Do It Yourself (DIY) Tips for Gardening

Gardening has always been an exciting and favorite hobby. Gardening has no hard and fast rule. You can give the desired look to your garden as you wish. Here are some quick do it yourself DIY tips for gardening, which you can follow.
Do It Yourself (DIY) Tips for Gardening
Gardening is categorized into more than one type. Some types are indoor gardening, vegetable gardening, organic gardening, container gardening, raised bed gardening, water gardening, community gardening, flower gardening, green house gardening, landscape gardening and patio gardening. Other types include Japanese gardening, perennial gardening, rock gardening, rose gardening, soilless gardening, etc. Below, we discuss the do it yourself (DIY) tips for gardening for some of the types.

Indoor Gardening
Regular attention and care are necessary if you want your indoor garden to thrive. This is because of the indoor surroundings, which are obviously different from outdoors. The amount of water and light needed by the plants indoors is a critical aspect to be kept in mind.

Light!
The lighting is the first of the tips on gardening. The lighting in your house is the deciding factor for the types of plants that you are planning to bring home. Certain species of plants are available that require medium to low amount of light for them to survive. You can also arrange artificial light with a fluorescent lamp for the plants. If your plants are not getting a sufficient amount of light, then they will have smaller leaves and thinner steams than normal. The color of the plants will also be lighter or more faded than their other outdoor cousins. Plants that thrive outdoors will take some time to adapt to an indoor environment. So once you bring home the plants, try providing them with the maximum amount of light. Later on, you can gradually reduce the intensity of light.

Water!
Not every plant requires the same amount of water for survival. Take care not to over-water the plants, but also see to it that they receive the required amount. The soil should be well-drained for the plant's growth. It is advisable to seek advice from the plant seller. This would give you a fair idea about how often and how much you need to water the plants. One more important bit of gardening advice is to ensure that the water used for watering the plants is at room temperature. Too warm or too cold water may hamper the growth.

For better growth of the plants in your indoor garden, you can get other vital indoor gardening tips from the store or person you bought the plants from. The temperature required by the plants, types of pots and containers, humidity in the surroundings, and fertilization of the plants are some of the important DIY tips for gardening that you can look for.

Vegetable Gardening Tips
Vegetable gardens serve to be the ideal places for pests. DIY tips for vegetable gardening involve growing flowers like marigold or spices like garlic in your garden to prevent pest-infestation. Growing turmeric is also one of the important gardening tips as it helps in preventing diseases in plants. Some vegetables also serve as border plants and can add to the beauty of your garden. If you are planning to grow beans in your garden, then you may also choose to grow corn stalks. They would serve as support for the climbers to grow. Other climbers like pumpkins, squash and vine-growing plants can be be grown by building a small cage-like enclosure using thin sticks and bamboos. Planting onions in your garden will help in prevention of growth of weeds and also keep the soil loose. Using manure in the soil also contributes to healthy growth of vegetables. During warm and humid weather, it is better not to water the garden at night; this may result in an outbreak of plant diseases in the vegetables. There are numerous types of vegetables that can be grown. It depends on the size of your garden. The larger the size, the more care your garden will need.

Organic Gardening Tips
Organic gardening falls under the category of special gardens. This type of gardening requires the use of chemicals in the lowest or zero quantity. Healthy organic gardening is maintained by effective pest control, rotations, fertility of the soil, and using natural products against pests and insects. As the name suggests, the aim of such type of a gardening is to provide nutritious and toxic-free products. In organic gardening, there is more cultivation of pest-repelling plants like garlic. An effective pest control product is a mix of garlic, soap and oil. Beer can be used to nurture slugs, which are in fact good for your garden. Newspapers can help prevent the growth of weeds, and floating row covers are for inhibiting growth of insect pests.

As mentioned earlier, one of the important DIY tips for gardening is regular rotation of vegetables. It helps the garden to yield healthy and nutritious products. Some vegetables also show improvement in their growth when planted together. Potatoes can be planted with bean plants. Likewise, peas with carrot plants; peas can also be planted with turnips. Beetroots grow well when planted with cabbage or kohlrabi. The very nutritious spinach can be planted with cauliflower or egg-plant. And corn plants can be grown with cucumbers and beans.

There are endless lists of DIY tips for gardening and essential things to remember. A garden is like a home for plants and vegetables, as a house is for us. Proper maintenance of a garden is the key to healthy and productive plants. There is nothing like relishing the taste of fruit and vegetables from your own garden. They are not only healthy and clean, but also less expensive than the ones in the market. Maintaining a garden is a responsible commitment. If taken up with care and attention, the result is a healthy harvest. Otherwise, it is a disappointment and a waste of all your preparations and costs involved in the gardening.

By Rajib Singha
Published: 8/5/2009
 
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