TIPS FOR STARTING A BACKYARD GARDEN 

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TIPS FOR STARTING A BACKYARD GARDEN 

Starting a backyard garden is great way to practice your farming hobbies and also adds to the landscape of your home. Planting food crops in your backyard garden can also support your kitchen and save you a fortune in trips to the grocery store. 

To get started, you need to decide on how much time you are willing to spend on your garden since different garden plants require varying levels of attention. This should also determine the size of your garden – you don’t want to start a big garden what will overwhelm you to maintain. 

Here are ways to start a backyard garden. 

Choose the right crop 

You can choose to plant flower plants to aestheticize your landscaping or vegetables for your domestic consumption. If you did your research on Gardening Tips And Reviews, then you should already know that flower plants have different requirements to vegetables, and this should inform your decision depending how much time and effort you are willing to put into your garden. 

Vegetables mature quickly and can be harvested all year with irrigation during the dry months whereas flowers take more time and have a blooming season after which they shed and need a period for regrowth. 

When choosing the crops for your garden, also factor in your soil type and the prevailing weather conditions of your neighborhood. Some crops require specific seasons for their planting and you need to factor that in if you want your garden to thrive. 

Watering 

Generally, you should water your plants deeply instead of surface watering by sprinkling water over the leaves which can even cause the spread of diseases. 

There is not a one size fits all approach when it comes to watering your garden since different plants have different water requirements and you should therefore be guided by the types of plants you have in your garden. 

The best way to know if your plants are getting adequate water is to observe the leaves. Yellowing of the leaves is often a symptom of overwatering or underwatering. 

Weeding 

You will need a few basic gardening tools like a fork, spade, wheel barrow and a pair of gloves to properly tend to your garden without the risk of injuries. 

The best way to control weeds is to observe plant spacing recommendations for your garden. Squeezing too many plants in a tiny garden in a bid to increase your yields is counterproductive since they will choke under the invasion of weeds in addition to fighting for nutrients among themselves. Well-spaced plants are healthier and have better yields. 

Remove any weeds you spot in your garden immediately before they grow big and become problematic. 

Soil fertility 

In addition to controlling the growth of weeds in your garden, mulching also improves soil fertility by regulating soil temperatures and keeping moisture in the soil longer.  

The best way to improve your garden’s soil fertility is by adding compost manure made of dead leaves and tilling the garden to make sure it mixes well with the soil instead of just sitting on the surface layer.