Everyone has to start somewhere. Even professionals have to learn at some point in their career. When you’re just starting out, it can feel like everything you touch turns to weeds. Even experienced gardeners still make mistakes now and again. But not all mistakes are bad! In fact, learning from them helps us improve and prevents them from happening again in future. Here are some of the most common gardening mistakes that green-fingered beginners make — and how you can avoid making them in future… Weeding MistakesWeeding mistakes are among the most common for beginners. For some, it might seem like a simple enough task: just pull out all the weeds! As with any gardening task, it’s important to do it in the correct way. You should always dig below the weed plants, so that they can be removed completely from the roots. You also need to remove any weeds that have gone to seed and are posing a risk of spreading seeds on your garden or lawn. Pulling them up will only make more appear. So what should you do instead? **Pour boiling water or use an herbicide such as Roundup** Planting Mistakes1. Not planting in the right season It may be tempting to plant everything at once, but it’s important to plan ahead and not plant too early. If you wait until after the last frost date, you’ll give your plants a better chance of thriving. It’s also worth noting that some plants need to be planted directly into the ground while others can be potted. 2. Planting too deep When planting seeds, it’s important not to bury them too deep. The seed should only be an inch or two beneath the earth so that they have enough room to grow into sturdy plants. 3. Packing plants tightly together If you’re planting multiple types of plants near one another, make sure there’s plenty of space for air and sun between them! It’s best not to pack them on top of one another; this will prevent healthy growth as well as promoting fungal diseases among your plants. 4. Getting rid of weeds before planting Hands up if you’ve been guilty of pulling out all those daffodils when there were still sneaky weeds hiding underneath? We’ve all been there! But alas, it’s time to change our ways: weeds should be left alone until after you’ve planted your new flowers or vegetables so that they don’t steal away precious nutrients and water resources from our future crops! Pull ’em out now and you could end up with stunted growth as a result. Garden blog Irrigation MistakesIt’s important to make sure that your plants are being watered enough, but many people make the mistake of overwatering their plants. If you’ve got weeds everywhere, it might be because you’re not watering your plants enough. The easiest way to tell if your plant needs water is to look at the soil; if it’s dry, then it needs water. If you keep overwatering your plants, they can get root rot and die. If this happens, there’s nothing you can do except plant new ones! To prevent this from happening, try taking a break from watering every now and again so the roots have time to recover and grow. Another thing that can cause over-watering is adding too much water at once or not letting the soil dry out between watering sessions. You should aim for an amount of water that will moisten the top two inches of soil. Don’t worry about keeping on top of all of this though! There are automatic watering systems available for purchase if you want to avoid forgetting to water your garden – like these battery-powered ones by Orbit Garden Systems. Mowing MistakesEvery gardener knows that mowing is a necessary evil. But did you know you can actually be doing it all wrong? The worst thing is when your lawn looks the same after one mow as it did before. This means you’ve cut too short and are scalping your grass, which kills the roots. To maintain a healthy lawn, make sure to cut at least 1 inch above the soil line, so that the blades of grass stand at least 2 inches high. It’s also important to keep your mower blades sharp — dull blades can tear up your lawn instead of cutting it neatly. Another common mistake is running over objects or delicate plants in the garden with your mower, including bulbs and young seedlings like lettuce or spinach. These are especially vulnerable to damage if hit by a blade of grass! You should always try to avoid these objects if possible, but if you do step on them (accidentally!) try not to drag the blade over them (remember: running over things kills their roots). Instead, lift up the blade immediately so it doesn’t touch anything delicate below. Lighting MistakesOne of the most common mistakes that beginners make with their lighting is not using enough. If you only use one light bulb in a room, it will cast shadows that can make it difficult to see when there’s a plant in the way. This can lead to wasting light and not reaching all the plants in the room. The other mistake people make is using too many lights in a small space. It may seem like a good idea to put lights on timers so they come on automatically, but if you have too many lights the light may become overwhelming and cause some plants to become stressed. If you don’t want to use timers, consider investing in automatic sensors. These will detect when it’s dark and turn the lights on automatically without your intervention – so you won’t need any timers or switches at all! Nutrient MistakesOne of the most common gardening mistakes is not paying attention to your soil’s nutrient balance. The balance must be right for your plants to grow. If you have too many nutrients in your soil, it will smother plants, stunting their growth and making them unhealthy. And if you don’t have enough nutrients, your plants will become weak, which can make them more prone to disease. Maintaining a healthy soil through composting is the best way to keep nutrients balanced throughout the year. But if you want a quick fix, try using an organic liquid fertilizer or seaweed extract on your plants every two weeks during the growing season — this will give them just enough boost without overdoing it. Most importantly, before adding anything to your garden soil always test it first! This ensures that you only add what’s needed and prevents any smothering or stunting from happening in future! Rotating mistakeSome people forget to rotate their plants from time to time. This means that the plants are growing in the same place for too long, which can stop them from absorbing all the nutrients they need. To avoid this mistake, you should move a plant every six months or so so that it can absorb all of the nutrients it needs and grow at its maximum potential. ConclusionGetting the most out of your garden starts with understanding and then correcting the mistakes you’re probably making. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place for pointers. Now that you’ve reviewed these mistakes and figured out where you might be going wrong, you can start making progress in the right direction. And a little progress can make all the difference. This article is provided by https://www.goodgardn.co.uk/blogs |
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