Gardening tips from advanced gardeners are worth gold. Many beginner gardeners start off with seeds, dirt, and soil. That is a great start, but unfortunately will only get your new garden so far. Gardening involves so much more, but once you start it’s addictive. I have had a garden for 16 years’ and my love for growing has expanded to flowers.
Frugal gardening is keeping tools, maintenance, and purchases to a minimum. The whole point of a garden to spend a little for a lot of food. For example, if you spend a ton of money on the plants, fertilize and tools then it isn’t considered frugal. Keep purchases to necessary only.
Basic Beginner Gardening Tips
One basic gardening tip is to shower all of the plants with water, time and attention. The care your garden receives will grow its productivity in surplus. Strong, healthy plants are imperative to reap a good harvest.
Each day a watering schedule, weeding, walking, thinning and pinching of plants has to happen. Knowing what to do and when it’s important. Here are a few of the ways’ frugal gardeners reap the most benefits.
Weeding is Important
A must do gardening tip is to weed daily. Take 30 minutes and a different section of your garden each day. Weeding helps the plants to not have to compete for water, soil or nutrients. Catch the weeds before they get too tall. Light mulching or straw helps with weeds, but the hard job of hands on work is necessary.
Watering the Garden
Plants need 1 inch of water each week. During the hot summer months they may need more. Watering is one of the more expensive parts of gardening, but is the most important gardening tips. Without water a lot of plants cannot survive.
I remember one year during the summer the entire month of July it did not rain in our region. June was full of rain, so my lustrous garden wilted and died. Even my tomatoes that do well in hot, dry soil. If irrigation is possible set it up in the beginning before you plant.
Staking the Garden Plants
Plants such as coreopsis, tomatoes, green beans, yarrow and garden phlox need to be staked. If not, then they fall over in a rain storm because they get too tall.
Pinching Tomato Plants
Pinching plants is where gardeners’ remove the top growth on a plant. This helps it too become bushier and more productive. Pinching encourages branching, improves shape and stunts flowering. Since most plants are more propagateable before they flower this is importantly.
Common plants to pinch are Basil and Petunia’s. Snip off the top 1-2 inches. This is a gardening tip you won’t want to forget.
Thinning Extra Plants
Plants like delphinium and phlox produce so many stems they get crowded. The crowding prohibits growth. Then, the plants become stagnant and do not multiply.
Thinning is import and can become a lucrative business. Plant them extra’s up and sell them. A profitable gardening tip to be able to purchase more plants. The love of gardening continues to grow and evolve so much that your yard is full of beauty.
Disbudding Peonies to Help Them Grow
Pinch off all but the largest bud around the peony before it blooms. Disbudding improves your floral display.
Winterizing Plants and Garden Soil
A must do gardening tip is to mulch your leaves in the fall and place over your garden and flower beds. This is important especially if you are in zones 4-8. We live in zone 6 and our winter was very harsh last year. I always mulch my leaves and spread them over all growing area’s, and I did not. Unfortunately some of my plants died.
This was my negligence.
Dividing Plants for More Free Plants
Hosta’s and Astilbe are great for division. Also, tomato plants can be divided by cutting off a stem growing into the main plant. So many ways’ to get free plants from an existing plant.
Deadheading Plants for Production
Deadheading is using pruners to remove the dead flowers. Identify the spent blooms, and snip them off. This gardening tip helps them to not self seed, promotes a tidy look, and more blooms will come through the season.
Gardening tips for beginners is meant to be a guide for those who are curious about a new hobby, but do not want to spend a lot of money. Gardening is a lifelong activity that brings many rewards and satisfaction. For more tips on starting and maintaining a suburban homestead sign up for my newsletter or follow me on Instagram @momsarefrugal.
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