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Even though gardening is a relatively relaxing and peaceful pastime, some people consider it very grueling and high-energy because there are so many tasks you need to get done and so much preparation involved. Gardening can be done at whatever pace you please, but regardless, it has to be done well and enjoyed throughout.
The best way to do that is to know the basics of how to maintain a garden. There is a lot to learn about the science and practice of agriculture and botany, but for your personal gardening purposes, there’s a select handful of things that will be applicable throughout your entire time learning the hobby. Here is a simple guide on the most important basics of gardening.
Lawn Maintenance vs. Garden Maintenance
The first distinction you’ll make is that lawn and garden maintenance are two separate things. While they may have some overlap, they can vary considerably. The first difference is that a lawn is much larger, so it’s less of an intricate process and more of a “cover all ground” type of job. That means mowing, watering, or fertilizing it is done with less attention to detail. Secondly, a garden is much smaller in size but has more biodiversity (difference in plants and organic materials, soil), which means attention to detail is important. Garden maintenance is less methodical and comes down to changes in each plant’s needs, a big distinction to make if you think it’s as easy as maintaining a lawn.
Choosing the Right Plants
Next, being a good gardener and maintaining it well means knowing the plants well. The species of plants you can have in a garden can vary a lot. You may want a vegetable garden with cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes, kale, or broccoli, all of which are easy to grow, or you could be going for a visually pleasing garden filled with tulips, chrysanthemums, roses, marigolds, or begonias. The choices are endless, but, as explained by the folks from Sweet New Earth, the care needs will change a lot as some plants are more delicate or fickle, need different growth conditions, take longer to plant, etc so it’s good to know what plants you’re picking if you want an easier time maintaining the garden or can handle the challenge.
Fertilizer vs. Compost
Next, you’ll want to make the decision on using fertilizer or going natural with compost. Either works fine and it often comes down to preference, but sometimes a fertilizer might be slightly less safe for certain plants. If you check out the gardening info at https://bovees.com, you can see why some people choose fertilizer over compost. The benefit of fertilizer is that it can be altered to help with specific garden maintenance depending on the brand or type you buy, plus you can get it in bulk. Compost, on the other hand, allows you to reuse old waste to help grow your garden so it’s environmentally friendly and may be less harmful to certain plants or vegetables in your garden.
Effective Watering Tips
Watering plants is also not as simple as you might think. The general idea is to give them just enough water but not drown their roots. This is a common mistake amongst newbie gardeners so it’s okay if you don’t know the proper amount. Thicker soils (clay) will absorb water slower and deeper, so it’s not as bad to give them the higher-end amount of water (2.5 – 3cm of water), while lighter soils will hold less and you can end up waterlogging them faster. It’s also good to do the watering a little more infrequently to prevent over-watering.
Building a Proper Garden
To build a garden, you have options. The first is to dig out a soil patch for your plants in your garden, but this allows insects in the grass to easily get into your garden patch. The next, and usually more frequented choice is to build a raised garden bed. You also have the option of using vertical racks or stands along with hanging pergolas and potters. The type of garden really depends on the plants, but it will also make maintenance easier when they’re separated from insects getting in.
Essential Gardening Tools
Lastly, you need the right tools. Spades, fertilizer distributor, gloves, pruners, loppers, trowel, garden fork, rake, hoe, watering can, hose, and wheelbarrow are all musts you need to maintain your garden. You likely have many of these tools already, but it takes one quick trip to the hardware store to get the rest.
Gardening can be an extremely rewarding hobby to invest your time and effort into, but to get the most out of it, you should use this simple guide to help maintain your garden properly.