Whether you’re a beginning gardener or a seasoned pro, these 10 Gardening Tips are perfect for you. There’s always more to learn about gardening.! To help you grow healthier and more abundant plants, we’ve compiled a quick list of some of the top tips to help you improve your garden and grow a larger harvest. Read on for 10 easy gardening hacks for bigger veggies, more fruit, and gorgeous ornamentals too!
top 10 gardening tips for healthier plants
No matter your gardening skill level, below are some of our favorite tips to grow a healthier garden. From natural pest control to tricks to grow a bigger harvest, we’ve got 10 simple gardening hacks to help.
Build healthier soil with compost
Healthy plants begin with healthy soil and the easiest way to create rich garden soil is with an annual addition of a quality, organic compost. Compost is not only rich in the nutrients plants need to thrive, but compost also improves soil structure. This helps garden beds drain well and also retain proper moisture levels.
Depending on your gardening style, you can add a thick layer of compost in autumn and allow it to naturally become incorporated into the soil throughout the winter. Or you can top-dress your beds or side-dress your plants throughout the growing season.
Bagged compost can usually be purchased at plant nurseries. But for a budget-friendly option that also improves your home’s carbon footprint, create compost at home instead. Outdoor compost bins are easy to make with some used wood pallets. Or you can compost indoors all year long with Bokashi or worm composting bins.
Related Article: The Best Bagged Soil
Keep your soil covered
As the saying goes, nature abhors bare soil. That means that if there are patches of exposed earth in your garden, they will likely be filled in with weeds in no time.
To avoid weedy beds, try to keep as much of your garden soil covered as possible. You can do this by adding groundcovers, planting cover crops, spreading out a layer of mulch, or thickly planting garden beds with ornamentals or veggies to keep weeds from taking over.
Maintaining soil coverage not only helps prevent weeds but also preserves your soil, protecting soil from erosion and the degradation that occurs when soil is exposed to the elements.
If you’re looking for good quality organic mulch, wood chips, bark mulch, salt marsh hay, mulched autumn leaves or compost are all perfect options.
Control pests organically
Pests are inevitable in any garden, but that doesn’t mean you need to resort to toxic chemicals to control them. Keeping your garden as organic as possible is better for your health and the environment, but it can also help you grow a larger harvest due to increased pollinator activity.
So, next time you see some nibbled on plant leaves, don’t reach for chemical pesticides. Instead, opt for organic options, like neem oil, organic insecticidal soap sprays and horticultural oils, floating row covers, fences, and motion-activated sprinkler systems. And of course, it’s important to know how to correctly apply these treatments. Even organic sprays can have harmful effects on pollinators when improperly used.
Try out companion planting
Companion planting is the process of combining certain plants in the garden so that they benefit each other. Some plants naturally repel pests, so companion planting can be utilized as an element of organic pest control. But companion plants can also encourage each other to grow more vigorously or lure in pollinators and other beneficial insects to increase pollination rates in vegetable and fruit crops.
If your cucumbers, tomatoes, and pumpkins flower but produce no fruit, they may be suffering from a lack of pollination. Interplanting food crops with flowering chives, flowering dill, or zinnias can increase pollinator activity and improve your harvest yield.
For natural pest control, adding basil, borage, chives, icicle radishes, or marigolds to your vegetable patch can help repel common garden pests like tomato hornworms, whiteflies, and squash bugs.
Maximize growing space with trellises
If you grow a lot of plants, especially vining varieties, you may run out of gardening space rather quickly or end up with a tangle of plants that’s difficult to weed. Growing vertically with trellises can help you maximize your gardening space and also reduce the risk of plant diseases.
Squash, zucchini, pumpkins, melons, cucumbers, beans, and peas can all be trained to grow vertically, saving you tons of gardening space. While cucumbers will readily climb on their own, some other plants may need a bit of training to get started. This can be done by tying them to trellises with some soft cording. Heavy fruit may need extra support too with DIY hammocks made of woven produce bags or old nylon stockings.
While there are a variety of different trellising options available, some of the most popular are cattle panel trellises. Cattle panels are inexpensive, available at most garden centers and livestock supply stores, and can be molded into a range of shapes including garden archways.
Give plants enough space
When planting seeds and nursery starts, be sure to follow any planting instructions provided on the seed packets or plant nursery labels. Specifically, you’ll want to pay attention to any details regarding proper plant spacing.
Although it may be tempting to cram lots of plants into a single garden bed, overcrowded plants are more susceptible to issues like powdery and downy mildew. What’s worse, because of the increased competition in garden beds, plants may not get enough access to soil nutrients or water. Lack of sufficient space may further weaken plants and promote disease spread.
Spacing your plants out, adding trellises, and pruning as needed are all excellent ways to avoid overcrowding and increase airflow for healthier gardens.
Grow native plants
Native plants are plants that are naturally found in your growing zone and are perfectly suited to your climate and weather patterns. Because they evolved specifically to adapt to your climate, native plants are often more resilient and require less maintenance, fertilizing, and pest control measures.
Even better, native plants are the best plants to keep if you want to attract pollinators to your garden and increase your harvest yield. Some websites provide a handy list of native plants to grow based on your zip code, but some common choices include:
- Yarrow
- Purple coneflower
- Joe Pye weed
- Goldenrod
- Asters
Related Article: What are 7 Plants even beginner’s cant kill
Practice autumn garden cleanup
Many plant diseases and garden pests can overwinter in garden soil, cropping up again to wreak havoc in your spring garden. Cleaning up your garden in the fall can reduce garden pests significantly and create a healthier garden overall.
It’s up to you how much you’d like to clean up your garden in the autumn – some gardeners choose to remove all old debris, while others leave some plant matter in place for pollinators to hibernate in. At a bare minimum, be sure to remove any diseased or pest-infested plant material and properly dispose of it by burning, hot composting, or bagging and trashing it.
Some pests and diseases can survive cold composting processes, so if you compost old plant material, be sure to monitor your compost pile’s temperature with a compost thermometer.
Always bottom water
Wet plant leaves can cause several problems, but they are a leading cause of powdery and downy mildew in particular and can promote sunburn and leaf spotting too. Overhead watering with sprinklers is also an inefficient watering method that results in a lot of overspray and water loss due to evaporation.
Watering your plants at their bases can help conserve water and promote healthier leaf growth. Although you can certainly hand water with a watering can or hose, adding a drip line irrigation system is another good option. Drip lines direct water straight to plant roots, so you’ll need to water less, and they can be fully automated with a timer so you won’t need to stress about remembering to water your garden.
Stick to natural herbicides
Chemical herbicides can pose dangers to your health and your pets, harm pollinators, contaminate the water supply, and cause other issues. And, while weeds can certainly be a hassle, there are plenty of ways to keep your garden weed-free beyond chemical herbicides.
Practicing the fundamentals of weed-free gardening can dramatically reduce the amount of weeds you need to deal with. Steps to a weed-free garden include:
- Keeping your garden mulched.
- Switching to drip irrigation (rather than sprinklers) to avoid accidentally watering weeds with overspray.
- Not tilling your garden, as soil disturbance sows weed seeds.
- And preventing soil compaction by not walking on garden beds and adding garden paths and walkways instead.
While an entirely weed-free garden isn’t possible, following the above steps can reduce weeds a lot. And, when weeds do crop up, treat them with a well-timed hoeing, burn them with a welding torch, or spray them with horticultural vinegar.
Related Article: What Homemade Insect Spray Work?
Summary
“Uncover the Top 10 Ultimate Gardening Tips” is not just a typical gardening manual—it’s a roadmap to gardening success with a personal touch. Covering everything from soil preparation to pest control, it offers invaluable insights for both beginners and seasoned gardeners.
What sets this guide apart is its emphasis on eco-friendly practices, encouraging gardeners to work in harmony with nature rather than against it. With tips on mulching, companion planting, and organic pest control, it promotes sustainability while nurturing thriving gardens.
Above all, gardening is a journey of continuous learning and adaptation, and this guide embraces that ethos. Whether you’re starting from scratch or fine-tuning your green thumb, these top 10 tips provide a solid foundation for cultivating beautiful and sustainable gardens that bring joy and beauty to any space.
FAQs
1. How do I know if my soil is healthy?
You can test your soil’s health by checking its pH level and observing its texture and drainage. Healthy soil should be well-draining and rich in organic matter.
2. How often should I prune my plants?
The pruning frequency depends on the plant type and its growth habits. Generally, regular pruning to remove dead or diseased branches and shape the plant is recommended throughout the growing season.
3. Can I use chemical fertilizers instead of organic ones?
While chemical fertilizers can provide quick nutrients to plants, they can also harm beneficial soil organisms and contribute to environmental pollution. Organic fertilizers are preferred for their sustainability and long-term benefits to soil health.
4. Is companion planting really effective?
Yes, companion planting can be highly effective in improving plant health and repelling pests by harnessing the natural symbiotic relationships between certain plant species.
5. What should I do if I encounter problems despite following these tips?
If issues arise, such as pest infestations or plant diseases, it’s essential to identify the problem promptly and take appropriate action, such as adjusting watering practices, implementing organic pest control methods, or seeking advice from local gardening experts.
