Are you intimidated by gardening? Feel like you don’t have the time to be out in your yard all the time taking care of plants but want to enjoy some beautiful low-maintenance flowers?
Here are some easy steps to get started on that new gardening bed this spring.
First step- do some reconnaissance in your yard- how much sun does the area where you want the bed get- five hours, ten hours, two hours?? This is the single most important piece of information that you need to find out.
Second step-What kind of soil do you have? Clay? Sand? A mix?
Third Step-how large do you want the bed to be? A single line of shrubs or perennials, any trees? How tall and wide do you want it to be?
Fourth Step- Find plants that fit your needs/desires. This requires research- or perhaps asking a friend who knows a little bit about plants (hint, hint- I would LOVE to help you plan!!)
If you take the time to do a little bit of planning- you will end up much happier with the result in the end- do not do the “impulse buy thing” with plants- that will almost certainly spell disaster for the amateur gardener and may discourage you from trying to grow anything again (that would be very sad…)
Next, you need help planting the flowers. You MUST take time to dig holes that are big- esp. for shrubs and trees- they need to be deep and wide- much wider and deeper than the root ball. Taking the time to dig the right sized hole and amend the soil will make all the difference in the long run- save you lots of time and headaches- and also could help the plant to really thrive.
Ask lots of questions, seek help, and check out a book or two.
Just my opinion- but a lot of the landscaping people out there don’t really love flowers- they are in it for the money and are looking to get you to buy what they have in stock or what’s easy for them to plant- not what you are really looking for.
Talk to a Master Gardener or someone who is always talking about flowers and planting- most likely they are the people who you want to be asking for advice.
