How to Start Your First Garden Ever
Gardening is a very rewarding activity. You can acquire a fitter physical and mental self with hours spent engaged in gardening activities, enjoying the sight of your full-grown garden and spending time in it with family and friends. The best thing is that you can actually start a garden on your own without the help of professional landscapers and gardeners. Here are the easy steps to do so.
Set Your Garden Goals
There are many types of gardens to choose from. You have vegetable gardens, herb gardens, fruit gardens, ornamental plant gardens and flower gardens, to name a few. Well, of course, you can mix and match plants to achieve a composite type of garden. You have to be realistic about your gardening goals, too. Thus, you need to plan in advance the types of plants, their layout and the care necessary for each one.
Select Your Site
Along with setting your goals, you have to consider the site your garden will be. Keep in mind that your choice of a garden will affect your site. Thus, if it is an herb garden, you must choose the sunniest site while a flower garden requires some places to be shady. You also need to look at the site drainage, the availability of the water supply, the amount of sun received, and even the view from the house. If you are going for container gardening, then looking for good windowsills and appropriate containers is necessary.
Lay Out the Beds
You should then mark out the borders of your garden in accordance with your initial plans. You may use the garden hose or a length of string as well as garden stakes to do so. Measuring the shapes and sizes of your garden beds allow for a more informed decision of the number of seeds and plants that you will have to purchase later on. Plus, it will provide the opportunity to clear out certain areas for planting.
Of course, laying out the beds also means that you have to amend the soil, which is best done through the addition of compost to the soil. You may also have your soil tested just so you can determine exactly how much compost and/or fertilizer you will need to make your soil a good one.
Select the Plants
Now, look into your plans before purchasing the plants. You want to avoid impulse buying especially when you are on a limited budget, a limited space and a limited time for gardening. When choosing from the plants, you have to inspect them for unwanted insects, diseases and other issues that can affect its transplantation. Plus, it will not do for an infected plant to adversely affect your healthier plants, thus, possibly rendering your first efforts at a garden as a disaster – a learning disaster but a disaster, nonetheless.
Plant the Plants
The final step in starting your own first garden is, of course, to plant the plants and/or seedlings into the prepared beds. The most important tips are to keep your plants as moist as possible, plant them in sufficient holes and place organic mulch at the topsoil.
Now, all it takes is to build on the gains of your first planting efforts by taking good care of your plants.
