Gardeners know that time is not something they have to spare. But has it occurred to you just how much of our precious minutes are going towards tending the garden?
These 10 most common habits for a better looking and more productive yard can help make sure this doesn’t happen!
1. Make a plan!
How many hours do you spend planning out your garden? It’s not just about the seed or plants, but also which areas will need sun and water.
Knowing these things ahead of time is important for success in any type of gardening environment: yearly annuals vs perennial vines; raised bed versus earthwork beds; cold-climate growers who live at higher elevations with snowfall much more than other parts within their state—there are always differing needs that require different types of care!
2. Compost
Composting is an easy way to improve your garden’s success. If at all possible, make sure you are feeding the soil well by using either homemade or organic compost instead of commercially-available products like chemical fertilizers that may damage plants’ roots over time and contribute heavily towards their downfall.
3. Mulch
Mulch is one thing many gardeners can’t do without. There are so many benefits to using mulches like well-chopped grass clippings, shredded leaves and straw in your landscaping needs!
4. Water only when needed
Successful gardeners know that time and energy can be wasted on things not worth doing.
Instead, they limit watering to when it is most needed – just check the soil surface each day for dryness then give a generous dose! Morning hours are best because this enables you to do other tasks before getting too hot outdoors.
5. Keep an eye on your garden daily
It is important to keep an eye on your garden every day, even if you only have a few minutes.
A daily walk will allow for catching issues early and avoiding larger problems later down the line that could have been easily avoided with some preventative measures in place!
6. Rotate your crops
Successful gardeners know that soil health is key to their success. And by rotating crops, they can help keep the nutrients in balance for a healthy crop every time!
7. Only plant what you’ll use
We understand that it feels enthusiastic once you read all those plant – catalogs. But, if your tomatoes never get picked and then thrown away because they are bad tasting or misshapen- don’t order three different heirloom varieties to try!
Save them for the next person who needs some delicious tomato sauce in their life.
8. Always plant MORE than you’ll need
Planting more than you need (especially of the plants that are your favorites) will give better chances for an overall harvest.
If it’s not too much trouble, look into succession gardening which just means planting successive crops instead of all at once and extending their periodicity! Green beans, summer squash zucchini or carrots make great starters with this technique.
9. Take notes of everything
One of the best ways to improve your gardening success is by learning from previous seasons.
But with all those memories lost, you’ll never be able remember everything and that’s why it’s important for us as gardeners to record and take notes of everything.
10. View failure as experience, and don’t give up
To become a successful gardener, you have to give yourself some grace and experiment with failure. The more experience that one gains in their craft the better they will be at it!
Sometimes there isn’t another way so when future crops are only mildly fruitful or full of bugs consider this year’s crop as being better than the previous one. After all, there is always time for improvement!