People believe gardening is a lot harder than it seems to be, but in reality, creating a few habits and checking some basics can help increase the quality and the plant’s longevity.
Regardless of what you grow in your garden, be it a fruit, veggies, flowers, or a mix of everything, it’s crucial to understand different plants have their own level of care.
But it doesn’t require unnecessary effort, money, and time. A few good habits and consistency can be a game-changer in keeping your garden plants looking fresh, healthy, and growing.
Here are seven habits that you can follow right away.
- Watering Your Plants
One of the major garden habits that you should keep is to water your plants, especially the new ones that tend to wilt and die. Make sure you are watering each and every new plant you have planted; this will help keep them alive and foster nicely.
Plants like cacti or succulents grow even better after they have had a good soak once they replant in the new position. With the help of watering, you reduce the trauma of shifting in their roots and overall. It also helps encourage the roots to spread and become comfortable with the new position.
John C.Fech from UNL Water says, “The best way to water the new plant is to keep the roots moist instead of dry or soggy. You can add a screwdriver to soil for determining the moisture as if there are muddy soil particles attached to the blade, it’s been overwatered or if it’s dry and powdery, then the new plant needs more water.”
With this habit, you ensure the plants are growing much healthier and become much more resilient.
- Do A Proper Plant Maintenance
Remove the plants that are not needed, prune, cull, and deadhead the old flowers to let new ones grow. By pruning, you cut the branch of the plant, which makes room for the next and also controls the growth.
Make sure your plants are clean to let the garden flourish. Following these habits can help promote better growth, clear any pests or parts, and make space for more flowers and vegetables in your garden.
- Check How Healthy Your Plant Is
Inspect your garden plants to be sure there are no pests or rotting which can affect your garden. If you are transplanting a new one, check if there is a diseased or infected one so it won’t harm other plants.
Look for destructive bugs like whiteflies, gnats, and aphids that should be removed either by using pesticides or any other extermination method.
- Keep Your Tools Clean
Garden tools can be the reason behind your plant’s dying, as they might be transferring bacteria or other elements into the garden.
Make sure you are cleaning your garden tools. This habit can help control the disease and prevent bacteria-like elements. Also, it helps keep the garden healthy for a long period of time.
- Do Mulching Twice In A Year
As per FAO, “Mulching is the process where you add a layer on top of your soil, consisting of the organic mix like leaves, twigs, grass, crop residues, etc, to improve the soil health, retain water, and reduce the growth in weed plants.“
Make sure you cover each of the plans, and keep the mulch thickness around 2-3 for plant protection or 4-6 inches thick to prevent weed growth.
800Flower expert says, “Making a habit of mulching your garden, at least twice, can help in giving nutrients back to the soil. It also saves a lot of effort in the long run.”
Even though it feels like a task, keeping it will make your soil much healthier around the year. Also, it gives an excellent foundation for your favorite plants to grow well.
- Use Spent Plants To Return Back Soil Richness
Spent plants are those that have bloomed and set seed. The worst habit you can have is to rip such plants out and throw them in a dustbin.
These plants feed off the nutrients and minerals from the soil, and tearing them up and throwing them away is a waste of all the goodness stored in the plant.
Instead of that, you can add those spent plants to your garden. This can be done by following mulching, composting, or just tearing them up and keeping them on the soil’s top.
By doing this, the plant will start to decompose and eventually return the goodness to your soil garden. This ensures your garden’s soil is rich and ready for future plantations.
- Use Plants For Seeds
Plants like parsley, passionfruit, marigolds, calendula, fennel, coriander, etc, are capable of setting seeds. It means letting them on the ground after they finish flowering and letting their seed set help grow even more plants without spending any money on it.
Leave one of the varieties in the ground and let it dry and crackly, and seed pop or flower heads go crispy. Once they break open, the seed pod or flowerhead crumbles over the soil. By doing this, you will get the same plants again next year!
Wrapping Up
One way to understand gardening is by doing it and learning about things that work or do not work in your favor.
Following these gardening habits can help make the process much more hassle-free and less stressful. Understanding what you like about gardening is crucial to keep yourself motivated. And with having healthy garden habits, you can understand more about your garden and how gardening works,
