting a Flower Garden

When I was a kid, I enjoyed visiting an elderly lady’s home in my neighborhood. This sweet woman had the most beautiful rose garden I’d ever seen in my life. In her spacious garden, she grew large red, pink, white, yellow, and orange roses. After seeing her handiwork, I vowed to start my own rose garden one day. Are you planning to start a flower garden in the near future? To make your venture successful, you’ll need the right supplies. For instance, you might want to shop for items such as a pair of gloves, gardening shears, a wheelbarrow, a long water hose, and seeds. On this blog, I hope you will discover the essentials you need to begin a flower garden. Enjoy!