Beginning Gardeners: 12 Steps to a Successful Garden

If you are a beginning gardener or if you have been gardening for a few years, you can have a great garden. Not only will it look great, but it will increase the yield of your plants. It can be your garden that all the neighbors will be wondering what your secret is. This article will give you 12 things to avoid when planting, so your garden can be a success.

Planting Zones

Check your planting zone. Many times, as beginning gardeners look through plant catalogs, they choose with their eyes or what looks the best. This is all right for a few plants, but if you live in a short season zone you don't want to choose plants that mature in 80 days. You won't get much of a harvest before the frost takes them out. By buying plants that are suited to grow in your zone, you improve your chances of success.

Determine Your Garden Space

If you live in an apartment, you won't want to buy plants that sprawl or take up a lot of room. This is especially true of tomatoes. Some tomatoes live happily in pots or planters. These are the smaller bush type of plants like the roma tomatoes. Read the plant label for information. If it says determinant, bush, container, or patio, these words let you know that this plant works well in small spaces. If on the other hand you have actual land that you can plant a garden, you may choose indeterminate tomatoes, providing that you have enough room. The one mistake that beginning gardeners do is that the plants will be too close together in the ground.

Read the Label 

It tells you how far apart to space each plant. A good tip for planting tomatoes is to dig the holes deep. Plant them so only the top two leaves stick out of the ground. Roots will form along the stem; it anchors the plant in the ground. All the extra roots on the stem sucks up moisture and nutrients that the plant needs to grow.

Sun

No matter what kind of garden you are planning, container or in the ground, it will need sun. Remember the old saying as you scout out the perfect location 1 part water, 2 parts sunshine and 3 parts prayer. Vegetable gardens need full sun exposure to produce. Sunshine gives plants energy to grow and produce. Vegetables need lots of energy to produce. Although you can grow them in part shade, the yields won't be as big.

Prepare the Soil

Dig or till the soil before you plant. Roots can't grow out or down if the ground is hard. Amend the soil with 2 or 3 inches of compost. The compost provides nutrients to the soil and makes the soil lighter. Lighter soil allows the roots to grow down deep where there is moisture. It is also a good idea to have your soil tested. This will show you what your soil is missing and allow you to amend the soil with the nutrients it needs. 

Resist the Urge to Plant More Than You'll Use

When vegetables like tomatoes and peppers start producing, they can give you a lot. Unless you are feeding a huge family, canning food for the winter, selling or giving the excess food away, resist the urge to plant more than you need. I feed a family of three, and I freeze what we don't use fresh. My first garden consisted of 18 to 24 tomato plants. I choose a paste tomato, cherry tomato, early season tomato and a late season tomato. Adjust the amount to suit your family's needs and the amount of space you have to garden.

Feed Them

Plants, like people, grow better when they are fed. When growing vegetables, choose a balanced fertilizer made for growing vegetables. A lawn fertilizer won't do you any good, because it is high in nitrogen. You will get beautiful plants, but the plants won't yield anything. Always mix and apply the fertilizer according to label directions. More is not better when it comes to fertilizers because you can burn the plants. Manure is one of the best fertilizers to use. If you live in rural sections, farmers will probably give you all the manure you'll want.

Water

Vegetable plants need a lot of water. During hot windy days, your garden will need watering once or twice a day. Stick your finger into the ground to check for moisture. If the soil is dry, it is time to water. To help conserve moisture in the ground, apply 3 to 4 inches of mulch over the ground. Mulch not only helps the soil retain moisture, it also prevents weeds from growing. Never allow the soil to dry out. This causes undue stress to your plants and can encourage blossom-end rot on tomatoes. Examine the bottom of your tomatoes, to determine whether they have blossom-end rot. Bottoms that are brown, dry, and leathery have blossom end rot.

When you water, always do so early in the morning or during the early evening hours. If the leaves become wet from watering, they will dry off. Wet leaves can cause blight on tomato and potato plants. Another way to ensure that the leaves stay dry is to water at ground level.

Pests

Some pests are beneficial to gardens, while others are not. Watch your plants and if you see leaves that are yellowing, becoming brown, or have holes in the leaves, examine the plant. Pay particular attention to the underside of leaves because this is where they hide. Some insects are very tiny, seen only with a magnifying glass. 

To remove these types of insects, hook a sprayer nozzle to your hose. Blast the bugs away with a forceful spray of water. Yes, this is contrary to the watering step, but you are doing this to remove bugs. Resist the urge to buy an insecticide unless it is absolutely necessary because this can go into your food. If you do choose to use an insecticide, read the label to make sure it is safe for food plants. 

The best advice is to talk to the county extension agent. Take a sample of the bug with you. They can tell you what it is and the organic way to rid your garden of them. If the bugs are big, like potato bugs or worms, you can pick them off the plants with your fingers. Fill a bucket with hot soapy water or we used to use 1 to 2 inches of gas/diesel. The bucket should be deep, with a lid. Pick the bugs off and drop them into the liquid. They will be unable to crawl out of the bucket and they will drown.

Weeds

As you water the garden, or harvest the fruit of your plants, always pull the weeds. Knock as much dirt off the roots as possible. Either lay the weeds on top of the mulch between the rows, or toss it into your compost bin.

Harvest the Fruit

Harvest your fruit when it is ripe. The best time for harvesting is early in the morning. This is when the flavors are at their peak. One exception to this is sweet corn. Always try to pick sweet corn at the moment when you are going to cook it. This maintains the flavor.

Tip for Next Year

Every year when you plant your garden, always change the layout of your garden. Avoid planting the same plants in the same area every year. Each variety of plant takes out certain nutrients and if you never rotate your crops, they will not have the nutrients they need to grow well.