7 Gardening Mistakes to Avoid

For gardeners, nothing in the world stinks more than working your butt off in the hot sun to care for and maintain your garden, only to have something go terribly wrong due to an unexpected problem or oversight. You worked hard for your crops so the last thing you want is for something to go wrong and destroy all of your hard work. 

Don't let any of these mistakes happen to you! Be prepared with this list of 7 easy-to-make gardening mistakes to watch out for:

1. Planting in the wrong place – Always take care to look closely at the growing needs of all of your intended crops. Make sure to read the sun, water, and weather requirements for each of the fruits and vegetables that you want to grow, and plant and place your garden beds or planters accordingly. Better yet, you should take careful stock of your available space before you even decide what to plant, examining the soil, drainage, and even how and where the sun hits best during planting and growing months. Taking a little time to survey your yard beforehand can save you a heap of trouble down the road.

Transplanting plants from starter pots to the garden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2. Buying diseased or unhealthy plants – If you're the type that just wants to buy starter plants for your garden and pop them in the ground, make sure to pay extra special attention to the plants you're buying. The gardeners who took care of these plants before you might not be as diligent or as careful as you are, so take a close look at the quality and color of the plant's leaves when making your choices. Also make sure to look closely for insect damage, especially if you're bringing new plants to an existing garden bed. The last thing you want to do is introduce pests to a clean, insect-free garden that you've worked hard on.

3. Not preparing the soil – Or even trying to fix a preparation mistake too late! This goes hand in hand with the first potential mistake; you should make sure that your soil is prepared and ready to take in all the new plants you'll be planting in it. Soil testing kits are cheap and easy to use and can be found at your local gardening or home improvement store. Soil varies greatly by region and each type of soil needs something different to make it suitable for your plants. If you plant without preparing, be incredibly careful because doing work on the soil while new plants are establishing their root systems can have a disastrous effect on their growth and general health.

4. Not watching your watering – Each plant has their own needs and requirements when it comes to watering so you should be especially careful if you have a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in your garden. Overwatering can drown your plants' roots which will cause them to rot and kill your plant. On the other hand if you don't water enough your plants will get dehydrated, sometimes causing even more damage than if you had watered too much. (I made this mistake back in the fall when we had moved into our new house, and for the first time all summer, we didn't get rain for several weeks. I forgot to water my newly transplanted strawberry plants, and several of them died.) You should work to find a good balance and make sure to group plants with similar watering needs together to make things easier on yourself. If you're worried about watering yourself you can always purchase an automatic irrigation system which will take care of the work for you.

5. Not accounting for space – Of course you want your garden to bursting at the seams with fresh fruits and veggies to enjoy, but if you pack it too full then you're going to end up in a lot of trouble down the road when instead of tiny seedlings you've got an overcrowded garden full of growing plants. Always make sure to zone your beds and take into account what size the plants will be when they're grown as you plan out your available space.

6. Planting an overly invasive species – Reading your plants' tags can give you good insight on what growing them will be like. Sure a plant that's hardy, grows well in most climates, and spreads easily sounds like it'll be a snap to take care of, but if you're not careful you could end up seeing your tiny garden bed spread well beyond the confines of its walls. Always make sure to read your tags closely and keep any potential rampant growers well in check.

Wild garlic mustard is a common invasive weed in some areas. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

7. Taking the wrong approach to weeding – Without a doubt you're going to end up with weeds in your garden. I'm not saying you're a bad gardener, it's just an inevitability of nature that these tenacious plants will find a way in and stay there as best they can. When you're preparing your space, make sure not to use any harsh chemicals that are going to sit in your soil and make the space just as inhospitable for your garden as it is for the weeds. While you don't need to be inspecting your bed with a magnifying glass every hour of every day it's a good idea to at least check your bed at least once a day for any offending invasive species before they get out of control and start taking over your garden.

Gardening can be hard work, but this isn't meant to make it sound off-putting. On the contrary, now that you're armed with the knowledge of what not to do in your garden, you can plant a beautiful garden with confidence that you won't make these mistakes yourself!

Choosing Ground Cover Plants

Ground cover has many different uses in the garden. It can be used to help reduce the amount of weeds that will appear in the garden by covering over the space between plants where the weeds might grow and smothering tiny weed seedlings before they can grow.

Ground cover can also help to keep the moisture in the soil by stopping it from drying out from direct sunlight. And it can also add color and texture to the garden.

Shade Garden Groundcovers (Photo credit: patrick_standish)

A lot of the ground cover plants that are available can supply a splash of color throughout the year where some will have color in their leaves and then additional color when they flower. Being so close to the ground they can stay in better condition in windy conditions where they aren't quite so exposed as other flowering plants.

Most ground cover plants are quite durable and are an excellent way to add color to gardens that are in conditions where other flowering plants might not survive.

Some ground cover plants grow very well and thrive in shaded areas where other plants might struggle to thrive and they generally require very little maintenance. They are also excellent for creating borders around gardens where there are larger plants or trees growing or where other plants won't be able to get sufficient nutrition to grow to their full potential. They are particularly good for covering areas that are not easily accessible and would normally be too hard to maintain if you were to attempt to grow other plants there.

Ground cover plants also make a nice display when grown in and around rocks and sculptures in the garden and can make a nice mat when grown at the foot of a garden seat, provided of course that you choose one that is durable enough to withstand light foot traffic.

Which Ones are the Weeds?

I have always wondered who ever determined exactly what was a weed? There are some delightful looking weeds that grow in the garden even when we don't want them to be there.

I guess the best explanation of what represents a weed is, a weed is a plant that is growing somewhere that it shouldn't be. I have known people who will happily leave weeds in the garden if they think their color and style will add to the variety of their garden. I don't mind a few weeds if they're not terribly invasive, but some plants become weeds just by invading other available spaces where we don't want them.

More often than not, we fight the never-ending battle to eradicate these unwanted residents from our gardens only to have them grow back faster than ever.

Weeds (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The problem with weeds is the fact that many of these plants are better at seeking out the nutrients in the soil and by doing so they are using the goodness that we want for the plants that we choose to have in the garden. They can also suck up that all-important water that can be scarce during the hot season, and they can shade or crowd out our garden plants. Many weeds also attract insects to the garden that can affect the condition of other plants.

No matter how diligent we are at removing weeds from the garden they will always reappear as their seeds are transported by insects, the wind, and even on the clothing and shoes that we wear.

Replanting from one garden to another can easily introduce new weeds so it is always important to check the soil and the roots of the plants that you are moving to ensure you aren't transplanting weeds also.

Most of the time pulling weeds is the best way to remove them, although in some areas a hoe can also be of use. Once they are removed, adding a covering of mulch will help to reduce the return of weeds. Another method that helps is to lay a thick layer of dampened newspaper on the ground before covering it with mulch. This is very effective, and the newspaper will decompose easily into your soil and and even provide food for beneficial earthworms.

Once you get the weed population under control, usually it gets easier with each passing year, as long as you stay on top of it. Be sure to remove weeds before they go to seed, and you'll have fewer and fewer unwanted weeds in your garden area.

Video - Organic Weed Control Methods

This short video quickly covers a variety of natural methods for controlling weeds in your garden without resorting to toxic chemical herbicides. Keep your garden healthy, safe, and weed-free with these helpful tips.

Organic Weed Control - Mulch, Corn Gluten Meal, Flamers and More!
A whirlwind tour of organic weeding methods. Get more info plus organic gardening supplies at Peaceful Valley, GrowOrganic.com www.groworganic.com. Read our blog post on "How to ID the weeds in your garden" http Organic weed control such as corn glut...

Types of Mulch For Organic Vegetable Gardens

Mulching is a great addition to your organic garden which adds fertilizer, cools the soil, and helps retain water. Simply defined, mulching involves placing matter, whether organic or inorganic, around your plants.

(Photo credit: t0msk)

Aside from providing fertilization, mulch also protects your soil. Whether your garden is subjected to heavy rains or at the risk of weed infestation, mulches provide ample protection and strengthening needed to supplement the natural growth processes of your organic garden vegetables. Aside from this, it also regulates the temperature of the soil, plus it can also render aesthetic appeal to the garden because it will help improve the ground texture and overall appearance.

If you have effectively established mulches in your garden, less watering is required because it will also help the plants retain water. The plants will also experience better growth levels and moisture retention.   Although known to help in weed control, it does not directly fight or ward off the weeds. It just helps as a filler for bare areas that are at higher risk of weed infestation.

For the case of organic mulches, bacteria has the tendency to eat up the much-needed nitrogen, so in some cases, you might be required to inject additional dosages of nitrogen to your soil. Some examples of materials you can use for mulching include lawn clippings, composted materials, leaves, straw, sawdust, or wood chips. These are examples of organic materials for mulching.

Inorganic mulches include such things as plastic, fabric, or even metallic mulches. However, be careful when using these in hot or sunny climates, as they can cause plants to overheat and die. Watering is also very important when using these types of mulch, which may not be as permeable to rainfall.

Whichever type of mulch you choose, mulching can be a great enhancement to your organic garden, and help you grow healthy organic vegetables quite successfully right in your own backyard.

Weed Control for Efficient Gardening of Vegetables

A true garden aficionado must know that cultivation or weeding is required for growth control. Weeds are your garden's most persistent and cloying enemy. You need to be able to know how to handle weeds in order to foster growth in your organic garden. If you let weeds take over, they will completely obliterate your capacity to yield a rich number of vegetables.

Image via WikipediaWeeds are the number one stealer of nutrients, sunlight and revenue for farmers, so the earlier you try to eliminate them, the better will it be for your gardening. This can certainly eat up your time in certain seasons, depending on the size of your garden, but monitoring weeds and eliminating them is definitely worth your time and effort.  

Weeds are usually much harder to remove when they have matured. So your best plan of attack will be to monitor your garden closely, and eliminate them at first sight. Cultivating your soil regularly in the garden will help eliminate the younger weeds. Once you let those young weeds take hold and become firmly established in the garden, it will become a more herculean task to try to remove them. 

Seasons also affect the appearance of weeds. Warm-season and cool-season weeds proliferate at different times of the year, and it will be your advantage to recognize which weeds are in season so you can more easily expect them in your garden and prepare your anti-weed arsenal more effectively. Some of the weed seeds may also lie in your garden for a while before germinating, so make sure that you are able to cultivate your soil properly to prevent them from ever taking root and sprouting up.

Make sure that your garden space is filled up with the good stuff - the things YOU want planted there. If you leave any portion idle or bare, the weeds are more likely to secure that area for their growth. If you are unable to fill the entire area with desired plants, you may want to consider planting a ground cover crop to keep the weeds from invading your plant territory. (This can also be a great fertilizer later, as you can till the ground cover in at the end of the season, to provide extra nutrients for next year's garden.)

In the case where weeds have already grown large by the time you discovered them, chopping them off from the ground may be the most efficient way to remove them. Some of these weeds however may have deep roots, and will continue to sprout up even after you cut them down. But repetitive cutting down of those weeds will help eliminate them for good after some time.

Image via WikipediaThe use of herbicides and pesticides is not advised, and should not be necessary when you are able to do good cultivation of your land. The pesticides and herbicides, especially the commercially available ones, may prove to have other harmful effects. They may also pose as a threat to other useful organisms living in your garden, so they are not a viable option for organic and sustainable gardening.

Mulching and composting are other great ways to help maintain the soil and ward off the weeds. Ultimately, you should not encounter huge problems in weed management if you are able to keep them from gaining a foot hold in your garden in the first place.

If you are really consistent in cultivating your space, and eliminating weeds at their first sign, you will have taken a big step towards making the most out of your organic vegetable garden.

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