Gardening Guru

When you are considering the possibility of doing some gardening yourself for the very first time, it would be a good idea to begin with a small-ish area to start with. Looking at a large patch of ground that needs cultivating will seem too much to handle and you could be tempted to just walk away and leave it as it is. But, if you choose a small patch and make a start, you will soon find out if you have (or even want…) green fingers.

If you find that gardening doesn’t give you the same satisfaction that millions of other get by planting, digging, mowing etc. then get someone in to do it for you. If, on the other hand, you get the bug, you can move on to design and construct your very own Garden of Eden.

When choosing your first small experimental patch of garden to cultivate, pick an area with at least seven hours of daily sunlight if at all possible. Choose an area that will also get some shade during the day. An added bonus would be an area with good soil – if you can find a place where the soil is free from rocks and stones and well drained, then that is the spot you should choose for your trial run.

It’s time to make a start now that you’ve found your ideal spot. Assemble any tools that you may need, like a spade, a rake, a garden fork and maybe a trowel and a kneeling pad for when you are ready to start the fun bit like planting shrubs and flowers. Another good thing to do is to get a soil analysis kit and find out what type of soil you are dealing with.

Start by clearing the surface of your patch of rocks, any weeds and garbage etc. Then start digging. You will need to dig over the whole of your area (that’s why you should start small…) to loosen the soil so your plants will have room for their roots to grow. Once you have the soil loose, it’s time to think about improving it. Check your soil analysis kit to determine if your soil is too acidic – if it is then you could add some lime to improve it. Follow the instructions in your soil analysis kit on what to use to improve the soil quality to achieve optimum growing conditions for your plants.

Once you have improved the soil in your test area, rake it so that is it level. Now comes the fun bit – choosing what you want to plant. Is this going to be a vegetable garden, a herb garden, a flower garden or maybe a garden containing shrubs that will be there for a long time?

For the purpose of this short article, we will assume that you want to end up with a colorful display of flowers. If you want to use seeds, you can simply sprinkle them on top of your soil (using the pack as a guide as to the correct time of year to do this) then cover them by lightly raking over. Water well, as often as is needed, and watch those babies grow!

If they begin to grow too closely packed you can gently dig up some of the young seedlings and move them to another area.

However, if you are into instant gardening, you could pay a visit to your local nursery and choose some young plants for your patch. Ask the nurseryman (or woman) about suitable flowers to plant outside for your climate. By seeking the advice of the professionals, you could save yourself a lot of time, money and disappointment.

Once you have got your plants home it is time to transplant them into your patch. Begin by placing the pots on top of the soil in the way that you think will give the best display. They will be much easier to move around if you leave them in the pots until you have made a final decision on the design of your new flower bed.

When you are satisfied with the design, get your trowel and dig a hole just a little deeper than the height of the pot. Put a little fertilizer in the bottom of the hole (if recommended for the type of flower that you are planting), then take the plant from the pot and loosen the roots a little before placing in the hole. Fill in around the plant with soil and firm the top soil down. Continue until all your flowers are in their correct places then water the flower bed well. Depending on your climate, you may have to water your plants every day to achieve the maximum display. Watering is best done during the cooler times of day. You could also use a sprinkler system so you simply turn the water on and leave it until your flower bed is well watered. You could add a layer of mulch to the flower bed which will keep a lot of the weeds at bay whilst holding the moisture in for longer. There is a huge choice of materials that you can use to mulch your garden so, again, ask for advice before you make your final choice.

Did you enjoy your first attempt at gardening? If you did, you can move on to other areas and before long, your Garden of Eden will be flourishing!