There is considerable growth in the gardening population in the United States. About 75% of the population are now doing gardening, which is mainly done by men. This is because gardening sometimes requires construction skills, and it can be quite a physical task. Gardening itself can cost you to lose a decent amount of calories. For example, raking burns 450 calories per hour, while pulling out weeds and general gardening burns 400 calories per hour. That’s a lot of calories burned from such menial tasks.
Furthermore, many Americans nowadays are growing their food out of their own garden. About 35% of American households are growing their own produce. This is good as there is a great shift in self-sustaining projects and more organic ingredients instead of buying them from the grocery.
Gardening can be quite easy when you know what you’re doing and once you’ve gotten used to it. But this takes years of practice, and you might be starting only this year. You’re going to get your hands dirty as you start doing these essential things in your garden. Here are some essential things you should do to start your garden.
Do Some Landscaping
Landscaping should be your first priority when starting your garden. Without a good landscape, your plants will wilt and die out. So get ready with your shovel and rake because you will terraform your backyard into a beautiful garden.
To start, you’re going to need to find a place in your backyard that’s soft and is exposed to sunlight. You’re going to toil the soil in this area so you can plant some seeds. When landscaping, makes sure you toil the ground properly. You don’t want to do it too hard as the soil can be quite soft and fragile. If you toil too hard, you’re going to have to do so much work to bring it all together. Make sure you give enough space between your plants to grow. If you put them too close to each other, they might compete for nutrients. This also gives them space to grow.
This is the simplest landscaping you need to do for your plants. If you don’t think you can handle it, then you can hire a landscaping service to do it for you. This particular service usually comes with them taking care of trees that might be in your backyard, so they’re an excellent service to hire. Additionally, these professionals may even give you tips on how to grow the plants in your garden. They might even plant your plants for you. So give them your local landscaping service a call if you can’t do it yourself.
Build a Greenhouse
Constructing a greenhouse is a challenging and arduous task, but it is required if you want your garden to flourish. You don’t necessarily need this once you’ve started, but eventually, you’ll need it once you start planting different varieties of plants.
A greenhouse can stay warm for long periods, making it ideal if you want to build tropical plants in your garden. Additionally, it can be quite moist inside so it can retain so plants inside can keep so much more water. It can require a lot of time and effort to build your own greenhouse, so we suggest that you get a contractor to do it for you. The average cost of a greenhouse is $16,000, but you can go lower to $6,000. You might think it’s pricey, but it’s not, especially when you want to start planting various plants in your garden. Without a greenhouse, some of these plants might not survive, so it’s an investment you have to make.
Consider Having Room for Your Plants in Your Home
Your home can be a great place to grow your plants as well. A trend in gardening known as vertical gardening supports the idea of growing your plants inside your home. You do this by creating a simple frame for your pots, choosing a wall, planting your seeds inside the pot, and grow them just like any other plant in your garden.
It’s a great way of growing plants if you no longer have space in your garden. But be aware of what kind of plants you can grow indoor. Usually, many crops like potatoes and tomatoes can survive in an indoor garden. But depending on the breed, there might be some that can’t. So ask a professional first before growing your indoor garden.
Here are some simple tips to get you started on your gardening hobby. Building a garden takes quite some time, but it’s all worth it in the end because you can make your backyard look beautiful and sustain your household in the long run.