Ivy907 asks: I need advice on gardening?
ok, so i need something to do with my time and was thinking of growing my own vegetables and also having a lilly garden. I have no idea where to even start or how to start. Im a totals ditz with this stuff but i think it would be fun.
should i also build a greenhouse? I have two dogs that will most likely destroy the garden. any tips would be appreciated, thanks!
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Answer by Sarah
Don’t try to go too big, too soon. I advise you to not build a greenhouse until you have a better idea of how much you like it.
Start small. Get some lilies from a garden center or catalog; a pack of 5 or 6 is good to start with (preferably not in bloom!). With vegetables, I would wait until late April to mid May and go to a Lowes or Home Depot and get some of their veggie plants that are ready to go into the ground. Tomatoes are easy, but cucumbers and squash are climbers, so if you don’t have a trellis ready for them, you will need a lot of ground space.
Get, and keep, the areas you want your plants in weed-free. Depending on how well you do, you may have to hand-pick weeds daily, or at least twice a week in the summer. I don’t know what kind of soil is in your area, but you may have to supplement yours with bagged soil from a garden center. You could also start ‘collecting’ organic matter (old salad, potato and banana peels, apple cores, etc) from your kitchen in a plastic, lidded container and take these things out to your plants’ soon-to-be homes, dig the holes and cover it up with dirt and add a layer of leaves or even old newspaper. Earthworms will be attracted to the cool, moist food source and will come to eat and leave castings, aka black gold for plants.
As far as the dogs go, if you want this to be fun and rewarding, you’re going to have to get them under control in your yard. You could put up a small fence around your gardening area. I don’t know how well-behaved thay are; only you know what you will have to do to keep them from destroying the garden.
Gardening is very addictive. I know I don’t need any more plants, and I really don’t have the space prepared (yet), but whenever spring comes and the garden centers come to life again, I can’t help myself. I have to at least browse. Take little steps, don’t beat yourself up for making mistakes and see how resilient plants are.
The knowledge/experience you gain from this growing season will make next year even more fun and exciting. If you ever have any questions, feel free to contact me. Good luck!
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I don’t know much about lilies. When it comes to growing vegetables, you may be better off with a container garden. Your dogs might not dig up plants if they are in pots and not in the ground. You can grow lots of different veggies in containers – onions, carrots, peas, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, herbs and bush varieties of zucchini, summer squash, winter squash, etc…
If you find a way to corral your dogs, you could put in a regular garden. You’ll need to break up the ground and get rid of any grass by digging it up. It’s a lot more work but if you want to grow lots of veggies, it’s probably the way to.
The following link has lots of good veggie gardening info including creating a garden from scratch, soil prep, container gardening and tons of tips and advice for planting, watering, fertilizing and harvesting lots of different veggies. They even have stuff about diagnosing and curing common veggie plant problems and even recipes. Good luck!
http://www.backyard-vegetable-gardening.com/
You would not believe how many awesome resources there are online for learning how to garden!
How-to videos on YouTube
Tons of How-to websites that will teach you EVERYTHING you want to know about gardening.
Type “How to start a vegetable garden” into Ask.com’s search box and go!
I have always kept my two large dogs out of my garden with a simple chicken wire fence I made myself. Easy and effective. You don’t need a greenhouse.
have fun!