10 Planting Tips For Your Garden

Do you want to develop a green thumb? Or maybe just learn how to stop killing the plants you bring home from the garden centre? Here are some quick gardening tips and tricks (in no particular order) to help your plants grow and flourish.

1. Before you buy plants, watch your garden to see what parts get shade and sun. Remember to look at your potential garden area several times throughout the day, as some parts will be in shade at one point and be in the sun at other times of the day. When choosing plants, be sure to check on how much sun they can tolerate. Some need full shade; some need full sun while other plants can tolerate the sun for a few hours a day.
2. Deadheading is the practice of removing dead flowers from plants and will encourage new flowers to grow.
3. Avoid the allure of buying plants that are already in bloom. Plants that haven't flowered yet will have more stamina to survive transplanting.
4. Water plants in the morning or early evening, but never in the mid-day heat. Plants can absorb more water in the morning or evening. Plus, the sun can easily burn plants when they have water on their leaves or flower petals.
5. Milk can be an effective fungicide when sprayed on leaves. Use at full strength or dilute with water, both ways are effective.
6. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Go to garden centres at off hours, such as early morning, and talk to the salespeople. They’ll be happy to answer all your questions and give you tips on what plants will grow the best in your garden.
7. Mulch, mulch, mulch. Mulch can be made from woodchips, leaves or even shredded newspaper. Spread the mulch at the base of trees or on your garden. The mulch then absorbs water and prevents weed growth.
8. Use “triple-mix” soil. Triple mix is a combination of top soil, compost and peet moss and it's the universally accepted soil mixture. You can use it for any plant and buy it at any garden centre.
9. After you boil vegetables in water, let the water cool down and then use it to water potted plants. The plants love the extra nutrients in the water.
10. Buy only a few plants at a time to avoid buying too many plants for your garden. If the plants are placed too close together, they will quickly become overcrowded and they won’t grow nicely.

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