We all make mistakes from time to time, but it’s always better to stop them (as much as you can) before they become a bad habit. Though all of us are in gardening to enjoy growing plants, we also reap the rewards of fresh fruits and vegetables for us and our families when we do it right. Right?
Right.
Today, we’ll look at some terrible issues that many gardeners face when they stop thinking and start doing. Let’s dig in.
Not Studying Your Sun
In the spring and summer before you start a bounty garden (ie; one that you intend to eat from rather than just enjoying an occasional snack of cucumber or two), you need to go outside regularly during the day and study where the sun is, when, and how hot the ground is in your intended planting area.
The reasoning is probably already obvious, but if your plans for your garden do not match the plants you intend to put there, it’s better to know before you’ve spent all that time and effort putting the plants in. You can always redesign a garden. You can’t redesign planting halfway through the growing season because you’ve put your lettuce in an area where it’s going to get scorched or your tomatoes are standing in water a quarter-inch deep because the sun isn’t strong enough to evaporate it.
One of the worst parts of this habit is getting cocky after you’ve done your initial sun study. I recommend re-examining your garden every few years. Trees grow and change, as do bushes and other nearby plants. Storms can take out a limb that was helping shade your tender greens so they didn’t end up turning brown.
Skipping Soil Sampling
While this may be fine to do here and there, you have to remember that even with strict soil sampling, we are unaware of what we’ve done to really change the condition of the soil after an additive is placed. …Unless we check a soil sample.
Perhaps you’ve let a patch of garden be fallow for a year. That’s great. You spend time building it up with good, loamy compost and lots of calcium and other trace minerals, intending to use it for tomatoes the next year. Perfect. You’re doing great.
The problem is that you don’t bother to test your soil about 1-2 months before planting. If you’re having a hard freeze, check it as soon as you can. You can only do so much with the weather. But the point remains, you need to check to make sure that the soil hasn’t absorbed those precious nutrients through another plant. Or that you aren’t overbuilding your soil and turning alkaline soil into an acidic mess.
Get out of the habit of being cheap and not spending a little money on checking the condition of your soil long before it becomes a habit. You can put all the seeds you want into the ground, but if the ground isn’t prepared correctly, you aren’t getting much back.
Related: Soil Testing Methods Used By Pioneers That Still Work Today
Water, The Weather, and You
Perhaps you’ve decided to put in a garden in your front yard. That’s wonderful, except that you haven’t accounted for the slight slope in your land. Now, every time you put fresh manure in your garden, you end up with half of it on the sidewalk next to your home. Ick. Ew.
Watch how the water moves on your property after a long, hard rain. One of those where you get to see little rivers creeping through your gardening plots and grass is the kind of storm we’re talking about here. While you can manipulate these streams, it is very likely that they creep this way for one reason or another. And to be honest, it’s better to just work with them (if you can) as opposed to fighting them.
Additionally, consider what you will do to protect your garden if hail or severe wind strikes. Do you put your garden in the middle of a wide-open field, or do you place it closer to your house knowing that your home blocks the worst of the wind (obviously only applicable if you happen to live in a very windy area as I do)?
No matter how much you love or hate it, the weather and the water are always going to be part of gardening. Prepare ahead for them and stop ignoring them or assuming that you’ll get past them somehow when the time comes. You probably won’t.
Reconsidering Your Pest Projections
Last year, you saw a squash bug. You killed it, removed it, and made sure that it hadn’t laid eggs. Good job. You did it, you pest prohibitor, you.
Except that you missed some eggs on a different plant and you’re about to get one very nasty surprise this year.
Take your time to go around your garden and, while tilling or putting amendments in your soil, take note of the insects that you see. This means from the second that your final harvest is done and you’re allowing your plants to go back to the soil for next year’s crops, you start making a list of every pest you see out there near your garden (or in it). This can include squirrels, rabbits, rats, mice, and that sort of thing, too.
And then you start making a plan. Nature is not going to give you a second chance. If you notice a great deal of squirrels, start figuring out a way to prevent them from stealing your crops next year; because they will happily do so. If you have many, many ants suddenly turning up, treat the property for ants (make sure you use food-safe treatments) since they can demolish melons and berries with ease.
Your pest plan does not start with the growing season. It starts the year before. Get a move on it; you’re going to need it.
What other bad habits and problems have you caused for yourself? Tell us in the comments down below; we’d love to hear from you. And, as always, Happy Gardening!
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