Always call your local utility companies and get your yard marked before you start digging. If you have grass growing in your new garden spot, dig it up with a spade or sod cutter. Or, if you have time to wait, mow that area as low as you can, then cover it with a several-sheet-thick layer of newspaper and several inches of soil or compost. Wait a couple of months for the grass to die. Now comes the digging.
Dig up or till your new garden, removing any rocks, roots, or other debris. If you have poor soil, now's also a great time to incorporate organic matter, such as compost. Just dig it in while you work the ground.
8 Steps to a New Garden | Better Homes & Gardens
Learn about the best garden tools. Keep the lawn from crawling into your garden with a good edge. Conduct research on the produce you're growing to make sure you use the right ground cover. Too thick a layer could in inhibit growth, so make sure you add only as much as each type of plant needs. When you're finished planting and treating the soil, use the garden hose's "sprinkler" setting to thoroughly dampen the garden.
Continue watering the garden every day, adding more or less water to different areas according to the plants' needs, for the first few weeks after planting. Over saturating the soil could drown the seeds and prevent the plants from growing. Don't water to the point where streams of water run through the garden. Never let the soil completely dry out. Watering once a day is sufficient. Once the plants have sprouted, water in the morning, rather than at night.
Water sitting on the leaves and stems all night can lead to the production of mold and other plant diseases. After a few weeks, reduce how often you water the plants. Give the garden deep waterings two or three times a week or as needed. Sprouting weeds take nutrients from the soil, leaving less for your vegetables or flowers. Weed the garden every few days to make sure your plants get the nutrients they need - just be careful not to pull up sprouting garden plants. A stirrup hoe will help remove weeds before they get too big. You can run the hoe along the soil beside plants and knock the weeds down.
Consider erecting a small fence.
8 Steps to a New Garden
If you see small animals such as rabbits, squirrels, deer, and gophers or voles in your garden or in your neighborhood, you may want to go ahead and put a fence around the garden to protect it. A two or three foot tall fence should be tall enough to keep small creatures out. If you have deer in your area, the fence may need to be as high as eight feet. Before you put any plants into your garden, plan out how many figurines you want, and where you want them.
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Put small stakes in the ground where you want each figurine. When choosing plants, try ones with small flowers that grow close to the ground. Ornamental trees are a nice touch. Do not choose sprawling plants. Use stones to block plants from intruding. Mosses help block other plants, and add a small "grass" that is very manageable and appealing. Not Helpful 2 Helpful 4. You can take your food scraps and start a compost pile in a large container, it will be great fertilizer. If you need something more quickly, ashes from burnt wood are high in phosphorous, and urine is high in nitrogen.
Not Helpful 0 Helpful 0. The best way to keep your dog out of your garden is to mount a fence that's too tall for your dog to jump over. You could also tie your dog up outside using a leash that's an appropriate length to keep them from reaching your garden.
What is the best organic fertilizer that is prepared in home? Answer this question Flag as How to plant pepper mint stick's of a garden tower? Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. Already answered Not a question Bad question Other. Tips To figure out how well your soil drains, use this simple test. First, dig holes that are about 1 foot 0. If they take about minutes to drain, the soil drains very well and will dry out easily.
If they take from minutes, the soil has good drainage.
Step 2: Get Rid of the Grass
If they take from 30 minutes to 4 hours, the area doesn't have great drainage but will work for plants that like moist soil. If they take even longer, then you probably won't be able to plant things until you fix the soil. If you don't use a soil test, you may still be able to get some information about the soil by observing the weeds that are growing.
Dandelions prefer very fertile soil. If there aren't many weeds growing, then the dirt is probably not very fertile. If the weeds look unhealthy, then the soil there may have a nutrient deficiency. Crabgrass, plantains, sheep sorrel, and horsetails prefer acidic soil, while chamomile and goose foot like alkaline soil.
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Warnings Always water your garden if it feels or looks dry. Don't let the plants dry out, but don't over water either. Things You'll Need Seeds or young plants. Article Summary X To start a garden, check online to see what plants thrive in your region, then decide what kinds of plants you want to grow, such as vegetables, flowers, herbs, or a combination. Did this summary help you? Did you try these steps? Upload a picture for other readers to see.
Tell us more about it? Click here to share your story. Some materials may have degraded sufficiently to be put in the garden, while others have not. Thorough composting generates high temperatures for extended lengths of time, which actually kill any pathogens in the material. Infected plant debris that has not undergone this process will reintroduce potential diseases into your garden. If you are not sure of the conditions of your compost pile, you should avoid using yard waste as mulch under sensitive plants and avoid including possibly infected debris in your pile.
Viruses and bacteria often can only enter a plant through some sort of opening, and bug damage provides that. Some insects actually act as a transport for viruses, spreading them from one plant to the next. Aphids are one of the most common carriers, and thrips spread impatiens necrotic spot virus, which has become a serious problem for commercial producers over the past 10 years.
Insect attacks are another way to put a plant under stress, rendering it less likely to fend off disease. It is always best to clean out the garden in the fall, even if you live in a moderate climate. This is not only an effective deterrent to disease but also a good way to control diseases already in your garden. You need to take care when fertilizing plants since too much of any fertilizer can burn roots, reducing their ability to absorb water. This, in turn, makes the plants more susceptible to stress from drought, cold, and heat.
Plants starved for nutrients are smaller and can be badly affected by leaf spots, while a stronger plant can fight off diseases. An overabundance of a particular nutrient is another way to put stress on a plant. Getting a soil test through your local extension agency will provide you with accurate information on nutrient levels in your soil. Without it, any feeding of your plants is likely to be guesswork on your part and may result in too much of one nutrient or not enough of another. Disease-resistant plants are those that might get sick with a particular problem but will fight off the disease instead of succumbing to it.
Many rose companies offer plants that are resistant to diseases like powdery mildew and black spot. Nursery employees and fellow gardeners can help you identify the best or most resistant varieties of many plants. Reference books and catalogs may also list plants and varieties resistant to particular diseases.
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Trimming trees and shrubs in late winter is better than waiting until spring. Wounded limbs can become infected over the winter, allowing disease to become established when the plant is dormant. Late-winter pruning prevents disease from spreading to new growth. Although late-winter storms can cause new damage, it is still better to trim back a broken limb than ignore it until spring is underway. Always use sharp tools to make clean cuts that heal rapidly, and make sure to cut back to healthy, living tissue.
Successful gardening is based on using plants appropriate for your zone and site. If you set a shade-loving plant, like an azalea, in full sun, it will grow poorly and be easily attacked by diseases and insects. I once had a crape myrtle planted where part of its leaves were in the shade. This was the only part of the plant that had powdery mildew. Watering your garden is a good thing, but since many diseases need water just as much as plants do, how you go about it makes a big difference. Many pathogens in the soil and air need water to move, grow, and reproduce. Soaker hoses and drip irrigation accomplish this.
If you are watering by hand, hold the leaves out of the way as you water the roots. The most common leaf problems are exacerbated when leaves are wet, so overhead sprinkling is the least desirable option. If you choose this method, however, water at a time when the leaves will dry quickly but the roots still have time to absorb the moisture before it evaporates. Waterlogged soil or pots promotes some root-rotting fungi and can also suffocate roots, making them easy targets for the rotting fungi. Take care when spacing transplants, and keep an eye on established plants as they spread.
Crowded plants create their own humidity, which allows diseases like powdery mildew photo, right , rust, and downy mildew to thrive. Improving airflow around your plants reduces this high relative humidity and allows foliage to dry more quickly. Plants that are placed too closely together tend to grow poorly due to competition for light, water, and nutrients.