Here are some useful tips on starting veg gardening that can help you to start well. There is so much to learn about gardening, but when it comes to the basics like planting, pruning, and fertilising, there are key gardening tips for beginners that every gardener needs to know. This beginners garden tips guide walks you through all of the basics to successfully tending a garden, from choosing the best-growing location, gardening plant ideas, and proper watering, to resolving common problems and much more.
From soil evaluation and measuring solar exposure to knowing when to water plants, these pro-level gardening tips will transform even the most novice gardener into a pro in no time.
When you are just getting your toes (er, green thumbs) wet in gardening, the best place to start is with plants and vegetables that are easy to tend and grow. It is probably best to begin your gardening mostly with fresh food in mind, but there are vegetables that are exceedingly easy to preserve.
If you are gardening in cooler areas, you are going to want a head start on some of the veggie plants. Before starting a vegetable garden, you should make sure that the areas that you have chosen are suitable for the vegetables that you are choosing to grow.
One of the things a new gardener may easily overlook is that you cannot simply put your vegetable garden where you want it. Think about how you will get into your garden to pick, water, and tend your plants. Position the garden close to an area you spend lots of time in already.
If you want a smaller garden, do not try to grow anything, such as a huge squash that would sprawl across a very large area. If you want to have tidy borders in your yard, always plant taller plants in the back, with lower growing plants in front (the plants labels will tell you how tall and spreading each plant is, so you will also know how wide apart to plant them). Follow the directions on your seed packets to determine proper spacing requirements when planting seeds in your garden beds and also when planting sprouting transplants.
If the soil conditions are less than ideal for planting, you may have to consider growing in raised beds or containers. In case you are growing a container garden, it is not necessary to add extra organic material to your potted vegetable soil as long as you are starting from a fresh potting mix. The best practice for most gardens is to buy topsoil mixes, which will provide the best possible starting point for your plants.
Mix Earth-friendly ingredients such as worm castings and kelp meal in with your compost, too; these will provide a healthier, gentler start to your plants, as well as catalysing garden success.
If you are planning to create a raised-bed garden and fill it with quality, fresh garden soil, you will immediately gain an edge over a conventional garden, as you start out with loose-textured soil rich in nutrients and organic matter. Once you get your own garden going, you will have a new appreciation for healthy soil because it improves from year to year. If you have particularly spongy or clay soil in your yard, and plants are not prospering, then you should begin by improving your soil as much as you can before planting anything else.
Before you begin building garden beds or planting, there are some things to know about the soil in your garden. You really have to research what you want out of your garden and what you have available to you before you get started.
Once you begin to narrow your choices, you want to balance the care plants require with the amount of time you have, or want, to devote to your yard. This way, you can figure out what you should be growing and where instead of getting carried away in a garden centre and ending up with a mess of plants that look bad together and may not be suitable for your growing conditions. Although you can make some changes later by adding some extra elements to your garden, such as 20mm crushed rock, it is best to do the research first so that it is just for decorative purposes rather than to hide your mistakes. Incorporating garden screenings into your design can also make the space look more attractive.
Once you have some gardens under your belt, you may want to try more unique plants or grow vegetables for the farmer’s market, but avoid those for the first year. To find out what plants will grow best from seeds right in your own garden and what plants will do better transplanted, check out the seed start calendar.
Figuring out a watering schedule before starting your first yard can save a lot of disappointment later. If you do not plan out your garden ahead, you might end up with plants that are too dense or not compatible. While you might feel you have plenty of room when planting seeds and transplanting them, don’t forget – every plant needs room to grow.
Most raised-bed kits are rectangular, but you could also plant your garden into found objects, such as old cattle water tanks. Container gardening is a great way to get started growing plants in a smaller backyard. Try to start planting your container vegetable garden in early spring once the soil has warmed up.
You can also use biodegradable seed starting containers to cut down on plastic, plant flowers alongside the vegetables to attract bees, compost, do not overwater (use drip irrigation system for larger gardens), and purchase soil and amendments in bulk.
All in all, gardening may seem like a lot of work at the start, but once you get into it, you will realise that it is not that complicated. You just have to plan ahead and dedicate some time each day to make your garden more beautiful.