Top 10 Thursday.
Welcome to our new edition of Top 10 Thursday. Here at The Garden Furniture Centre we’ve decided to put our noggins together on two Thursdays each month to provide you with top 10’s, tricks and tips on gardening. From beginners to expert we’ll be packing our articles with advice that’s useful for everyone.
Today we’re kick starting with a 10 Gardening steps for beginners.
1. Firstly you’ll need to decide what garden you’re going for – will it be flowers, vegetables or herbs? Start small, then once you start getting to green fingers you can add more
2. You’ll need to pick a spot that gets plenty of sunlight, spend some time in your garden beforehand so you can see which area this is.
3. Once you’ve picked a spot you’ll need to clear the ground, get rid of any weeds that may be growing – for a quick fix you can dig these out, you’ll also need to get rid of the sod (turf) that’s covering the area, this can be dug up too.
4. Get to know your soil, there are three main types; sand, silt and clay. They’re important to know as they will determine when and how you plant and water your garden. You can do a bit of research into this yourself or perhaps ask a neighbour familiar with gardening.
5. Decide whether your soil is the right condition to dig – it shouldn’t be too wet or too dry. To help you determine this you can see if it holds together in a loose ball, if it crumbles it’s too dry, if the ball is compact and doesn't crumble when it hits the ground it is too wet.
6. Once you’ve determined if your soil is in the correct condition you can begin to give it a helping hand by digging in some compost and old grass trimmings or leaves. Compost helps to decompose organic matter which in turn creates more soil.
7. This is where the fun begins, take a trip to your local garden centre and pick your plants. Make sure you check out the labels to see if they work well with your soil type and the amount of sunshine they’ll be subject too. We recommend buying transplants for first time gardeners as they’re much easier to work with. Remember to look at the time of year you should plant them, you don’t want to buy something then realise when you’re home that you can’t plant it until next year!
8. Now you’ve got your plants keep them in the pots and arrange them on your chosen patch to see how they look together. This is a great practice as you can see which ones complement each other and get them into a fashion that you love. Once you’ve decided on a layout you’re happy with, simply remove them from their pots, dig a hole deep enough and plonk them in.
9. New plants need frequent watering until they’ve established their roots. Make sure you water them every other day or so. Once established you need to water them when they require it, this really depends on your climate and how often it rains – you can usually tell by how wet the soil is.10. Cover the soil with a few inches of mulch. Mulch is great for locking in moisture and keeping pesky weeds away. There are lots of different types available; we always think bark chips look great!
And there we have it, not so difficult eh? If you nurture your plants all year round they’ll appreciate it and reward you with a beautiful bloom. Make sure you keep an eye on the weeds and nab them before they can cause any damage.
Happy gardening folks!
