Gardens Are for Loving: Simple Tips to Help You Keep Your Plants Happy

Relaxation, mild exercise and immense satisfaction – this is what every type of gardening offers. Planting and looking after your favorite trees, flowers, and/or vegetables is a wonderful way to connect with Mother Nature and learn to cherish all forms of life. No wonder people say that to own a garden means to be truly blessed. That’s precisely why neglecting your precious plants shouldn’t be an option.

Here are several simple tips and tricks to help you keep your garden’s residents healthy and happy.

Don’t Take the Location of Your Plants Lightly

Every plant needs sunlight to survive and thrive. That’s because plants use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water (photosynthesis). However, different plants have different light needs, which is why you need to do the necessary research and find out what type of natural light (direct, indirect, or diffused) the plants you picked need before you choose an inappropriate location for them. Another option is to look for reputable nurseries online, see what kind of trees and plants they sell, and read where each plant is supposed to be planted.

Quench Your Plants’ Thirst the Right Way

It’s immensely important to keep your plants well watered, but the way you water them matters as well. Since many pathogens in the soil and air need water to grow and reproduce, choosing watering methods that limit moisture on the plant’s foliage is a must. If you decide to do the watering with a watering can, hold the leaves out of the way before you start watering around the base.

Feed Them Properly

Every plant has nutritional demands. The three key elements required for healthy growth of plants are nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and phosphorus (P). Nitrogen governs the growth of leaves, potassium is needed for flowering and fruiting, and phosphorus promotes strong root growth. However, keep in mind that too large quantities of any fertilizer can burn your plants’ roots and reduce their ability to absorb water. That’s precisely why getting a soil test is a smart idea.

Clean Your Garden

Removing spotted and fallen leaves is an effective way of controlling diseases that have already affected your plants and have started deterring new ones. Pruning your trees, shrubs, and bushes should be another item on your ‘to-do list’ because by cutting away dead or overgrown branches and stems, you will encourage healthy growth and flowering. Plus, your garden will look great.
Don’t forget that every gardener needs a well-made trowel, a hand fork, a long-handled hoe, a pair of pruners, a watering can, hoses, one or two shovels, and last but not least – gloves. If you are too busy to go shopping in physical gardening stores, I advise you to visit several nurseries online and purchase everything you need from the comfort of your own home.