Gardening, for beginners, can be an overwhelming prospect. Not only do you need to choose the right plants, but you need to get them in the ground properly, give them what they need, and then maintain the results. It can be a lot of work! Thank goodness there are plenty of gardening hacks to help you be successful in your new venture. Here are some of the best must-know tips for the beginning gardener, so you can be ready to cook with the freshest ingredients possible!
1. Insect Spray
When you start gardening, one of your primary concerns is controlling insects. They’re not just a nuisance — they will actually eat or even kill your highly anticipated harvest before you have a chance to enjoy it. Snails, mosquitos, aphids, and other veggie-loving bugs can really do a lot of damage, but you don’t necessarily want to spray your plants with chemicals, either. Instead, try your own DIY organic insecticide. It contains garlic and mint…two things you might love, but insects don’t!
2. Plastic Tote Garden
If you don’t have a lot of space or want to keep your plants “contained” and control weeds in a big way, try the plastic tote gardening method. Just drill a bunch of drain holes in the bottom of a plastic storage tote. You can plant all kinds of things in here: tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, herbs… Keep your container garden on your sunny porch or patio.
3. Raised Beds
If you’re worried about weeds (and who isn’t?), raised gardens are a great way to keep them at bay. Best of all, you don’t have to spend a ton of money to make your own DIY raised beds. Use cinder blocks, kiddie pools, even grow plants right in the bags of garden soil!
4. Straw Bale Garden
Did you know you can actually grow your entire garden in bales of straw? With a few preparatory steps, you can succeed at this and not have to worry much about weeds.
5. Potato Tower
Potatoes are easy to grow, and nothing tastes better than fresh potatoes from your very own garden. But they’re a huge pain to dig out of the ground, right? Wrong! When you grow potatoes using the tower method, with little more than a roll of garden fencing, soil, and straw.
