How To Start A Garden ... I Did It! |
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Starting a new garden can be challenging if your soil is as hard as cement, however, a garden doesn't have to be completed in one season, also look beyond the hard work to the planting, watering, nurturing and watching everything grow. You'll have an immense feeling of satisfaction when all the plants are in the ground, watered and mulched, and you're relaxing with a cool drink surveying your attractive backyard! If you have good crumbly (friable) soil, then you need only add compost or manure. A variety of manures are available, sheep, cow, chicken, mushroom and others. Make a rough sketch of your yard. Note everything that you intend to keep and trace out the shape of your new garden beds. Indicate on your sketch how much sun, and is it morning or afternoon. Sun-loving plants prefer 6 hours of morning sun, perfect for roses. It's very important, before you start digging, to check with your utility companies' "call before you dig" service to ensure that you won't run into any underground cables. You will spend a few days breaking up that heavy soil to a depth of at least 18 inches, more if your can manage it. Do not try to complete this part of the job in a day, give yourself regular breaks. If your soil is clay, it will need compost or peat moss (two thirds) and sand (one third) to get it to a nice crumbly consistency, able to hold some water, but not become water logged. Wear a mask and gloves when working with peat moss. If you can get well rotted manure add this and mix well. Now is the time to add as much organic matter to your soil as you possibly can, giving your new plants all the nutrients they need to get growing, and before you place them in the soil. You should add approximately 1 inch of well rotted manure or compost at the base of your plants, not touching the stem, each Spring. You must know your hardiness zones (plants that will do well in your area) before purchasing your plants. Please keep a notepad (garden journal) and pencil handy to make notes of your growing area, (hardiness zone, the lower the number, the colder it is) plants you want to purchase and their needs. Also check the dimension of your plants at maturity or you may end up with a 'monster' in the backyard! You may want to look at garden or landscape designers' work, which you can find at many web sites, this will help you with your design. You can purchase a soil testing kit at your garden center, which would give you an indication of your soil's needs. They prefer either alkaline or acidic soil. If your soil is acid, you will need to add lime. Fertilizer packages are shown as 20-20-20 or 10-7-7 and so on, this indicates 20% or 10% Nitrogen, 20% or 7% Phosphorus and 20% or 7% Potassium, however they will also indicate which plants can be fed that particular blend. Of course, once they are planted, depending on what you have chosen, you may need to add plant food, either dry form or liquid. There are some plants that do not require fertilizers, (feeding) usually the ones native (natives or wildflowers) to your area. There are plants that do not like rich soil, therefore you should decide or have a good idea of what kind of garden you would like. Plants in containers will require regular feeding as water tends to leech nutrients from the soil. Your annuals or bedding plants will also need food about twice each month or once per week. As soon as all are planted in the soil, they need to be thoroughly watered and covered with a layer of mulch, to retain moisture and keep down weeds. The cheapest mulch is newspaper, use several layers then cover with soil. Keep in mind that newspaper will eventually break down and become compost, and would need to be replaced approximately every 3 years. You could also use pine needles, wood chips, bark and dried lawn clippings. A more permanent solution is to place landscape fabric around your plants and cover the unsightly fabric with a "pretty" mulch. Depending on the type of mulch you use, it could change the PH level of your soil. Do take the time to read as many gardening books as you can and visit gardening websites for lots of information on what will grow well in your "neck of the woods". If you choose plants that are unsuitable for your zone, you will be disappointed with their progress, or lack thereof!
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