Grow a garden that will thrive all season long with these 5 tips
Follow these five simple tips and watch your garden flourish all summer long.
The beautiful summer weather is blossoming here in Canada, and what better way to spend time outside than gardening?
Whether you are an expert green thumb or a flower first-timer, there is a gardening journey for everyone!
Follow these five simple tips and watch your garden flourish all summer long.
1. Choose your plants wisely
Setting your garden up for success, relies heavily on choosing the right plants for your conditions.
It doesn’t matter if your garden receives a ton of sunlight or if it sits in the shade, there are plants out there that can grow in any condition — you just have to choose the right ones.
Check the labels on seeds, flowers, vegetables, and/or herbs to ensure they match your growing conditions.
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For example, tomatoes prefer a sunny spot with a temperature of 18 to 22 degrees, while leafy greens like spinach and lettuce thrive in partial shade.
Some of the easier plants to grow during the summer months are: leafy greens, radishes, spinach and carrots! The beginnings of a fresh summer salad.
2. Start with a great soil
For many Canadians, a garden is a place reserved for happiness and relaxation - so it’s best to keep your garden’s soil just as happy.
Give your plants a strong start this summer by using a rich foundation of soil. An all-purpose garden soil improves soil structure, so plants can develop strong and healthy roots so you can grow bigger, more beautiful plants.
By choosing a good quality soil for your in-ground garden, you’ll be sure to see big and beautiful things happen with very little effort.
An all-purpose garden soil is good for planting flowers, vegetables, trees, and shrubs in the ground. (The Weather Network)
3. Reduce weeds
If you dream of a thriving garden, then you must be tough on troublesome weeds!
Weeds are notorious for stealing nutrients and hydration from your soil, leaving your plants with less than they need to grow strong and healthy.
To help combat weeds, make sure to pull them out while they’re still young, water in small sections directly on top of plants, and use mulch.
Mulch will help reduce weeds by blocking the sun and is also great for water retention, so your plants can hog all the nutrients and water it needs to thrive all season long.
4. Feed your plants
Your garden is planted, and it looks great! Now it’s time to finish strong by feeding your plants.
Just like people, plants need food in order to thrive. Regularly feeding your plants ensures they grow properly and produce beautiful blooms and tasty vegetables.
About a month after planting, feed your plants with all-purpose plant food to help keep plants growing bigger, stronger and more bountiful.
Simply shake the plant food in your garden, lightly rake it in and then water to start the feeding.
Eventually, the nutrients in the soil are used up and need to be replenished — many plants (especially heavy feeders like tomatoes and dahlias) need more food as the season wears on.
So, it’s important to regularly feed your garden throughout the growing season to keep it growing!
This unique plant food nourishes plants to help them grow stronger, vibrant, and more productive. (Credit: Miracle-Gro®)
5. Harvest and enjoy!
Now to enjoy the wonderful fruits (or vegetables) of your labour with your friends and family. Here’s some examples on how to tell if your plants and vegetables are ready for harvesting.
It may be obvious, but with spinach, look at the leaves! When the outer leaves of spinach are about 6 inches long, they’re ready for harvest.
Cucumbers should be firm to the touch, have a nice light or green colour and be at least two inches in length when ready.
And lastly, it may feel wrong but cutting flowers out of your garden helps it produce more! If your flowers are open and healthy, why not cut the stem and bring some life to a room? Enjoy the smell of fresh summer flowers indoors, and don’t worry, they’ll grow back in no time.
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With these five tips, you’re well on your way to becoming a master of gardening! Whether it’s a bountiful vegetable garden, a garden filled with herbs or a beautiful garden of flowers — you can be proud to know you built it with your own two hands! Way to grow.
(Thumbnail credit: Getty Images)
