Dig up a spot of dirt, add a splash of water, drop in a seed or two, and “voila!” you have a garden. In some ways, gardening is that easy. On the other hand, it’s understandable why you might have many questions about how to make your garden grow as beautifully and productively as possible. This article has many tips and guidance points to help you start your garden and enjoy a bounty at harvest time.
Bring tender herbs inside for the winter. Tender herbs, such as basil and parsley, can be brought inside for the winter. If you leave them outside, whether in a pot or in the ground, they will die as soon as you get frost at night. By bringing them in and setting them on a sunny windowsill, you will have fresh herbs all winter long!
Flush your plants with water if the rim of the pot or top of the soil has white salt deposits. Flush using twice the amount water as the size of the pot. Salt accumulates when using liquid fertilizer and can cause a PH imbalance. Once you have flushed the plant, do not water the plant again until the soil is dry.
Get your children involved in gardening to encourage them to eat their vegetables. Children often are reluctant to eat vegetables, but if they plant vegetable seeds in the garden, nurture the plants, watch them grow and harvest them, they are more likely to be willing to eat the fruits (or vegetables) of their labor.
A great tip to consider when gardening is to make sure that you do not damage your plants while dragging your watering hose around. This is important because this is very easy to do with a simple tug of the hose. Consider using guides that prevent your hose form accidentally coming into contact with fragile plants.
If you find that your garden is producing more vegetables than you can eat, you might try finding recipes that call for the produce in different stages of maturity. For example, if you anticipate that you’ll have more squash than you need, you can harvest the squash blossoms. This makes your garden more diverse in its offerings that you can enjoy.
One of the best aspects of gardening is when you start to eat the food that you actually planted yourself. This means that you will want to protect your garden from all kinds of unwanted pests. One of the worst enemies of many garden types is the common slug.
Keep an eye on your lilies. Unfortunately, lilies are prone to virus disease, such as lily mosaic. If you can, purchase bulbs that are guaranteed ‘virus-free’. During the growing season, keep a sharp look out for any aphids, as they spread the disease. Make sure to spray with insecticidals soap at the very first sign of them.
Gardening, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, is usually more involved than simply combining dirt, water, and seeds. Gathering useful tips and advice, like the ones you learned here, will help you reap the rewards that can come from creating and managing your own successful garden, and truly enjoying the fruits of your labor.
