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The Worst Gardening Mistakes You Might Be Guilty of Doing
The idea of planting a garden is always exciting especially for those who will be doing it for the first time. Although in your rush to see everything beautiful and lush, you may do things that are not helpful to your plants’ health and growth.
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It’s so easy to take out the hose from your Easy Shed, dig up the soil, and dump some seeds or store-bought seedling in them. However, there are so many things to consider before picking up your shovel. Without taking the time to learn them, you’ll eventually find yourself doubting if you have the talent for gardening. At worst, you might entirely give up and lose interest.
Below are the worst and most common gardening mistakes that you should avoid.
Worst Mistake #1: Watering Your Plants the Wrong Way
Plants need water. It’s one of the basic lessons that we learn in school. You’d think it’d be beneficial to give them plenty of water every day, right? However, you’ll be shocked to learn that more plants die from too much water.
The easiest way to determine if you’ve watered your plants enough is by sticking your finger in the soil. If the soil feels cool and moist, that means there’s enough water in it. It’s usually okay to water your plants every other day, but if you live in warmer climates, you might need to water more often.
You can wait until the soil is almost dry before watering again. Note that plants you’ve just repotted or planted into new ground needs to be watered immediately and every day for the next couple of weeks. After that, you can cut back and monitor how regularly you need to do it.
Conversely, you can quickly kill plants if you don’t water them enough. You might want to set up a drip irrigation system if you’re planting fruits and vegetables, while soaker hoses are best for large trees.
Worst Mistake #2: Planting in Poor Soil
Plants get the nutrients they need from the soil, so it’s best to plant them on healthy soil. Take the time to get to know the characteristics of your soil and learn the best ways to make it ideal for plant growth.
The goal is to mix in enough organic matter in it to achieve the right consistency. The basic things that you can add are compost and manure, but there are also other kinds of organic matter that you could try to make your soil more fertile.
Worst Mistake #3: Forgetting to Mulch
Mulching provides many benefits. One of them is preventing weeds to grow. Weeds compete with your plants for water and nutrients, and putting on a layer of mulch around your plants prevents the exposure of soil to sunlight.
The absence of sunlight would stop the weeds from ever sprouting. Mulching also insulates the ground underneath, so water doesn’t evaporate as much. Additionally, the mulch will eventually decompose and break down to organic matter, thus helping improve the quality of your soil.
Worst Mistake #4: Planting in the Wrong Place and at the Wrong Time
Before planting, make sure to research how much sunlight a specific plant needs. Some plants need direct sunlight to flourish, so it’s best to plant them where they are exposed.
Others can’t handle too much sun, so you might want to plant them where they could get sun only early in the morning or late in the afternoon. There are also plants that don’t need direct sunlight and can be kept under a shade or planted in containers inside the house.
If you’re planting fruit-bearing trees or vegetables, make sure that you’re doing it in season. Doing so will give your plants the ideal environment and enough time that they need to produce healthy crops.
If you’re planting in rows, make sure that you space them appropriately so that they don’t compete with each other for water and nutrition.
Worst Mistake #5: Fertilizing the Wrong Way
We sometimes think of fertilizer as vitamins, so we tend to give our plants as much supplement as we can get our hands on. However, fertilizers are highly concentrated, so it’s easy to overfertilize your plants and kill them. Use them sparingly. Better yet, focus on improving your soil quality instead.
Gardening is fun, and it could be the most fulfilling hobby there is – if you do it the right way!
About the Author Laura Bennett
Hello, I’m Laura Bennett. I love nature especially when it comes to flowers and different kinds of plants. I started a very small garden behind my house and I named it Humid Garden. So, I created this blog to provide aspiring and inspiring thoughts about gardening for gardeners and anyone who has the intention of keeping a garden.
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