How to Start a Garden: 10 Basic Steps Decide what you would like to grow, choose a location, plan your garden beds, invest in basic gardening tools, test the soil, prepare the soil, choose the right seeds or transplants, plant carefully. Either way, work the soil only when it's moist enough to form a loose ball in your fist, but dry enough to fall apart when you drop it. Digging when the soil is too dry is harder work and you can damage the soil structure if it's too wet. Use a shovel or fork to gently turn the top 6 to 8 inches of soil, mixing the organic matter from Step 4 at the same time.
Walking on prepared beds compacts the soil, so place plywood boards temporarily to distribute your weight evenly. Seedlings should never be allowed to dry out, so water them daily. It narrows as the plants grow. Transplants also need frequent watering (approximately every other day) until their roots are established.
After that, how often you need to water depends on soil, humidity and rainfall, although once a week is a good starting point. Clay soil dries out more slowly than sandy soil, so it doesn't need to be watered as often. Sunny and windy conditions dry the soil more quickly than cold, cloudy weather. Still not sure? Feel the earth 3-4 inches below the surface.
If you're feeling dry, it's time to water. Water slowly and deeply so that the water seeps in instead of running off. To minimize evaporation, water early in the morning. Do you want to learn how to start a garden and grow your own food, but aren't sure how to start? This post will guide you through 10 simple steps to starting a vegetable garden and will guide you step by step to create a sustainable food source.
Realize your dreams of growing up with these 10 easy to follow tips. Misjudging sunlight is a common mistake when learning to garden for the first time. Pay attention to how sunlight enters your garden before choosing a location for your garden. Most edible plants, including many vegetables, herbs and fruits, need at least 6 hours of sun to thrive.
Knowing your hardiness zone can help you choose the best plants. In a nutshell, it describes the coldest place where a plant can grow. The higher the zone number, the warmer the climate. So, if a plant is resistant to zone 4 and you cultivate in zone 5, that plant will survive in your garden.
However, if you're in zone 3, it's too cold to grow that particular plant. Transporting water will compete with the enjoyment of gardening, and you'll quickly discover that easy accessibility is essential. Whether you're just starting out, performing maintenance tasks, or troubleshooting, here you'll find tips and answers for all your gardening needs. But when you start a garden from scratch, until new seeds or transplants are established, it is essential to water daily.
We've already talked about the importance of starting with excellent soil, but that land works best in conjunction with regular increases in high-quality plant nutrition. Throughout my life, gardens have provided my family with fresh food, a rewarding harvest, and lifelong beauty and memories. If you start in the fall, by spring you'll have a bed ready to plant without grass or weeds and with plenty of rich soil. In addition to adding monetary value, a garden can help someone sell their home faster than the average homeowner.
Once plants are established, healthy garden soil should be adequate to nourish plants, except for those that have a long growing season, such as tomatoes, okra and corn. Steve Masley has been designing and maintaining organic gardens in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 30 years. In addition to the obvious weight-loss benefits, gardening has been shown to reduce stress, blood pressure, cholesterol and depression. Container gardening works well if you live in an apartment with a sunny balcony or have a driveway.
Each, or even a combination, forms an impressive garden, but will have different maintenance requirements. So, do you see that learning how and when to start a garden isn't as complicated as many people think? Simply divide each of the ten steps and focus on one at a time. Elevated beds cost more at first than a buried garden, but are ideal for families who live in an urban or suburban area that may not have much gardening space. .
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