It’s May, which means it’s the time when people in the West start planting their gardens for the summer. If you are looking to start a garden for the first time, here are some tips to help you be successful.
Gardening is something that can be overwhelming for people to start, but it doesn’t have to be.
Here are some simple tips for planning out your garden, protecting your plants and helping your garden to thrive.
Test and improve your soil
According to eatright.org, the Department of Agriculture recommends soil testing. By testing your soil, you can make sure it is safe and does not have high levels of lead.
Soil testing can also help you know what is missing from your soil. Once you know what your soil needs, you can do what’s necessary to improve it by adding things that are lacking, per Better Homes and Gardens.
Choose a good spot for your garden
According to Better Homes and Gardens, most vegetables and a lot of flowering plants require six to eight hours of direct sun each day. It is important to pay attention to your yard to see which spots receive full sun.
Once you’ve identified these areas, you can choose the spot for your garden.
Even if you have a yard that is mostly shaded, there are some plants that can be grown in shade, such as certain varieties of tomatoes and outdoor ferns.
You will also want to choose a spot for your garden that is relatively flat, because it is more difficult and time-consuming to work on a sloping garden, per Better Homes and Gardens.
Start small and simple
When getting started with gardening, it is important not to get ahead of yourself by growing too wide a variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Starting with just a few plants can help you get some experience and help you build confidence, per bestmedclinics.com.
You can also choose plants that are easier to grow and are more forgiving to help you have more success in your garden.
Make sure you have easy access to a water source
When planning out your garden, it is important to consider how you will water it.
Sharl Karpf, who has been gardening her whole life in a variety of yards, emphasized that water sources can be an issue for gardeners.
She added that she has neighbors that don’t have an outdoor water source, so they have to carry their water outside.
Be mindful of keeping your garden safe from pests
There are plenty of pests and diseases that can damage and kill your plants. In order to protect your plants, you might want to consider using a physical barrier such as row covers to protect from wind and insects or fencing to protect from deer and rabbits, per eatright.org.
You can also use natural pesticides, which include neem oil or insecticidal soap.
While it is good to protect your plants from pests, there are some bugs, like ladybugs and praying mantises, that are beneficial for gardens. There are also certain types of seeds that have higher resistance to pests and diseases.
Only grow what you will eat
“Don’t plant things you’re not going to eat,” Karpf said.
One thing Karpf emphasized multiple times is that you should only plant what you will eat.
You don’t want to plant too much so that food goes to waste and you also don’t want to plant things that won’t give you very much produce.
Make sure you can take care of your garden
Karpf shared that last year she was sick, so she wasn’t able to care for her garden a lot of the time, and she also didn’t have someone else to take care of it, so her garden struggled.
Because of this, she said it is important to think about whether or not you will actually be able to care for the garden you plant.
“Are you going to be able to take care of it? If you can’t, who is going to?” she said.
Consider building raised garden beds
Raised beds can be good for a variety of reasons.
They make a good option for people who don’t have good soil in their yard or don’t have ground space to till for a garden, according to bestmedclinics.com.
Karpf said that raised beds can also be helpful for people who have limited mobility or aren’t able to bend down to the ground very well.