Perhaps you have visited beautiful formal flower gardens and thought how much you would like to have some of that beauty, on a smaller scale, in your own yard. Or perhaps you have seen neighbors gather a bounty of fresh vegetables from their backyard garden and thought how nice it would be to have your own supply. Before you actually start your own garden, you will want to learn techniques for success, whether you plan to grow flowers or vegetables or a combination of the two.
A little digging will tell you whether your soil tends more toward clay or sand. Or you may be really lucky and have bottomland enriched with silt. In any case, you will want to get a soil sample analyzed. Then you can take measures to enrich the soil. When you rake your leaves in the autumn, leave them in piles at the back of your yard and let them compost for a couple of years. Then you can work this compost, rich in humus, into your garden soil. You can also buy organic fertilizers to help build up your soil. You need to feed your plants before they can feed you!
Your location will limit what you can grow successfully. Can you grow avocados in Maine? Orchids in Michigan? Probably not, unless it is indoors. Its just good sense to plan your garden according to your climate and growing season. But that still leaves you plenty of range. So pick out the vegetables your family likes best, plant them according to what the charts advise, sit back and watch them grow. Well, of course, it is not quite that easy. You will save a lot of backbreaking work weeding later on if you run a hand cultivator through the plant rows to keep the weeds discouraged. Your plant crops will also thank you for the aerated soil. Depending on your rainfall, you may need to get out the house and water the garden regularly.
“Organic” is all the talk these days. Gardening organically may mean some extra work, but not a lot. You can make your own compost. There are now composting barrels sold that make the job easier. You can also acquire some old manure from a local farm. Be sure it is matured enough to not “burn” the plants. It will help you produce a bountiful crop if you work it into the soil before you plant.
Enthusiasm carries us through the initial planting, but it takes determination to get out there to weed and to water, to pick off the “suckers” from the tomato plants, to keep an eye out for pests, and pick produce at just the right time. When motivation flags, just remember how good those vegetables are going to taste when you eat them! Or how beautiful those flowers will look, all through the summer and into the autumn!
These tips can help you get started in growing a successful garden. Once you have experienced the rewards, you won’t want to quit.
Speak Your Mind