Nothing’s worse than getting so excited about gardening and being outside in the sunshine that we forget common gardening rules and make unfortunate blunders. While some mistakes are easy to come back from, it’s never fun to have to spend time correcting problems instead of taking care of your plants. Here are seven simple gardening mistakes to avoid.
Gardening Mistakes To Avoid
Soil
Make sure your garden’s soil is well prepared before planting season comes or else your seeds will suffer. The most common mistake is that gardeners do not begin preparing the soil soon enough. Know what kind of plants you want in your garden beforehand, and then prepare the soil with the necessary fertilizers, drainage, and other specifications.
Space
Don’t let spring fever overtake you. Lots of gardeners buy tons of seeds and starter plants, and then can’t fit them all in the garden without compromising growing space for their plants. A well-crafted plan laying out where and what you will plant helps fix this mistake.
Light
Don’t plant a beautiful garden only to realize that it’s in a spot of your yard that doesn’t get enough light. By deciding what you want to plant before you prep your garden, you can avoid the hassle of dying plants or transplanting your fruits or veggies.
Watering
Both underwatering and overwatering are major problems for lots of gardeners. If you’re a beginning gardener, don’t just trust your eye. Make sure to read the back of the seed packet to make sure your plants are getting the right amount of water.
Seed Depth
The general rule is the bigger the seed, the deeper it should go. However, this isn’t the case for all plants. Don’t kill your plants by suffocating them in soil or exposing their stems before their time. Check the back of the seed packets or talk to your local nursery to figure out how deep the seeds should go.
Upside Down Bulbs
This may seem funny, but bulbs (such as garlic and onion) have a root end and a stem end. Make sure you know which is which before you go and bury them in the ground. This doesn’t always kill the plant, but it makes it contorted when it’s ripe and requires more nutrients and energy to survive.
Weeds
Don’t just let your garden get covered in weeds; take action as early as you can! The best way to do this is to pull emerging weeds every time you go out to water the garden. This not only saves you from having to do a lot of work at once (a hefty chore) but will stop the weeds before they get too comfortable in your garden.
I hope this list of gardening mistakes to avoid helps you in your garden!
Great site, I love it!