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Beginners Gardening Guide #1 : How To Start Your Garden


If you are planning to begin a garden, understand from the beginning that it will require some hard work, especially to get started. Along the way it will need regular doses of TLC and good basic gardening knowledge. And for your troubles, it will reward you with hours of pleasure among blossoming flowers and ripening vegetables, the fruits of your labor. Here’s how to get started.

First, prepare the soil. If the ground designated for the garden is covered by lawn, a rotary tiller is the quickest way to remove it. A flat shovel will also work, but requires quite a bit more time and energy. If you plan to till the lawn, do so at least a week before you plan to plant. This will give the tilled grass time to dry out, and it will be easier to remove from the dirt. Shake each clump of grass so the fertile top soil falls back into the plot.

Secondly, spread compost or manure over the plot, and using a hoe or garden rake, mix it into the soil. You’ll have to decide at this point whether you want a fully organic garden, or if using chemical fertilizers are an acceptable option. Concerns about these fertilizers are that they might contaminate ground water, and that the vegetables you grow might contain harmful chemicals when eaten. Repeated studies show these fertilizers break down quickly in the soil, into harmless elements. By the time they reach aquifers used by wells, they represent little or no risk. As for the vegetables, their roots have the ability to select those nutrients which would be helpful to them, and reject those that would not—the same elements you would not want in your food. The point is that vegetables grown with chemical fertilizers generally do not contain harmful chemicals. Still, some gardeners do not want to handle chemical fertilizers, and since organic materials exist that will provide the needed nutrients, they certainly are not necessary. If you choose to use a chemical fertilizer, follow the labeling instructions for adding it to the soil.

Thirdly, design your planting schedule. Bulbs should be planted in the fall, or as early in the spring as possible. If you cannot plant bulbs by April 1, wait until fall, and you’ll have something to look forward to for next year’s garden. Flower seeds are best started indoors in late winter, so the plants are ready to set out once the danger of frost, if applicable in your area, is past. That’s the right time to transfer annuals and perennials from their growing pots to the garden plot.

Vegetables should be planted in a staggered system. Sweet corn, for instance, should be planted one or two rows at a time, with about 10 days between plantings. That way, this garden favorite will ripen in a sequence that will keep you in garden-fresh corn for more than a month. Be sure to see our other guides related to selecting the right plants or understanding the basics of vegetable gardening, for more details on those specific areas.

The fourth step is to keep your growing garden weeded and well watered. A weeded garden will be more free of pests that are attracted by certain weeds. It will remove excess vegetation that competes with your flowers and vegetables for soil nutrients. And it will make for a more aesthetically appealing garden.

The final step is to let nature take its course and enjoy the growing, blossoming, ripening results of your labors. Many gardeners find that setting a comfortable outdoor chair next to their flourishing garden provides a wonderful spot for respite, reflection, or reading, discovering that gardening is good for both body and soul.

 

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