We all want our homes to be calm and pleasant. Having greenery around makes it more lively. Life is just boring being surrounded by concrete walls. We need to take time to add color to our environment. Creating our garden helps us connect with nature. Engaging in home gardening can help us relax and find beauty in our surroundings. It also can improve our mental and physical wellbeing.
All it takes is time and motivation to come up with a wonderful garden. Please don’t get overwhelmed by the ideas you get on the internet. Doing your research is important if it inspires your way of designing your dream garden. The richness of your garden depends on how beautiful and useful it is. Understanding the purpose of home gardening is crucial to have a lasting impact on our lives. Mass production of food has caused several problems. It has adverse effects on human beings and the environment. Hence your garden should act as a savior that enables us to produce at least certain basic edible plants.
Plan It All Out
Planning is important no matter what you do in life. If you want to have an exciting home garden, get down to a pen and paper. Get a clear idea of what it means for you to have a garden. Browse through the internet, visit friends and family who do home gardening. Talk to people, contact relevant organizations that can provide you guidance and information. As much as seeking knowledge and help is essential you need to do your homework to decide what is best for you.
Plan out your budget. Try to keep it minimal. Spending a lot on buying varieties of plants can be risk-taking at the beginning. If you are a beginner, just start with something simple. Find plants that you can find from your friends, family, and in the neighborhood. If you already have enough, you can make home gardening a community thing. Share it with others and help each other and encourage it.
We cannot define a concrete set of rules to start over a garden. The place you live in, weather and soil, the space you have for a garden, your time, and availability as a gardener are the primary factors you have to think about. Better home gardening requires jotting down the plants that will grow well in your place. For example, Kale is a protein-rich vegetable that grows in cold climates, it withers during hot seasons. It needs both sunlight and shade. Citrus trees grow well in warmer climates. Make a list of flowering plants, vegetables, fruits, creepers, and herbs that best suit your needs, space, and climate. Depending on the space you have, you need to put a rough sketch of where you would place the plants.
Good Soil For Better Home Gardening
Soil matters a lot to make home gardening more fruitful. Comprises sand, silt, and clay particles. Based on the proportion of each constituent there are different soil types of soil like sandy, sticky, clayey, and rocky. You need to make sure you have healthy soil. You can improve whatever soil you have. Include anything that your soil lacks, but removing something in excess is just impossible. Good soil texture is when your soil can form small crumbs, and there should be enough space for water and air to move about.
Sandy soil doesn’t keep enough water. Clayey soil stores a lot of water. Most of the vegetables don’t grow in these types of soils. They need soil that keeps enough water and has organic matter. For flowering plants use soft soil, where you have to get your soil sieved. It needs to be free from stones and debris. There should be enough nutrient content in the soil to make home gardening trouble-free.
Take good care of your soil. If it is in excellent condition, there is not much need for fertilizer. Author and gardener Frank Tozer said, “When building soil you not only improve your plant’s health, but you can also improve your own” Make it a habit to improve soil from time to time. Loosen the soil, add organic matter, and get rid of weeds. If you can afford to do soil tests home gardening becomes a lot easier. This will let you know the pH level and the amount of magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, and potassium in the soil.
Tip: If you’re planning to get serious about home gardening, it’s crucial you get to know your soil type. No matter how much work you do in your yard and garden, all that careful sowing, weeding and tending could be in vain if the quality of your soil is not up to scratch.
Organize Your Garden
To make home gardening more interesting, get things organized.
Have separate space for each type of plant. Depending on the space, you have to organize your plants. If you are living in an urban setting, you have to think of ways to plant in planters in a limited space. Make use of your balcony to plant necessary vegetables. You can design your own raised nursery beds for them. Plant larger plants that can give fruits in the corners of the balcony. You can try planting peas and small melons on a trellis. It gives a cozy feeling. If you have a larger space for your garden, you can make little flower beds and vegetable plots. Have a beautiful pattern that would suit your garden. You can also think of having your comfy private space in your garden with the help of thick bushes. Pay attention to plants that need shade and sunlight, place them accordingly.
It’s not a good idea to keep looking for the gardening supplies when you’re about to get to work. You should have all of your gloves, watering can, and trowel in a handy basket and put it in a place where it’s easily accessible. Keep them cleaned and repaired as soon as you are done using them. So it is easier when you take them out the next time. You also have to preserve your seeds properly. If you have a lot of seeds, name them and store them in excellent condition. Keeping things in an organized manner would encourage home gardening. You will never regret the time you spend doing it.
It’s important to have records of plants. Make note of the dates you sow new seeds, add fertilizer, insecticides, or pesticides. You also need to keep track of your seasonal plants. This will ease your task. You would know when and what you should do next. Do your research on plants you like to plant. You might need to note down the reliable information you find for future needs so you can innovate your home gardening.
Maintain Your Garden
Maintenance is essential to have a healthy garden. You need to be a pro at it if home gardening is one of your highest priorities. You’ll never regret the time you spend in the garden. Set a schedule to regularly water and take care of them. You’ll see how it makes your day. Water should be easily reachable. You can also collect rainwater so you can reduce the cost. Maintenance begins before you bring your plants home. Try to do some research to have an excellent knowledge of pests and bugs and how to fight them. You need to be cautious of the quality of the plant and make sure if it is pest free. If not, you’ll invite unnecessary trouble.
Keeping your plants healthy is a huge part of home gardening. Try to place them in the right places. Every plant has its requirement for healthy growth. Most of the plants need enough sunlight and moist soil. Certain ornamental plants need less water and sunlight. You can place them in shady areas of the garden or you can even have them indoors. Having a mulch layer will help your plants from not withering. If you have larger trees in your garden and there’ll be tons of dried leaves in your garden every time. You can sweep them over to the plant beds. However, you need to clean up the deadhead and weeds. If you leave it as it is, it might spoil your plants. Take some time to do it if you want your garden to be fresh and healthy. Another common problem in home gardening is mosquitoes. Plant some mosquito control plants like catnip and lemongrass in some places in your garden. Don’t let plants get overcrowded, cut the excess. Herbal leaves like Mint leaves, Indian pennywort, and amaranth that are usually taken for meals can spread out easily. Regularly cut them and share the excess with others.
Make It A Family Thing
If you have a greater vision of home gardening, you need to get your loved ones involved. You can’t achieve much standing alone. Don’t take it as a daunting task. Team up with your partner and try to figure out ways to help your family understand the importance of having a beautiful garden with fresh air. Discuss the negative impact of store-bought genetically changed fruits and vegetables. Let them know how you enjoy waking up to a garden around with a pleasant scent of the flowers. Invoke interest in kids to take care of plants. Get them little trowels and watering cans. Help them learn to get their hands dirty. Let them dig, scoop, and fill. Have a regular time every week to work in the garden. Sit down together and sketch a plan for how you can divide up the responsibilities.
Engaging in home gardening together as a family is a way of bonding. Parents and kids will have quality time together. It could be an opportunity to distract kids from the screen. They will learn to work as a team and accomplish tasks on time. It will also help them learn to be patient and understand the reality of victory and loss. Every plant you plant will not turn out well, but it’s okay. As long as you keep nurturing them some of them will be beneficial. It becomes a physical activity that builds confidence and a practical lesson to beautify their surroundings and plant their food. Please note that this should not turn into a competition between family members, rather it should help to connect and corporate with each other. Make home gardening a fun activity where kids can freely engage in, free from judgments.
Keep Home Gardening Simple
Let home gardening become part of everyday activity. Trying to complicate it with sophistication may even drive you away from it. Start small and do something that will give rise to your interest. You don’t have to make your dream garden overnight, take it day by day. Seeing ahead with home gardening is great, but don’t let it overtake you. Make it enjoyable with every small step. It’s not that you have to have a whole extensive garden with varieties of vegetables, trees, and flowering plants. Plant something that you need daily or something that you and your family love to eat.
Try to keep your garden minimal. Don’t make it an added burden that you need to put up with every day. You could be someone who wants a home garden but already have a lot on your plate. Go for plants that would thrive with minimal care. Succulents, money plant, peace lily, aloe, and vegetables like squashes, beetroot, and potatoes. Limit the number of plants you need to grow. You don’t have to spend hours looking into how well they do. Everyone has their priorities. So It’s completely okay to try out home gardening at your own pace. All You need is to enjoy the simple measures you take to nourish your little garden.
People have different opinions about having a minimalistic garden. You may decide it depending on your taste, and the time, money, and effort you can invest. Some think it is simple and elegant while others think it’s just plain and boring. You can choose your way of doing it. Be bold to choose what you want for a garden. If it fulfills your purpose, that’s good enough.
Pro At Home Gardening?
If home gardening is something so close to your heart you will want to take it to the next level. You won’t need extra motivation to spare some time for it daily. When it becomes your passion, you’ll experiment with planting and decorating in innovative ways. The amount of space you have may not determine how well your experiment with plants. You can create your paradise garden using your creativity.
Try to keep the garden as natural as possible. Don’t add a lot of plastic and concrete to make your garden attractive. Home gardening should not add to the trouble of pollution. Make use of things available at home to make plant holders and stands. Old shoes, bottles, and containers can be used. If possible, try to find wood that you can carve into different shapes. Come up with creative decor with environmentally friendly materials.
Home gardening for people living in urban settings is mostly within the house, porch, and balcony. You can make the best out of it. You can find tons of indoor plants to beautify every part of your home. Make sure you select plants suitable for each place. You can plant succulents, cactus, and aloe in small ornamental soup cups. You can place them on the kitchen and bathroom counters. They would look beautiful on the wall stands. Have a few giant pots with Yucca, Citrus mint, or Parlor Palm in the corners of your rooms and living room. Begonias, colorful bougainvillea, and fountain grass would add grace to your balcony. You can also plant tomatoes, pepper, and cucumbers in planters on your balcony. Place these plants in suitable places and have a cushion or two to make it a cozy place to enjoy a fresh breeze while reading or having some drink.
All About Fruits, Vegetables, and Flowers
To do successful home gardening, we need to take good care of the produce. What gives us happiness in a garden is the sight of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. As we need to get the right harvest, we need to make sure they grow healthy and pest free.
Are you thinking about planting your food but don’t have enough time? Some vegetables do well with minimum care. Leafy greens, herbs, and beans are easy to grow. You might not have to fight a lot of pests for them. They can thrive on their own if placed in a sunny area and water without completely neglecting. You get varieties of other plants like cauliflower, broccoli, and onions that are challenging to grow. They need a lot of attention. You have to constantly check on them, water regularly without delay, and most of all you need to take measures to keep pests away. It works the same with fruits and flowers too.
Home gardening doesn’t come easy, but the feeling of satisfaction and comfort you gain through it is just incomparable. Sunflowers are one of the best examples for easy to grow flowers. Sow the seeds right under the sun, pour enough water, and give it support when it grows taller and see how amazingly they grow. Sweet pea flowers grow well. You’d better go for a plant rather than seeds. All they need is a sunny spot, support, and regular watering. Roses and gardenia are a lot of maintenance. Just because you like to have them in your garden, you can bring them in. You need to know if you can commit to attending to them and if it would suit your place and climate. Despite all these struggles, people plant them with the desire to make home gardening more interesting.
Make Your Compost
Can home gardening be complete without homemade compost? If we want a healthy lifestyle through home gardening we have to think of the fertilizer we use for our plants. Though it’s nearly impossible to get rid of chemicals completely we should at least try to make compost using household waste. Don’t take it as another burden on your schedule. Just think of a way to discard different wastes at home. Please don’t dump all of them together into a ditch. That will not help very much. There are so many ways in which you can make your compost no matter where you live. Please take heart and go for the method that best suits your ways and make home gardening more meaningful.
Aerobic Composting
Aerobic Composting is one of the most effortless types of compost making. You can pile all the degradable waste matters to place. Adding a lot of greeny matter is important. And from time to time you need to turn the pile-up and let in enough air. It should also have enough water content. This could give an unpleasant odor. If you live in a spacious place where you can make it away from home it’s a much easier option.
Anaerobic Composting
The name suggests it’s the opposite of aerobic composting. You can keep piling all the degradable kitchen wastes and other leaves collected from the garden into a composter. You might not need to dig into it for a year. But the bad news is about the odor. If it doesn’t get enough oxygen, it will be pretty bad. Better to keep them under the sun with enough air.
Compost Making in an urban setting
Living in an apartment, is the thought of stinking compost stopping you from trying to home gardening? If there’s a will there is away. However, what could get you creepy is that you need worms to make it all happen. Get some worms that will not ruin your compost. Take a bin and place it on a few papers to absorb the water. Layer the bottom of the bin with soil, then let in your worm, and then you can start by adding vegetable and fruit peels and leaves that you want to discard. As the worms do their job, you won’t be bothered by odor anymore.
Conclusion
Home gardening gets better when you can take the right measures. Try to figure out what is important for you as a gardener. We all do things for different purposes and in completely different ways. You can follow whatever tips you found easy and interesting to make a wonderful garden of your own.
