Do not be too hard on yourself as a beginner in gardening. It takes time to perfect the art of cultivation and crop tendering. Even experienced gardeners make mistakes and it is important to note these mistakes so that you do not commit the same.
Improper plant selection and placement: If you choose the wrong plants for the conditions in your yard and/or put the plants in the wrong place, then it’s going to be difficult for them to survive much less thrive. When choosing plants, pay attention to the amount of sun and shade in different parts of your yard, as well as other conditions like the amount of moisture, exposure to wind, and general air circulation. Another thing to pay attention to here has to do with proper spacing. Know the size of your trees, shrubs, and other plants when you plant them so they are properly spaced and won’t end up competing for water, sun, and nutrients in a few years.
Lack of preparation prior to planting: One common mistake gardeners often make is not taking time to assess and prepare the soil prior to planting. Before any amendments or fertilizers are added, a soil test should always be conducted to determine the soil’s current needs. In addition, organic supplements like compost are necessary for soil health. It’s also important to figure out drainage conditions prior to planting, and make any adjustments as needed.
Sourced from: http://enlightenme.com/5-common-gardening-mistakes/
Now that you know the mistakes to avoid you need to know the effective strategies to put in place. These are strategies that will make your gardening a success.
Make a list of the vegetables you love to eat. Don’t plant things you don’t. Simple as that. This way, all the work you put in will pay off big when you get to enjoy luscious veggies you love, rather than having bushels of produce you can’t give away, such as (insert prolific vegetable name here). Zucchini, anyone?
Take an honest look at your weekly schedule. How much time do really you have to spend in your garden every week? Not how much you wish you had, or plan to have. If you’re honest with yourself in this step, your food growing experience will be so much more enjoyable. In my own case, I really don’t have more than an hour or two a week, tops, so I have to take that into account when I’m planning my beds an what I want to grow. Plant more than I can look after and the whole thing goes sour pretty quickly. The last thing I want is to resent my garden, or worse, have all my hard work rot on the vine (which, sadly, happened last year with our bean crop).
Sourced from: http://modernhomesteading.ca/blog/the-beginner-vegetable-garden-7-simple-strategies-for-success
Not every garden has something edible to eat. Some gardens are just meant to appease the eyes and these are flower gardens. This calls for one to be acquainted with tips on how they can get the best from their flower garden.
Sun is essential. Building a flower takes a lot of energy, and all a plant’s energy comes from the sun. So most flowering plants need a full-sun site — where sunlight falls 6 to 8 hours a day all through the growing season. Try Burpee’s Sunlight Calculator to test the amount of sun your garden receives.
Success is in the soil. Good soil — not too sandy, not too sticky, with enough organic matter to make it drain well and be inviting to plant roots — is essential for successful flower gardening, just as it is for vegetables. After all, vegetables such as squash and tomatoes are formed from flowers. Test the pH and fertility of your soil with Burpee’s Electronic Soil Tester and then visit the soil testing page for suggestions from our experts.
Sourced from: http://www.burpee.com/gardenadvicecenter/annuals/general-gardening/flower-gardens/article10014.html
