If you want a relaxing and self-sufficient lifestyle, you should consider starting your garden. While the supermarkets are convenient, there’s nothing like growing your own produce and knowing where some of your food comes from. Gardening is also a popular and relaxing pastime for many people, as research has proven that nature can be calming for people. In fact, more than 50% of people use gardening to feel calm. That’s why the garden product industry witnessed a sales spike of 10% in 2018.
If you’re ready to experience the benefits of gardening, here are some tips to get started.
1. Have a Good Water Source
Regardless of what you have in your garden, your flowers, plants, and produce will always need fresh hydration. Unless you want to constantly lug jugs of water from the kitchen, invest in easier ways to water the garden. Go to stores like Home Depot, Lowe’s, or similar ones to find a quality hose. You can also install an irrigation system or enhance an existing one to work on your garden.
2. Plant What You’ll Eat
Think of the vegetables and fruit you can wait to dine on and focus on those. If you hate peas, it makes no sense to plant them although they are one of the easiest plants to grow. What better way to have a calm lifestyle than to know that you’ll always have something to eat since you can grow food at home?
3. Find a Tree
Water isn’t the only element that matters when growing vegetation. All the locations in your landscape aren’t ideal for a successful garden. Consider how much sun and shade your veggies and fruit will get. Some grow best in more shade than direct sunlight. Did you know that one tree can remove as much as 22 pounds of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually?
Having at least one tree in your garden not only improves air quality but provides shade that can prevent leaf burn on some plants. Plus, if you plant the right tree, it can add to your homegrown food list by producing fruit like apples, oranges, lemons, and more.
4. Add a Fence
How would you feel if you put in hours of work in your garden, only to one day notice all your beautiful leafy greens have been eaten away? That can easily happen thanks to cute pests like deer and rabbits and not-so-cute ones like rodents and aphids. Adding a fence can protect your hard work from hungry critters. Professionals recommend building one six feet high to keep pests out.
You may also have to install barbed wire six inches beneath the bottom of the fence to keep out borrowing animals like rats and groundhogs.
5. Care for Your Soil
Don’t put your seeds and trees in just any soil and expect great results. Good soil must contain nutrients like nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. Adding compost to your soil is an organic way to keep it nutrient dense. Before getting started, you can have your soil tested for PH balance and any deficiencies it may have.
6. Plant in Stages
Some items will grow faster than others. After you harvest produce, you can plant seeds in those empty spots. In other words, you don’t have to do all your planting at the same time. Depending on your climate, you may be able to have a garden that’s constantly blooming flowers, fruits, and vegetables year round.
You need food to live and food costs money. Add to a healthy lifestyle by adding the calming effects of gardening to your life. You’ll benefit by knowing what you’re putting in your body and helping your household budget by growing nutritious food. So use the above tips to enhance your green thumb today.
Leave a Reply