{"id":7,"date":"2011-12-24T00:57:40","date_gmt":"2011-12-24T07:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7"},"modified":"2011-12-24T07:36:11","modified_gmt":"2011-12-24T14:36:11","slug":"starting-gardening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/flowers\/starting-gardening\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Starting Gardening"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"Wild Flowers of Garden Primroses\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/4516873807\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4019\/4516873807_7e86d42756.jpg\" alt=\"spring 034\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Starting Gardening?  Try these tips<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t need a garden or even a window box to start your gardening journey. There are lots of ways to have fun and build up your skills and appreciation of gardening.<\/p>\n<ol style=\"margin-top: 0cm;\" type=\"1\">\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">When you can recognise plants in hedgerows and know a bit about them<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">When you can smell plants in a public garden and appreciate the effort needed to get the display just so<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">When you know what flowers to buy from a florist and how to care for them<\/li>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">When you join a local gardening or horticultural club and get a social network plus gardening insights and support.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong>&#8211; then you are starting to be a skilled gardener.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">That is not to say you shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have your own garden space. The therapeutic effect of your own patch of soil should not to be ignored &#8211; in my opinion it can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be overstated.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Growing your own choice of plants will be reward in it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s self<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Using your artistic and creative style will create a personal and individual garden space that repays your planning and execution of the core gardening skills.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Features you include can help the family, the environment, the locality and even your culinary experience if you grow herbs fruit and vegetables<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><strong>So some simple tips for new gardeners<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li class=\"MsoNormal\">Look around you at anything that grows.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Consider why and how a plant is thriving is it naturally occurring or placed, is it a natural time or place to find it, how might it survive and reproduce<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Pace yourself: the garden can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be rushed and there is a time for everything. You need to be \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcable to stop and smell the flowers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 because there will also be a fair bit of work involved once the gardening bug bites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t forget gardening is for fun \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if its not fun its horticulture<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a title=\"D Handle by brianpettinger, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/5154760012\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.staticflickr.com\/4041\/5154760012_5f1e53dbcc.jpg\" alt=\"D Handle\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Starting Digging &#8211; It is enough to make you spit!<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p><strong> <\/strong> You may spit in more ways than you think because I want to start with some definitions, then after your hard work you may end up with an aching back.<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>spade<\/strong> is the key digging tool costing from \u00c2\u00a315-\u00c2\u00a375 and coming in several sizes and blade shapes but an average one that doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t lift too much and has a stainless blade is my favourite and cost me \u00c2\u00a334.<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>fork<\/strong> is the pronged implement used for breaking up compacted soil or turning material like straw or garden compost.<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>spit<\/strong> is the spade depth of a hole about 12 inches<\/p>\n<p><strong>Double digging<\/strong> is where a row one spit deep is removed to form a trench. Then the base of the trench is dug again often with a fork and to include compost. The next row is then put on top until at the end of the patch the first soil removed is replaced.<\/p>\n<p>If double digging try not to get <strong>sub-soil<\/strong> brought up to the surface. This is the compacted layer of clay, shale, rock ledges, gravel beds, deep sand, or hardpan under the surface of good soil that is so deep it hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t got any accessible nutrients or bio activity may make the development of garden soil extremely difficult or impossible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tilth<\/strong> is the top soil that can be broken down into finer crumbs of soil for planting and seed sowing<\/p>\n<p>A <strong>rake<\/strong> is used for weeding and to even out lumpy soil and create a good tilth<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reasons for digging:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To get necessary air into the soil,<\/li>\n<li>To allow water to penetrate,<\/li>\n<li>To assist drainage if the soil is heavy so that plant roots can penetrate deeper without becoming waterlogged,<\/li>\n<li>To help worms and friendly insect activity.<\/li>\n<li>To incorporate organic matter such as garden compost<\/li>\n<li>To help remove weeds particularly those with long roots<\/li>\n<li>To get a good soil structure and open tilth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Double digging probably isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t worth the extra effort in most cases unless you have a particular problem eg with drainage or want to grow particular crops eg. parsnips.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/hortoris\/3983614880\/\" title=\"Beggars Belief Begonias by brianpettinger, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2456\/3983614880_5be7e86356.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" alt=\"Beggars Begonias\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Starting to grow plants \u00e2\u20ac\u201c then avoid these problems<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Avoid exotic plants from warmer climates \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they are likely to be delicate and struggle in the UK through lack of sun, warms and an excess of rain. Ask your garden center if unsure.<\/li>\n<li>Look around your area and see what does well \u00e2\u20ac\u201c from my window I can see holly and hawthorn with some yellow forsythia in the hedge. Then there are daffodils and polyanthus under Choysia (Aztec Pearl) and flowering currant shrubs with roses that are just coming into leaf.<\/li>\n<li>If you are new to gardening try to avoid expensive disappointments that may put you off.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid seeds until you have some experience unless you are really keen. They can be labour intensive and not as successful as seedlings, plug plants and plants bought ready grown.<\/li>\n<li>To cover a large area and are keen to try seeds look for those that you can sow direct into the ground the bigger the seeds the better for spacing eg Sunflower, Nasturtiums, Sweet peas, Calendula and at the smaller, scatter it for fun end Night Scented Stocks, Californian poppy (Eschscholzia californica)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Avoid buying plants that look like they are in distress. I have just seen a large display of dead and dying plants and seedlings inside a hot, airless, dry national chain. Otherwise good seedlings were withered and discounted or just plain dean. Shrubs in plastic bags with a printed wrapper were showing \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcforced\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 leaves that were thin spindly and weak. Not only did I leave the plants alone I left the shop alone and will do in the future.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid planting at the wrong time. I know you wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t plant out in the garden your house plants in the middle of winter, would you? In fact most plants are best planted after the danger of frost has passed \u00e2\u20ac\u201c some time in May depending where your gardening.<\/li>\n<li>By the same token it is no use planting a fruit tree in May for a crop that year as it needs to drink through summer \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in fact the backend is better as it then has time to settle.<\/li>\n<li>Spring bulbs also need a period of winter time in the ground so plant Daffodils in Sept\/Oct and Tulips in November to give you a better spring show.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/a-good-b-use-072.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Tulips\" width=\"529\" height=\"437\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11839\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/a-good-b-use-072.jpg 529w, https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/a-good-b-use-072-300x247.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 529px) 100vw, 529px\" \/><br \/>\n<strong>Other Resources <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rhs.org.uk\/Home\">Royal Horticultural Society RHS<\/a> &#8216;Gardening for All&#8217;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nccpg.com\/\">National Council for Conservation of Plants and Gardens<\/a> &#8216;Conservation through Cultivation.&#8217;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gardenorganic.org.uk\/\">Garden Organic<\/a> National Charity for Organic Gardening.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/gardening\/\">BBC Gardening<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you are starting to garden or want a few tips to get you started then check out these hints and links to the UK&#8217;s top gardening sites<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[280],"class_list":["post-7","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flowers","tag-gardening"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenerstips.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}