Maintaining You Garden
As I have shared previously, gardening can be a rewarding and relaxing hobby, but it also requires work, sometimes a lot, to keep your garden healthy and thriving.
1. Watering: Water is hugely important in keeping your plants happy and healthy. I like to try and water my garden deeply once a week, rather than giving it a light watering every day. This will encourage deep root growth and help your plants become more drought-resistant. It feels like each summer we get a tough heat wave that can be detrimental to your garden, deep root watering can be a help. When watering, make sure to water the soil, not the leaves, to avoid disease.
2. Weeding: Weeds can compete with your plants for nutrients and water, so it's important to remove them regularly. I like to pull them by hand so that I can make sure I get all the roots, but you can also use a small spade or rake to help.
3. Mulching: Mulch helps to retain moisture in the soil, suppress weeds, and regulate soil temperature. Apply a layer of mulch around your plants, but avoid piling it up against the stems. In my garden I actually use old tiles from my kitchen to help with this. I lay them on the ground throughout the garden. They not only help insulate the growing plants but also provide spots to stand and step on when working in the garden.
4. Pruning: Prune your plants to remove dead or damaged branches and to shape them. This will help to improve air circulation and sunlight penetration, which can reduce the risk of disease. I like to just pinch off branches or stems that don't look healthy.
5. Harvesting: It is important to make sure you harvest your crops when they are fully ripe and ready. This will encourage your plants to produce more fruit and help to prevent over-ripening or splitting. Harvest season is my favorite but can be overwhelming depending on the size of your garden. There are times you get waves of ripe vegetables and you have more than you could ever imagine, its a fun problem to have!
Remember that gardening is a learning process, so don't be afraid to experiment and try new things. With a little bit of care and attention, you can enjoy the fresh produce all season long.
I found this website that has really great tips for maintaining and caring for a garden, take a look! Garden Care!
Hi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI come from a family of green thumbs. My mother's parents had apple orchards and large vegetable gardens. My father grew up on an island, where farming was the family's way of life. My parents continue to have large vegetable gardens, fruit trees, along with many flower beds. My sisters are also following suit. We grew up doing a lot of weeding and mulching on the weekends. I however did not inherit the green thumb lol. Hopefully I can learn some tips from you!
Hi Ryan, I found your writing about gardening interesting and learned new things! I always knew that you take out weeds, I just never realized that it was important for nutrients. You know a lot about gardening... is this something that you and your family did during your childhood? I guess now I know that there is a science to the gardening process, not just the weather and growth!
ReplyDeleteHey Ryan!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing some tips on gardening, you seem like a real expert! I liked the tip on watering, I will have to let my mom know this as she tends to water her plants every day. It is good to know that it is more effective to give it a deep water once a week. I also found the website that you linked to be super helpful. My brother and I are currently growing a ton of different vegetables, fruits, and sunflowers so this will come in handy! I will have to keep you updated on how they turn out later on this summer.
-Lexi Gardner
Hi Ryan,
ReplyDeleteThese are some awesome tips for maintaining a garden. My mom loves to garden and I used to spend a lot of my time in the summer helping her tend to the gardens around our yard. I wonder what it will be like for me one day when I have my own yard because I seem to be pretty good at killing plants rather than helping them flourish.... I absolutely love beautiful gardens and flowers but I definitely need some practice caring for them. Thanks for all the useful information!
Alyssa K
Hi Ryan, you have some great tips in here about gardening! My mom recently just started a new gardening plot at our local community garden. I will have to pass along these tips to her! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNicole D
I must confess, this post made me go out and weed....
ReplyDelete