Gardening is an exciting yet intimidating experience, but the satisfaction of a successful garden is unlike any other.
Before starting a garden, it’s important to plan everything out first. Here are a few things to consider when planning out your garden.
Choose the Plants You’re Going to Grow
Choosing your plants is one of the most important steps, but there is a lot to consider when choosing plants! You have to remember that different plants grow in different climates and have different growing times. The best way to check which plants will grow best in your garden is to check your growing zone.
Also known as Plant Hardiness Zones, growing zones are an important tool that will help you figure out if the plants you’ve chosen are compatible and will thrive in your area. Knowing this makes it easier to align yourself with the right timing, growing length, and conditions for healthy plant growth. Factors like growing plants at the wrong time of the year or choosing a plant that isn’t compatible with your region’s climate can mean disaster and disappointment for your plants and your garden.
Once you’ve figured out your growing zone, decide on what plants you’d like to grow. If you plan on growing crops, only grow what you’re willing to eat to avoid spoilage and wasting perfectly good food.
Make Your Garden Match Your Lifestyle
Another important factor to consider is how much time you’re planning to put into taking care of your garden. Depending on your lifestyle, you can create a low-maintenance or high-maintenance garden for your yard.
For the busybody
If you are someone who is busy and doesn’t have the time to maintain a flowerbed, it would be best to stick with low-maintenance plants that, in the right conditions, will require little to almost no maintenance. Low-maintenance plants include shrubs or meadow plants like Azaleas, Hydrangeas, and Poppies. These kinds of plants only require trimming every mid-winter or spring. Small trees are also very low-maintenance, like Japanese Maples and Magnolias, which you can prune every summer or winter, and they’re sure to add a wash of warmth to your garden.
For those who want to do a little more
If you want to put in a little more work and think you have what it takes to maintain plants despite your limited time, you can go for perennials and potted plants. Plant climbers are also good to have, like the Clematis or Leather Flower, as they only need annual pruning. Perennials like aster and Russian sage, which are best planted in cooler temperatures like fall, only need fertilizing and watering when the soil is dry. If you’d like to see some butterflies or hummingbirds in your garden, add some Hardy Hibiscus in the mix and watch them bloom in the late summer!
For the ambitious gardener
If you have a lot of time on your hands or are willing to put in the effort into tending to your garden and making it the most beautiful it can be, there is a wide range of plants and garden styles for you! Many flowers are either annuals or need extra care in the winter. Some even need replanting if your region gets frost, but the effort will be worth it when they bloom in the summer. To add an extra layer of dimension into your garden, you can add hedges, which require trimming when they get too long. If you want to give your garden a Japanese feel to it, you can add bamboo, but be warned. Bamboo grows very quickly and can grow up to 3 feet (0.91 m) a day!
Aside from plants, it’s also important to plan the size of your garden, what kind of garden bed you want, what kind of soil you’ll be using, how much spacing you’ll be putting in between your plants, investing in the right tools and making sure that you handle your plants with love and care. At the end of the day, it all comes down to your personal preferences of how you want your garden to look, how much time you’re willing to spend on taking care of your plants and your garden in general. ;
Whether you barely have time to take care of your plants or are planning to make a landscape full of shrubs, flowers, and other plants, as long as you plan properly and do your research, you’ll be able to make an amazing garden that’ll be sure to fit whatever lifestyle you have!
