Learning new ways to be a smarter gardener will save you money and back pain. Don’t be fooled into thinking that gardening will get easier. Instead, learn new ways to be more efficient that will give you more time to relax and enjoy your garden. Take the time to learn new ways to be a better gardener with these helpful tips.
If you are new to gardening, be sure to keep it simple. Overplanting at first can lead to stress and a backyard that’s a mess rather than a beautiful garden. Also, larger gardens are more prone to weeds. Keep it small at first, and you will have a better experience.
Use both biennials and annuals to add color to your flower bed. You can use biennial and annual flowers to brighten the bed, and let you change how it looks. In addition, they work well as gap fillers between other areas, as long as those areas receive plenty of sunlight. Notable biennials and annuals include marigold, sunflowers, hollyhock, petunia, and cosmos.
Make sure your pot is the right size for your plant. If the pot is too small, the plant’s roots may not have enough room to grow. The roots will become “root bound”, stop growing, and begin to suffocate. The size of the root system can determine the size of your plant and yield.
Make your long handled garden tool into a measuring tool. You can get measuring tape and mark out the units with a black permanent marker. This works great for wood handled tools. When you need to space your plants out a particular distance, you can use your homemade measuring stick to measure the distance.
When using fertilizer, moderation can be the key to success. While it’s true that using a fertilizer can enhance your garden’s productivity, it’s better to apply it sparingly. An overdose of fertilizer can cause excessive growth of the plant’s foliage with stunted development of the fruit or vegetables thereby reducing your harvest.
To avoid injuring yourself while gardening, be sure to do some warm-up stretches before starting your project. Most people may not think of gardening as exercise, but injuries like pulled muscles frequently occur in the garden. You should also be sure to move around and not stay in one position for a long period of time.
Be careful not to over-water your garden. Giving your plants too much water can actually kill them faster than not giving them enough water. Soil that has too much water in it prevents root systems from growing properly. It can even cause your plants to rot from the bottom up.
Whether you are working toward a garden that will survive throughout the year, trying to save money on gardening costs or just wanting to cut down on the work it takes to build a garden, learning how to garden never ends. At the end of the day, as you sit down to relax, you will reap the benefits of viewing the beautiful garden that you worked hard for.
