Tips for Starting a Garden from the Ground Up

Starting a garden is a rewarding experience since anyone can benefit from growing scented blossoms, a vegetable garden, or both! However, it can be hard to know where to start if you’re new to gardening. With a bit of planning and preparation, you may start gardening at your own pace. Soon you’ll be rewarded with magnificent views, delicious vegetables, and vivid blooms.

It’s not too late to start planning your garden, and the seven tips below can help you create one today:

1. Plan What to Plant

Are you starting a vegetable garden, herb garden, or flower garden? Determine what plant vegetables and herbs your family will eat so you can prep which plants to grow. You can choose between annuals that bloom all summer and perennials that bloom less often but return year after year if you want flowers for their beauty, color, and scent.

2. Choose the Garden Location

Determine which plants need ample sunlight during the day and which need to be more in the shade. If possible, choose a reasonably flat place for your garden, as dealing with a sloping garden is more complicated, time-consuming, and potentially expensive. Also, make sure your new garden has convenient access to water.

3. Prep the Land through Ground Clearing

Whether you do it with organic or chemical products, you need to clear your plant bed of grass and rocks. You can add mulch or compost after ground clearing through sheet mulching, solarization, smoking or burning, and manual removal.

4. Cultivate the Soil

Learn about your garden soil before building garden beds or planting by determining the pH level, soil make-up, presence of possible pollutants, and nutrient content. You need to correct the pH and nutrient levels to make the soil ready for planting, especially for certain plant species.

To produce delicious veggies and fruits, plant roots require suitable garden soil. You can also try to create your soil like broken up sod smothered with wet newspaper or cardboard. Healthy, lively soil equals healthy, vibrant plants with disease and insect resistance built-in, as well as greater nourishment.

5. Use Mulch to Prevent Weeds

Cover the cultivated soil with two inches of mulch to avoid weeds from growing out and keep moisture in, so you won’t have to water as frequently. Keep sunlight out of the soil so you’ll keep weed seeds from growing.

6. Plant and Transplant

Pick a garden bed type and size ideal for water availability in your area. This is vital to accommodate the type of plants you want to grow. You can try raised beds, sunken gardens, potted plants, and the like.

After finding the right dimensions for your garden bed, organize plants in rows or grids. The idea is to reduce pathways while increasing growing space. You simply need to apply fertilizer and soil additives to the planting area, saving you time and money.

When transplanting from seedbeds, observe indicators of stress, such as insect damage or yellowing foliage. Pollinators are essential for fruit set in the garden, so avoid buying plants that may harm them.

7. Water Properly

Water your seedlings every day so they don’t dry out. Until their roots grow, transplants require frequent watering, like every other day or so. Try to feel the soil 3-4 inches underground, and when it feels dry, it’s time to water. Water gently and thoroughly, particularly early in the morning to reduce evaporation.

Conclusion

Maintain your garden regularly and keep up with garden tasks so your garden can achieve its full potential. It may take a considerable amount of time and effort, but once your begin harvesting and becoming self-sufficient, it will be truly worth it.

Take note of harvest timings so you can properly schedule your garden to keep harvesting different vegetables all year round. If a crop does not grow or yield successfully, don’t be discouraged. Study where you went wrong, and try again.

Don’t know how to start your garden? Blossom and Broom can help you with your home and garden aesthetic. Learn more about our gardening blogs to help you start your garden today. Read our herbal gardening blog today!