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Gardening Tips for Beginners
By
Staff Writer |
June 3rd, 2009 |
Category:
Gardening |
4 comments
Although any one can try their hand at being a green thumb, it is best to learn the basics of gardening and developing a plan before you begin. Gardening for beginners can be simple and enjoyable as long as you take the time to understand what it entails.
Every homemaker should know how to grow a garden, in order to provide their family with fresh fruits and vegetables grown by your own hand (plus, it can really help cut down on the grocery budget). With our gardening tips, you should be able to start a small garden this summer even if you’ve never grown a garden before.
Begin by locating the best place in your yard to plant a garden. Search for a location that is free of excess trees and shrubs, able to receive at least 6 hours of sunlight per day and sufficient water drainage.
Once you have decided on a good location, you will need to decide which plants you would like to grow in your garden. Make a simple list of some basic favorites. Remember to start small in the beginning, you can always add other plants once you gain experience. Begin with a small area, about 100 square feet of space.
The next step is to invest in all of the gardening tools that you will need before you begin. You can pick up all of the necessary tools at a local hardware store or the lawn and garden section of super centers like Walmart or Target.
Garden Tools You Will Need:
- rake
- shovel
- garden hoe
- fertilizer
- garden sprinkler or water hose
- gardening stakes
In addition, you will need the seeds or seedlings of what you will be growing. You can pick up seed packets at the grocery store or local farm stand, or you can even order seeds from catalogs or online distributors.
Begin by ensuring that the soil is damp, but not too wet. Pick up a small handful of dirt and squeeze it in your hands. If it crumbles easily it is ready to go. Dirt that clumps together is too wet, while dirt that appears light and dusty is too dry. Once the soil is of the right consistency you can go ahead and begin preparing your planting bed. Work the soil about 6 inches down. You can use a rototiller or do it all by hand. Next, use a rake to evenly level the soil.
Follow the package instructions for planting seeds. Once the seeds are planted, you will need to spend a lot of time tending to your garden. Weeds have to be pulled, plants need to be properly watered and checked for insects and diseases.
Gardening for beginners is fun and enjoyable and with some patience and hard work you will soon be enjoying the fruits of your labor. Stay tuned next week for Compost for Beginners and Container Gardening on a Budget.
Garden photo by net_efekt.
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Gardening certainly is a lot of fun when you are just starting out. This is my first year attempting to garden with limited space and I am having great fun trying to find my feet whilst growing fresh vegetables, fruit and herbs for my family!
@Laura: How fun to be just starting out! It’s a great family project as well, and you’d be amazed how much easier it is to get kids to eat veggies when they helped grow them!
Barbi
This is a great post for those getting started. Gardening as a family is such a wonderful way to build team work and let the kids see the whole process of dinner time.
By showing you what to do, these tips will enable you to produce healthy plants that not only grow, but also thrive.