Gardening can be very intimidating to someone that has never done it before. And research can easily lead to information overload because of all of the resources available to online. To make it easy, we’ve gathered some tips to assist you in organizing all of this information so that you can start gardening at your new home properly.
Garden all year round
If you want to have a productive garden in Trussville, expand your growing season into the fall by using row covers. Row covers keep heat in, frost out, and also protect against deer intrusion. The crops under the row covers should still be somewhat resistant to cold, however, so it is best to choose greens and root vegetables.
For planting spring bulbs in the winter, decide where you want them to go and dig individual planting holes at the correct spacing. Place some small four-inch plastic pots inside the holes with the rims slightly exposed and fill with soil. When spring comes, planting the bulbs is a breeze. Just remove the pots and place the bulbs in the empty hole. Fill the hole with the soil that was in the pot.
Pay attention to soil
Knowing the layout of your yard and what kind of soil you have can greatly improve your gardening experience. By knowing this, you can figure out what seeds will work with your current yard or if you need to create a different environment around your planting preferences. Different plants require different nutrients, so plan accordingly.
Decorate with vines
Climbing plants and vines are great for covering fences and wall structures. They can be used to cover up unsightly paint colors and blemishes. Often, they can grow enough to cover up an eyesore in one season. They also work to cover up old, and possibly dead, vegetation. Some climbers you plant will have to be tied off and supported, but others have no problem attaching themselves to any surface using their tendrils or twining stems. Honeysuckle and jasmine are very beautiful varieties of such climbers.
Avoid waste
Try to grow only as much as you can use in your garden. After eating fresh vegetables, storing, freezing, and giving away to friends and family there is only so much that a person can use. Do not plant fifty tomato plants unless a vegetable stand is in your future because all those tomatoes will rot on the vines and will not be used, no matter how much you love tomatoes.
Keep tools in working condition
To cut down on the time you spend pruning and pulling weeds, make sure that all the tools you use are sharpened and cleaned. A dull or dirty tool will make basic gardening tasks much more challenging, and can significantly increase the work you have to put into your garden. Caring for your tools regularly is more than worth the effort it takes.
Take care of your trees
Make sure that you prune your trees regularly. Deadwood on trees can attract pests that can infect your trees. Also, when you trim back small branches on a tree, it will increase the airflow between the branches and allow the larger branches to develop more. This will result in a stronger and healthier tree overall.
Keep birds away
To protect your fruit, tie strips of mylar balloons to the branches of your fruit trees just before harvest time. These flapping, shiny straps will frighten away birds and small mammals, keeping them from eating your fruits. Just be sure to remove them after the harvest, because if they blow loose, animals may eat them and become ill.
Choose variety
Try to fill your garden with a variety of plants instead of just a few types. A garden with a wide variety is more resistant to garden pests. It attracts more beneficial insects that eat the bad bugs. This will cut down on the need for pesticides. A garden with just a few types of plants will sustain more damage from pest invasions.
Hopefully, these tips have provided you with some very valuable information, as well as given you a way to organize all of the thoughts and information you may have already had on gardening. Keeping these tips in mind when you start growing a garden at your new home can help you to become a very successful gardener.