Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Surrounded by beautiful flowers and green plants is a dream of everyone who wants to start gardening. Even though it seems simple, in fact, it is not easy to realize. Especially as a beginner, we must really know what steps to start gardening so that the plants can grow well and leafy.
The first step in preparing land is important. It’s one of the main factors to determine the success of gardening activities. So please check these following tips out on how to start gardening.
How to Start Gardening Easily
The following are some steps of land preparation for the gardening, such as planting flowers, fruits, and vegetables in a simple way from planning to tillage.
1. Pay attention to The trajectory of sunlight
The plant seeds that you will move to the new land require fertile soil and sufficient sunlight.
Make an observation on your garden in the morning, afternoon and in the evening. Take photos if necessary. Vegetable plants need full sun energy at least 6 hours throughout the day.
There are also certain types of plants that require partial sun exposure, which is at least 3 to 6 hours every day. While the type of shade plants only takes 2 to 3 hours of sunlight irradiation throughout the day.
The amount of sunlight intensity will determine the type of plant that you can choose. Now you can be sure of which areas in your garden get full, partial, and shade throughout the day. Vegetable plants need full sunlight so that you should place them in areas that exposed to sunlight all day long.
2. Design a garden boundary line (beds)
Put a mark on the land or yard that you will plan as a garden (beds). You can use a garden hose or landscape paint to mark the boundary of your garden. You can design the shape of your garden freely as you wish, but you should avoid the shape of the corner because it will be difficult in processing and maintaining it.
The soft curve shape will feel more natural than the shape of the angle. Make a design that allows you to expand your garden (beds) in the future.
3. Perform a soil lab test
As a layman, maybe you don't really understand the nutrient thath content in the soil. You can take advantage of the soil lab test (test) service that is usually available on campus or the government institutions. You can search the address on Google.
Take a 6-inch soil sample from 5 to 10 points spread in your garden. Stir evenly in a clean bucket and leave it to dry (up to several days). Send samples of the soil and within 2 weeks you will receive the results. The lab test results will tell you the level of nutrients in your current soil, what types of nutrients should be there, as well as the type and amount of fertilizer that you should add. Do the test soil samples every three to five years.
4. Making the planting path
Cut and dig the ground according to the shape/pattern that has been made before. Use a square-shaped shovel to dig up to about 6 inches deep.
The making of planting grooves (beds) besides functioning as a place to grow plants also facilitate drainage around the garden.
5. Remove the grass.
The grass must be removed completely or they will grow back if you don't trim everything down to the roots. Use a lawn mower to cut the grass to the bottom of the root. Slice it slowly resembles a square, elongated and can be rolled. The used grassland can be replaced with compost.
Another way to destroy grass is to use mulch or plastic that is spread evenly over the entire area of grass that will be removed. It takes 6 to 8 weeks for the grass to completely die from being covered by the plastic.
6. Avoid the grass by using a barrier.
The edge of the garden will always be an interesting and eye-catching thing in your garden. Add a barrier in the form of stone or paving around the garden. This barrier besides beautifying your garden also helps prevent the attack of grass from the next land to enter the garden. If the wild grass has begun to enter the garden, it will be more difficult and troublesome in its treatment. Make sure the width of the border is at least 4 inches to ensure the weeds do not enter our garden area.
7. Fertilize the land.
Do soil enrichment before planting. The soil test results will tell the type of fertilizer that your garden really needs. Labels in fertilizer packages usually contain three main elements of nutrients, namely nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. But if there is only one element in your nutritional needs, you do not need to hesitate to add fertilizer which only contains one element.
8. Enrich soil nutrients.
Nutrient content in the soil can be enriched by adding organic materials such as compost, manure, peat, and moss. This can facilitate water drainage in soil that tends to clay and able to hold water in the sandy soil to become permeable soil. so it will stimulate the growth of plant roots. The organic environment also attracts many organisms to breed there and leave beneficial nutrients in the soil.
Spread 2 to 4 types of organic material evenly throughout the garden area. Mix and stir with the soil, by digging using a hoe or shovel to a depth of 6 or 10 inches. Make sure that the dispersed organic material is properly mixed with soil.
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