Starting a garden is both challenging and fulfilling. The start-up moments will be filled with numerous challenges that can stress you out, but once you have already finished your garden, everything will be worth it.
In this article, we will talk about the essential things to note in starting and managing your garden. The ideal land, planting density and maintenance will be further discussed in this article. So let’s go!
Choosing your Site
One of the factors that will affect the success of your garden is choosing the right land and soil for it. If you plan to grow directly in the soil, this part of the article is for you! Field gardens highly depend on native soil characteristics such as the soil texture, the soil profile, the drainage and slope to be suitable for the crops.
In choosing your site, make sure that it is free of rocks because these can hinder the roots to grow and will pose difficulties in digging and planting your desired crops.
Soil drainage
Another important factor to consider in choosing your site is the soil drainage.You can say that a soil has a good drainage when you pour water over it and the water was eventually absorbed by the soil.Avoid soils that have poor internal drainage, and even those soils that are subject to flooding! If the soil will be prone to flooding, there will be possibilities of disease and insect infestations—affecting the yield of your crops.
Here are simple signs to take note in relation to soil drainage. A mottled yellow, grey or blue soil, or a sour-smelling soil indicates poor drainage and a standing water table at some time of the year. This means that the water just accumulates there, without being drained, thus increasing the disease and insect risk potential in your garden.
Furthermore, deep sandy soils have a little water holding capacity. Here, it means that the water pass through the soil very quickly, therefore, the plants will not be able to absorb the water. These types of soil is also not preferred. But you have no other choice and if this is the type of soil in your backyard, you must have an irrigation system to solve that problem and ensure a successful production.
Ideal Land
Now, let us talk about the ideal land. What is ideal is a land that are close to irrigation water and is flat enough to permit the easy working whenever we use equipment such as shovel. It is also ideal that the land is rock-free!
Soil Fertility and pH
Another important factor is soil fertility. If you have sufficient resources, you can buy a soil test kit online or in a nearby agriculture or gardening shop. This test will determine if your soil have enough amounts of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium—the three most important soil nutrients.
You can also test the pH of your soil! Why is this important? The types of crops that you can successfully grow in a certain soil, somehow also depends on the pH of the soil. For instance, there are crops that grow well in an acidic soil, while there are some crops that can tolerate basic soil. However, if the plant that you desired to grow is not compatible with an acidic or basic soil, you can apply lime to make an acidic soil, more neutral. Also, you can apply superphosphate to make a basic soil, more neutral.
Planting Density and Spacing
Planting density and spacing also matter in the success of your garden. It is important to know that plants that are too close with each other are competing with resources such as soil nutrients, water and of course, sunlight!
Spacing is always a concern if you are starting a new garden, more especially if you are uncertain about the size of the plants that you will be growing. Some gardens also consult landscapers, but for starting gardeners, it is great that you are here.
If you are buying some seeds, most of the time, the planting density are indicated there. That will be a great start. Here are the spacing requirement of some commonly grown vegetable crops. For carrots, bunching or green onions and radishes, you can allot 2-3 inches of space between them. Beets, garlic, leeks, spinach, onions and turnips require 4 to 6 inches of space between them on all sides, whereas leaf lettuce, celery, and Swiss chard need 7- to 9-inch areas.
Moreover, if you really want a presentable layout for your garden, you can make a field layout! There, you can determine the positions of your plants initially, but still, what will matter is the actual distribution of the plants in the field during the planting process.
If you are dealing with transplants, or those plants that have already grown, grading them is very important. Plants of the same height and size should be planted in a together in a similar row to avoid competition for sunlight. Taller plants could shade the shorter ones, causing them to grow in a slower manner.
To ensure straight rows in your garden, you can use guides such as rope, strings, wire, or some markers available in your house. After this, set the plants at the determined spacing along that line, then you need to assure that the next row will be parallel to the first. This first two rows will serve as the pattern for the rest of the rows in your garden.
Maintenance
In this section, we will discuss on major cultural practices you can do in your garden while the plants are growing.
The rate of watering the plants depends on what type of plants are you growing. There are plants that need more water while there are plants that need lesser water as they can survive with ample water supply. To have an organized way for this, you must also consider the water requirement of your crops in the layout of your garden. Put the water-consuming plants together, while put the plants that can tolerate a dry soil together.
Weeding the plants is also an essential work in gardening. Make sure that your plants are free of weeds for they can be competitors for sunlight, water, soil nutrients and of course, the space! For mechanical weeding i.e. weeding through your hands, have a schedule in weeding your garden, and always check your plants if the weeds are already invading them. An important tip in hand weeding is to make sure that you remove the roots of the weeds, not only the leaves, because the roots can still grow and proliferate.
If you want to make use of chemical herbicides, you can spray glyphosate. Glyphosate needs to be applied as a directed spray between the garden rows. This will lessen the amount of weeds that can invade your garden.
Gardening is really a tedious experience, but it is the best teacher. It teaches every gardener to be patient and trust the process. It empowers every gardener to learn from the mistakes that we commit and strategically counteract the problems we encounter.
Enjoy your gardening experience!
If you are looking to start your garden, check out the links in the description for our recommended books and audiobooks.
Don’t forget to download the free ebook too.
Backyard Gardening Book (paperback)
Backyard Gardening Book (audiobook)
Urban Gardening Book (paperback)
Urban Gardening Book (audiobook)