Smart Home Gardening Tips: A Beginners Guide 101

We all admire something which is beautiful. It captures our attention. Having a beautiful place where we can go and relax after hustles and bustles of everyday gives us the serenity and peace of mind. According to the spiritual books, it was God’s initial plan that human beings, His beloved creatures live peacefully in the Garden of Eden which He had already made for them. It was full of tree fruits. I believe that the air was full of sweet sounds from the birds of nature not the sounds of the automobiles or noisy boss we are used. This is all what you and I were made for. So why should we not live the dream and purpose? The good news is that we can also make little Eden in the small spaces we have around our houses.

The choice fully depends on one’s taste and the space available. You can decide on whether you are going to grow flowers if all what you want is real beauty or you can also decide to grow vegetables or fruits to supplement what you get from the market. Also, there are many types of flowers. Depending on the type of appearance you want, you can decide on whether you are going to mix a variety or settle on one specific type. The type of vegetables or fruits you should settle on should be able to grow well at that specific climatic condition. Also consider whether your garden has enough exposure to sun as some plants only do well when fully exposed to sun. There are others which do well when partly exposed to sun. The type of soil and its properties should also influence your decision. Vegetables do well in loamy soil. Which amount of water do you have for your garden? This should also be a question you should take into consideration. Different plants have different water amount requirements. Vegetables are known for their high water requirement. The quality of water that you have also matters. Treated water may have chemicals which may not be suitable to some varieties of plant.

In order to get a perfect garden, landscaping is necessary. There are several landscaping designs. You should identify all the purposes of the area you intend to use for gardening. Is it a playground for your kids or it is just a free ground with no use? Where do the sun rise and set? Which is the direction of wind?

There a number of ways of paving a garden. You can use stones, wood or concrete slabs for paving.

During the dry seasons, the plants grown should be watered regularly to prevent wilting and drying off. The amount of water and frequency of watering should depend on weather. The quality of water should be good so as to protect the plants which are sensitive to chemicals like chlorine. It is also good to be economical and avoid wastage. During the dry seasons, mulching can be done to prevent water loss. Materials like saw dust can be applied around the stem area. It is also advisable that watering be done late in the evening so as to minimize loss through evaporation. The frequency of watering required also depends on the ability of soil to retain water. Sandy soils are poor in water holding and thus plants in such soils require frequent watering. Clayey soils have very high water retaining capacity and hence frequent watering is not necessary.

Weeding is necessary as it ensures that the garden remains attractive by eliminating any unwanted plant. Weeding also eliminates competition for nutrients, sunlight and moisture. There are several methods which you can apply to suppress weeds. You can spread old newspapers along the strips. Mulching also helps prevent growth of weeds around the plants. You should be careful on the type of material that you use for mulching as some materials may harbor pests like crickets or even disease causing microorganisms. If the weeds grow uncontrollably, you can do weeding with a hoe or uproot using hands. There are also some selective herbicides which you can apply to eliminate weeds. It is very important that you carefully read the instructions or consult experts so as to protect the right plants. In a vegetable garden, make sure that you understand the residual effect of the chemical and the harm the chemical can cause to one’s health.

Pests are some destructive organisms which destroy crops thus causing death or minimizing plants productivity. In Vegetable and fruits garden, pests destroy the quality thus lowering the economic and nutritional value. In flower gardens, pests destroy the beautiful looks of the garden. There are safe and non toxic methods which you can apply to control pests like crickets and rats. For rats, you can set traps along their paths. Ensuring that there is enough light will also make them keep off such an area.

Pruning is the removal of excess branches in order to provide adequate growth space for the others. It allows maximum penetration of sunlight hence increasing productivity. In flower gardens, pruning helps in shaping the garden.

Staking is supporting a plant using a stick. It ensures maximum exposure of plant to sunlight and also helps prevent damping which may be bad for fruits like tomatoes.