25 Gardening Tips Every Gardener Should Know
When you’re just starting out with gardening, it can seem like there’s so much to know, and you’ve got a thousand questions. How should you plant your veggies, and what kind of soil is best? When should you prune your hydrangeas and divide your hostas? Is everything getting enough sunlight and water? The good news is that nature is a terrific teacher. The more you garden, the more you’ll learn about what works and what doesn’t. But for now, use this list of basic gardening tips to find the answers to some of the most common questions beginners have. And don’t forget to have fun while growing your own food and beautiful flowers in your yard!
1. Know your USDA Hardiness Zone. Use it as a guide to avoid planting trees, shrubs, and perennials that won’t survive winters in your area. You’ll also get a better idea of when to expect your last frost date in spring, so you know when you can plant vegetables, fruits, and annuals outside in your area.
2. Not sure when to prune? Prune spring-flowering shrubs, such as lilacs, immediately after the blooms fade. They set their flower buds in autumn on last year’s growth. If you prune them in fall or winter, you remove next spring’s flower buds.
3. Apply only composted, rotted manure that has cured for at least six months to your soil. Fresh manure is too high in nitrogen and can “burn” plants; it may also contain pathogens or parasites. Manure from pigs, dogs, and cats should never be used in gardens or compost piles because they may contain parasites that can infect humans.
4. Perennials generally need three years to achieve their mature size after you plant them. Remember the adage that they “sleep, creep, and leap” each year, respectively.
5. Learn how long your growing season is (the time between your last frost in spring and first frost in fall), so you can start some plants inside or avoid growing them.
6.Deadheading is a good practice for perennials and annuals. Because the goal of annual plants is to flower, set seed, and die, when you remove the old blooms, it tells annual plants to produce more flowers. Removing spent flowers also encourages plants to use their energy to grow stronger leaves and roots instead of seed production. Avoid deadheading plants grown primarily for decorative fruits or pods, such as money plants (Lunaria).
7. Pay close attention to how much light different plants need. Grow vegetables in a location that gets at least 8 hours of direct sunlight every day. Most vegetables need full sun to produce the best harvest. Try growing cool-season crops such as lettuce, spinach, radishes, and cabbage if you have some shade.
8. The best approaches to controlling weeds in the garden are hand-weeding and hoeing. Avoid deep hoeing or cultivating that can bring weed seeds to the soil’s surface so they germinate. Weed early and often to prevent weeds from going to seed. Use mulch to smother and prevent annual weeds.
9. Hostas don’t need to be divided unless you want to rejuvenate an old plant or increase the numbers you have or simply prefer the look of single plants. The best times to divide your hostas are in the spring as the new shoots appear and before the leaves unfurl, or in the fall at least four weeks before your soil freezes solid.
10. Not all hydrangeas grow in the shade. Panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) need sun for the best flowering. Some top panicle varieties include ‘Limelight,’ Little Lime, Vanilla Strawberry, and Bombshell.
11. Don’t clean up everything in your garden in the fall. Leave ornamental grasses for beauty and the seed heads of perennials such as coneflowers to feed the birds. Avoid cutting back marginally hardy perennials, such as garden mums, to increase their chances of surviving a harsh winter.
More tips at link!
https://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/garden-care/gardening-tips-for-every-gardener/
Brought my 3 blueberry plants in containers into the house before our recent cold spell (Okla., Zone 7). So far, they’re doing well. To me, that’s a big deal. Neanderthals like me aren’t supposed to be able to keep plants alive, especially over thew inter. However, this deal just may work out. Keeping fingers crossed.
Everyone says blueberries take forever to produce any berries, and I can attest to that. This is the 3rd year I’ve had them, but at least THIS year, they put forth some decent leaves. So maybe one of these days, I can harvest my own, rather than pay way too much at the grocery store. :-)
Good to know because I'm watching some of the bushes I planted a couple years ago and they just look like they are languishing.
Funny thing is, I was at Wal-Mart a few months ago and they had plants greatly reduced. I picked up a neglected, orphaned rhododendron that looked like it was not long for this world and planted it. I have never had a perennial I bought, even from high end plant sources, that has done as well as that bush.
I constantly get a laugh out of how my Wal-Mart rhododendron is outperforming everything else I bought.
We've had our first few hard freezes here and now it's time to clean up all the freeze killed vegetation and get ready for next spring.
bkmk
PRE PLANNING TIPS for those who want to garden but are not yet gardening, or are planning to buy a house or property: (I know, sort of obvious....)
1) See Diana's note on your growing zone, above. Make certain that your prospective property has a minimum of eight to ten hours of daylight in summer months. (Be aware of shading trees on the south side of the property! Late Afternoon Shade is better than Morning Shade. ) Mature trees add value to most properties. Consider whether you will need to remove them in order to garden. (Tree of Heaven or dangerous Silver Maples? Woody weeds! Does not apply! Cut away! I had shade and 4 shattered maple trees in my back yard and expensive removal cost in my current house!)
2) Make certain that the property has enough soil for a garden; Some places have only a little soil on top of rock, or on coastal sand might require expensive purchase of top soil or years of composting in order to garden. (My Parents retirement home in Northern Arkansas had a thin 4 inches of gravel and clay on rock!)
3) Have a nearby fresh water source close to the garden. ( How deep is your Well? How long is your hose? Within 80-100 feet if possible!)
4) Know what kinds of fauna** live in the area and understand how much and what kinds of fencing you will need to erect to protect your garden and labor. (**Rabbits, cows, buffalo, deer, elk and moose, woodchucks, squirrels, poop cats, digging dogs, feral swine, feral neighbors, etc)
5) If you have not already done so in your preliminary location search, exclude any location near a garbage dump, rock quarry, Coal fired Power Plant, Nuclear power plant, Oil refinery, Superfund Clean up site, Antifa, Islamic, or Democratic run demographic No-Go zone! (Yes, very obvious stuff...OK, Humor/>!)