Gardening does not have to be daunting but it can feel overwhelming. Take your time and ease into it. Educate yourself and figure out tools to help you be a successful gardener with your family. Check out these gardening 101 tips to help you succeed at your garden this year!
Gardening 101
- Do your research on beginning and ending frost dates!
- Understand your region! In other words, lemons might not grow well in colder climates!
- Read the seed packets! The seed packets contain loads of vital information from where to plant (sun versus shade exposure), depth of seed planting, width of seed planting, and distance between rows. I don’t throw my seed packets out once they’re empty. I keep them for for reference.
- Don’t start delicate seeds outdoors! This point goes back to research. There are some plants that require a delicate balance of warmth, water, and sunlight. So, you have to wait for the optimal conditions. Start with hardier plants like peas and beans if you are weary!
- Don’t overcrowd sprouts! Re-pot when you need to do so.
- Don’t water too often or at the wrong time of day. Don’t drown your plants. That’s a bad idea. Also, water early in the morning and later in the afternoon/evening when the sun won’t suck up all the water you spray on your plants.
- Know your pests! There are friendly ways to keep pests out of your garden. There are also critters that are beneficial to your garden!
- Consider organic or natural means to get rid of pests. Use crushed egg shells or bowls of beer for slugs. Purchase a solar powered defense owl to protect your plants from birds.
- Research which plants should be planted near one another (0r not) to maximize survival potential.
- Learn how to prune! Pruning is essential. You should know where and when to prune. Get rid of those deadheads and use a good set of pruners to get rid of suckers on tomato plants, for example. Think about pruning anything that might take away from your healthy flowering/fruiting plants such as dead leaves and sucker leaves that won’t bare fruit.
