Do you get excited when spring rolls around, and you get to start prepping your garden space? Even though you love your garden, do you feel like it could be even better? Gardens take a lot of time, care and devotion, and by following a few steps, you’ll find that you have a garden that is the envy of everyone around.
Table of Contents
Choose the Right Site
Plants need a lot of sun, and sometimes it’s easy to choose convenience over the location. But if you want a fantastic garden, your focus should be on getting the most sun as possible to your plants. A slightly bumpy, uneven piece of land that has direct sun for at least six hours a day is going to be much better than a perfectly flat spot, right outside your house with only 3 hours of sun a day.
Prepare the Soil
Gardens need an incredible amount of nutrients to grow well. Before you plant anything, ensure that your soil has enough nitrogen. Nitrogen is necessary for your plants to have the energy to grow and produce fruits or vegetables.
Water Appropriately
Once plants have become established and start to grow flowers, be mindful of how much you water them, because not all plants need the same amount of water. For example, corn requires a lot more water to grow than tomatoes do.
When setting up a watering system, choose an irrigation system that allows you to direct water to the plant’s roots. If at all possible, never water from up above. Water can stay on the plant’s leaves and cause diseases to form. Plus, watering directly at the roots reduces water loss and waste from evaporation and overspray.
Pick Your Harvest
It is crucial to the health of your garden for your to pick your fruits and vegetables. If you don’t pick the crops, you could find that they rot or are eaten by bugs or animals. Additionally, some plants will stop producing if you fail to pick the fruit or vegetable off of the plant.
When harvesting your garden, ensure that you have a strong cart with rigid casters if you’re picking large, heavy items like pumpkins or a lot of potatoes. You want to use something that can stand up to the weight of your harvest while not breaking on the uneven ground.
Prepare for Next Year
As your plants start to die back, leave them in the ground instead of pulling them. The dead plant material is a great source of nitrogen that will enrich your soil and feed the plants when you’re ready to plant next year’s garden.
