Whether it’s when buying a new home or trying to make a current home’s exterior more appealing, many advice articles will tell homeowners they should be tending the garden. But for homeowners who don’t have a green thumb or have just never had a garden before, where do they start? Here are some easy gardening tips for any beginner to start their own garden to increase curb appeal and outdoor staging efforts.
Use Native Plants
For gardeners who are unsure where to start with flowers, try some that are native to the region. Not only are native plants and flowers more affordable, but they also don’t require fertilizing because they’ve evolved to thrive with little assistance. Native plants can be a great choice for a low-maintenance garden for homeowners who don’t have very much time to invest into a garden.
Pay Attention to Plant Sun Needs
When going to the local nursery to buy flowers, be sure to read the information card. This will list of the plant is a perennial or annual, and how much sun the plant should be getting daily in order to get the most from it. The tag will typically ay something like “full sun” or “partial shade,” so it’s important to know what these mean. Full sun plants should be planted on the side of a Wildwood home that won’t cast shadows, while partial shade plants need some shade every day.
Keep it Low Maintenance to Begin
Especially for beginning gardeners, keeping it simple is important. It may be tempting to start a rose garden immediately because of how beautiful they are, but gardeners who don’t know how much effort they require may end up regretting it. And for homeowners fixing up their garden in preparation to sell the home, many buyers may be put off by a large garden because they either don’t have the time to invest in it or don’t enjoy gardening. Keeping a garden low maintenance will help prevent both of these things from happening.
Utilize Stepping Stones for Character and Cover
It can be difficult to fill an entire garden with flowers, so consider using decorative stepping stones to fill up some of the empty space, which saves money on plants. Stepping stones also help give gardens a little more personality and can provide useful paths to things like spigots.
Use Mulch to Help Reduce Weeds
No gardener likes weeds, so in order to reduce how many grow in a garden, try putting down a layer of mulch around all the flowers and shrubs. Woodchips and bark nuggets can both be effective ways to cut off weeds from the sunlight so they can’t thrive, and usually three inches is enough to get the job done. A layer of mulch also looks cleaner and more professional than just bare soil, so it provides form on top of function.
Don’t Over-Fertilize
In an effort to make sure all the plants in the garden live to their fullest, some beginning gardeners may assume the more fertilizer they use, the better. However, this just isn’t true, and it can ultimately do a lot more harm than good. Over fertilizing plants can cause fertilizer burn, which can cause plants to wilt or even kill them completely. How often to fertilize a garden is going to depend on the type of plants growing in it. For instance, native regional plants require very little, if any, extra fertilization, but most gardens should be fertilized at least once in the spring.
By following this advice, new gardeners should be able to find a place to begin working in their gardens. Don’t be afraid to get creative with the garden, because it should be fun above all.