Lots of people across the UK have found themselves with a bit of extra time on their hands lately – with many people on furlough trying to find things to keep them occupied at home until they can safely return to work. Gardens across the country have seen a rise in TLC over the last three months, with many complete beginners trying their hand at planting!
Gardening is a fun and very rewarding hobby, surrounding yourself with beautiful plants, flowers and shrubs to tend to. Having the right tools is essential, investing in some quality greenhouse staging or even a potting bench can make the gardening experience more enjoyable. Whilst it can be hard to know when and where to start with your garden, the rewards are worth it. Here are some handy tips to help you through the gardening process.
Get to Know your Garden
No, we don’t mean that you need to treat your garden to a fancy date! This means checking out the aspect, whether it is south-facing or north-facing. Knowing where the sun is going to hit at different points of the day can help you to decide what to grow and where. You should also find out what soil type you have – take a look at what is already growing as this can tell you if you have acidic soil or not; whilst the absence of certain plants can hint at alkaline soil.
Planning
Sitting down and planning your garden is a really good starting point – this way you can actually take the time and work out what to grow where, rather than just getting carried away at the local garden centre and ending up with a mountain of plants that don’t really compliment each other and might not even be suitable for your growing conditions. Planning allows you to use colour and structure wisely, which will help you to create a garden that looks great throughout the year.
Learn How to Plant
It might sound a bit self-explanatory but planting your plants properly will make sure that they grow well and live for a long time. This is all down to the preparation; taking the time to weed and prepare the soil and adding in some mulch or fertiliser when necessary. Don’t just go ahead and plant something without doing a bit of research first, look for some online instructions or even a helpful video. Trees planted too deeply won’t thrive and root-balls which sit too close to the soil surface will dry out quickly and die.
Start Small
When starting out with a new veg patch or allotment, it can be really tempting to take it all on at once. It’s actually much better to do it a little bit at a time instead. You will be able to easily cover an area that you don’t want to start cultivating yet with some plastic or cardboard to stop the dreaded weeds growing whilst you devote some time to a different section.
Watch Out for Pests
Most garden pests don’t inflict that much damage to plants and can be left alone as there are plenty of natural predators in the food chain that can keep them in check. However, sometimes there can be a spike in pest populations that can turn into an infestation and you’ll need to act. Keep an eye out for increasing numbers of slugs, snails and aphids – being aware of these little buggers can help to keep your plants safe and save you some heartache.