Do you like plants, shrubs or small vegetable gardens but you don't know how to go about it or are you afraid of not having a green thumb? Côté Maison gives you the good advice of two pros to help you in your first steps as a gardener on your balcony, your terrace or in your garden. The flowered and well-maintained outdoor landscape!
Do you want to start gardening but don't know where to start? Follow the advice of Marc, garden specialist at Backward Garden. Choice of plants, maintenance of plants ... Step by step, you will have the keys in hand to know how to start gardening and take care of your (future) plants. And above all do not forget, the garden must remain a place where one has fun.
1. Get started in gardening: Define your desires
Before you embark on the complete development of your garden, be reasonable. "You have to limit yourself in your intensions according to the time you want to devote to it," explains Marc, garden specialist at Backward Garden "The garden is a lot of observation. You have to see if the plants need something regularly. It is better to start with a small space that will be easy to maintain."
2. Buy good tools to start gardening
To take care of your plantations, choose the right equipment. If you have a garden, you need: a spade, a claw, a watering can and / or a garden hose, a small pruner, gloves, potting soil and fertilizer adapted.
For gardening on the terrace and balcony, you will need: pots, clay balls or gravel to put at the bottom of the pot (on 3-5cm) allowing to filter the excess water, from the drainage felt cut to the size of container (to avoid flooding on the terrace), potting soil suitable for planting. Also, a hose or a watering can, mulching on the surface of the pot to avoid evaporation and weeds, a three-tooth claw, a dibber, a small rake, gloves and a small pruner.
5 Tools you definitely need in your garden
5 Tools you definitely need in your garden
3. Choose the ideal location for your first plantings
The more the massif is far from your place of life, the less you will take care of it. "Choose the space closest to you" advises Marc. And if the space is small, don't forget that "three plants can be enough to create something. You just need to occupy the space vertically." For the manager of the Botanic store in Suresnes, David Demarest, you have to choose a place where the terrain will be easy to work. "Avoid installing yourself against a hedge or under a tree", the roots of these plants will prevent you from digging.
The location of your plantation should also be in the sun. But be careful to choose an exhibition that is easy to grow. Avoid full sun, the earth is too dry. Ditto for a space in the shade, the earth is too humid and diseases develop more. Ideally, choose a southwest orientation.
In the garden, it is important to choose a place where the soil is good. In pots, the question does not arise since you will use a special potting soil. In the soil, add 20 to 30% potting soil to rejuvenate it, where you are going to plant.
In summary: a location close to you, bright for most of the day and where the soil is good.
4. Choose plants that are easy to grow
"Choose plants that are easy to grow and grow on their own." Avoid starting with a rose bush and let yourself be tempted by a clematis, honeysuckle, evergreen shrubs like the Mexican orange tree or camellias. If you feel green, you can put more plants with your evergreens and your climbers.
For a cheerful garden or balcony, bring touches of color with ornamental plants such as spirea, St. John's wort, bay thyme, photinia or bellflower. These plants flower easily without being cared for.
5. When and how to plant your plants
Planting a plant is easy. In a pot, pour a special potting plant potting soil. Dig a small hole at the top. Add your new plant after removing it from its plastic pot. Lightly cover the clod with the soil. And water abundantly.
In the ground, dig a hole to add a special soil for bedding plants. And do as for a potted plant for the future: dig a small hole at the top, add your new plant after removing it from its plastic pot, slightly cover the plant with potting soil. And water abundantly.
Planting of new plants is mainly done from spring to autumn. In summer, avoid too hot weeks, the soil is dry and prevents the development of the plant.
6. Don't forget to water your plants
The first thing to remember in gardening is that a plant needs water. Before planting, water the clod of earth, then repeat the operation copiously after planting to homogenize the soil. "You never put too much water," insists Marc Guéguen. Above all, do not forget to water during spring and summer, the less humid period.
If you do not know how much and how often to water, remember that it is better to water less often but copiously, whether in the garden or in the pot. Watering rewets the root ball and allows the plant to make deep roots. With this technique, the plant has water autonomy during the first droughts. If we are satisfied with the first 3-5 cm, the plant will wilt as soon as it lacks a little water because it is the surface roots that take.
When watering, remember to observe your plants. It is time to cut off the end of the plant where there are aphids and to claw the ground to re-inject air.
7. Feed your plants
When we talk about feeding a plant, we mean fertilizing it, that is, putting fertilizer. "In the garden or in pots with large volumes, we put slow-release fertilizers (they last 6 months). No risk of it burning the roots," explains Marc Guégen.
When you have planters made up of petunias or geraniums, you choose a liquid fertilizer, which you use once a week. Attention, always feed a plant already watered, otherwise you risk burning it. We choose an organic type fertilizer in the fall and a mineral type in the spring.
8. Beginner gardening: Mistakes to avoid
Finally, note the few mistakes not to make when you start gardening. We cannot expect an immediate result. A plant needs to take root to develop. Also, avoid attacking complicated plants to maintain such as a fruit shrub or a rose bush. "Gardening is not a competition, you must above all have fun"
More information about starting a new garden
More information about starting a new garden
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