Start Gardening, considered one of the best hobbies one can have, refines the mood and calms the mind of the individuals practicing it. Also, watching greenery is good for our eyesight. So it gives us the scope for the same. While it is good, there are a lot of intricacies with gardening. From planting, growing, pests, weather, and patience, you need to think about all these things. Otherwise, your garden might be ruined before you have a chance to see the fruits ripen and flowers bloom!
To reap all the benefits of your garden, you need to learn how to take care of your garden. You might want to know “how to take care of your garden?”. Don’t worry, I am here to help! Read on and find the ways you can care for your long-desired garden.
Key Takeaways
- Selective materials related to gardening will be a necessary and proper application of those needed to take care of your garden.
- To know about caring for a garden, you need to know about your place, soil, gardening materials, fertilizer, season, etc.
- Some tips to help take care of your garden better such as crop rotation, checking plant health, and clearing your garden regularly.
8 Steps to Take Care of Your Garden
To keep your garden in tip-top shape, here are some of the ways you can care for your garden.
1. Soil selection and aeration
Garden care may begin with soil selection. Soil acts as an anchor for plants’ roots. Different types of gardens and plants need various kinds of soil. It is suggested that-
- Clay soil needs organic materials such as compost and peat looms. Clay soil tends to absorb the water slowly. Clay soil is excellent for shrubs like hostas. It can even serve as a base for fruit trees.
- Loamy soil is considered the best kind of soil you can have as it is a mix of sand, silt, and clay in an equal amount. It absorbs the water easily and stores it for the plant. Those factors make it an ideal all-around choice for gardening.
- Sandy soil is one of a kind type that needs to be added organic material which will supplement the soil. Otherwise, water can easily go through the soil and plant will not get proper water.
- Silty soil consists of high silt concentration which allows it to retain large amounts of moisture and nutrients. That makes it a fantastic choice for gardening, provided your garden drains adequately.
- Peaty soil named after “Peat,” a spongy natural material made of partially decomposed organic matter, typically forms in wetlands and bogs. The peat makes this soil acidic and less nutritional. To grow healthy plants in peaty soil, mix in nutrient-rich organic matter, plus additives like lime to lower the acidity.
- Chalky soil is the opposite of peaty soil. The high levels of chalk make this soil alkaline, the opposite of acidic. Gardeners with chalky soil face two options: Stick with plants that grow best in an alkaline environment, or cultivate and correct your soil’s pH balance with organic compost materials.
A low-nutrient compacted soil with bad drainage properties is the gardener’s nightmare. In those cases, garden aeration can help change the narrative. All you need to do is puncture the soil with spike or plug aerators. The process of aeration loosens up the soil, improves its penetration properties, and encourages new growth. Aeration also makes turf thicker and reduces water runoff.
2. Mulching
One of the important steps you can take care of your garden is mulching. It improved the structure of your soil and made them able to hold onto more nutrients, moisture, and air. Adding a thick layer of organic matter (usually manure, compost, or bark) on the surface which will help you to retain soil moisture, add nutrients, and insulate plant roots is called mulching. Trying decorative bark or woodchip mulch, you can have the best garden mulch attractively.
3. Watering
Watering plants is one of the most important ways to care for your garden. Watering may vary from season to season and depend on the condition of the place and the weather. You’ll need to water the soil more often on hot summer days than in cool spring or autumn conditions, and in sunny areas more than shady ones. Do remember one thing, avoid overhead watering and instead water near the base of the plants when possible. You need to keep plant foliage and flowers dry when irrigating your garden because wet foliage is more prone to foliar diseases, including fungal problems.
4. Weeding
Another important step of garden care is weeding. You should keep weeding at least once per week or whenever it is needed to be done. Weeds use the resources that your plants need and can kill your garden quickly and provide a haven for pests and diseases. According to the experts, prompt weed removal prevents the plants from establishing in the garden.
5. Plant fertilization or Feeding
As well as water, the plant absorbs nutrients and minerals through its roots. You need to take care when fertilizing plants since too much of any fertilizer can burn roots, reducing their ability to absorb water. These fertilizers include-
- Nitrogen (N), which aids leafy growth
- Phosphorus (P), which encourages root development.
- Potassium (K), which encourages flower and fruit development.
These are considered the main nutrients required to keep plants healthy.
6. Plant Care
The most important part of your garden is the plants you are planting. So for caring for your garden you need to care for your plants and monitor them as closely as possible. Follow these steps and it will be helpful for you to take care of the plants in your garden.
- Pruning: Pruning is a must-do for plants for the best outcome. The best time to prune the plants is in summer. It is called summer pruning. The ultimate reason for summer pruning is to detect what needs correcting. Pruning should be done in July and early August. This is the active growing season as growth slows down in fall. This also helps in situations where a harsh winter and spring may delay new growth.
- Staking: Staking involves fixing sticks into the ground and tying your flower stems or other garden crops to them with cloth or thread. If some of the plants’ stems need support, you can put stakes and rods in the ground and tie the stem to them. It will also help them grow in a certain direction.
- Deadheading: The dead or old flower heads needs to be deadheaded because it encourages the plants to bloom again and again. By using finger or shearing tools it is easy to remove flower heads.
7. Companion Plants
To increase growth productivity, provide pollinators, ward off pests, and control the habitat for beneficial insects, you need to plant a variety of different crops together which is known as companion planting or intercropping which is another way of caring for the garden. It’s a great way to keep your garden thriving by surrounding it with the right plants that will enable its successful growth.
8. Plant Protection
You need to consider installing efficient garden protections, like a barrier to protect your garden from potential predators like pests, wild animals, domesticated pets, etc. Animals can damage plants and installations. In most cases, putting up a wire fence is enough to keep most wild animals, critters, and pests away from your garden. Row covers are a great alternative decision for winter months. If you are faced with a rodent problem, you might need to consider putting catch-and-release traps around your garden.
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Some Tips to Take care of Your Garden
Here I will be sharing some valuable tips which will make you comfortable to take care of your garden.
1. Plant Rotation
Rotate crops from year to year to decrease the likelihood of disease and avoid taxing soil nutrients. Some plants add nutrients to the soil while other plants take nutrients more than what they add to the soil. In this case, as a good practice, you need to divide your garden into different beds and rotate the plants. This way, you can maintain the soil fertility as well as improve the quality of the garden.
2. Check Health
Whether you’re transplanting plants from nurseries or growing your own from seeds, fully inspect your garden plants to make sure they are pest and rot-free. Watch your garden closely for any new abnormal changes. Look at the garden soil, plant leaves, stems, and fruits and check if there is pest infestation, disease occurrence, or natural disasters. Check if there is any change in the leaf’s color and then do what you can do to keep the abnormalities to normal or under control. If you can’t solve the problem, consult your local Gardner for help.
3. Clean Garden Tools
Keeping your garden tools clean helps keep your tools usable for a longer time. Ensure that you keep all garden tools clean before and after garden activities. You can use chlorine bleach to disinfect the garden tools.
4. Furniture and Structures
Different types of gardens are built with different types of structures and with various furniture such as tubs, patios, tables, chairs, water fountains, etc. Depending on the materials that they are made of, they need different types of care. Regularly check your fences, shades, and gates.
5. Sunlight and Shade
Get familiar with your plants before placing them in certain spots in your garden. You need to make sure that your plants are getting enough sunlight as a source of energy. Some needed more sun than others. So place them in a place where sunlight comes directly. Some other needed more shade so make a shade or cover for them or place them where sunlight comes indirectly.
FAQs
Thinning is when you remove the additional plants to create space for the rest. This is needed when your plants don’t get enough resources and nutrients.
Culling is the process of removing unwanted plants which are weak, diseased, or infested. This is again done to make more room for the rest of the plants and control pests and diseases.
The most used disinfectants are chlorine bleach and isopropyl.
If you don’t use a sharp tool to prune, it will be harmful to your plant because sharp tools make clean cuts that heal rapidly.
Final Thoughts
After reading this, I hope you are now enough enlightened and aware of taking care of your garden. Learning to care for your plants is a great way to experience the joy of caring for nature. Whether you pick gardening up as a hobby or want to become a professional gardener, this knowledge will always help you in any way. Gardening is all about being patient and practicing. Apply these to your garden and make it attractive and make yourself happy.
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