Essential Steps for Home Gardening
Home gardening has been on the rise this year, many people in the pandemic have started home gardening as a hobby after the attribution of work from home and the cancellation of countless events. Growing and maintaining plants is a proven way to improve emotional well-being. This is a good way to feel connected with the nature. Secondarily, the satisfaction of watching a tomato ripen, or a basil seed grow into its height is immeasurable.
It also creates spaces for respite, to take a break in from continuous hours at home. Several people associate gardening as a dopamine and serotonin booster similarly to walking or biking. It has become another way to improve the quality of life. People around the world are getting conscious about sustainability, the impending climate change and are finding methods, whether it’s to begin from maintaining indoor plants and to upgrade to flowering varieties. This is also a way of making sure one spends time away from the screens.
It’s possible to grow a garden on the terrace, backyard and even balconies. While the size of the plants may vary, it can be anywhere one can lay out the soil. The right place depends on access to sunlight as well. One can grow seasonal flowers, herbs or vegetables.
We recommend having garden beds or elevated garden spaces in comparison to containers, as they retain less moisture but if you can only keep containers in your limited space that’s works as well. One of the first steps to growing a healthy garden is to mark off where you want your produce or flower beds to be. Consider the size, shape and location to identify what would be the best locations for your diverse plants.
Furthermore, building the soil is the key to maintain quality and in pumping up yields. Nutrient-rich organic soil encourages the growth of healthy, extensive roots. For a zero-waste lifestyle, you can use your vegetable peels to make organic manure.
If you are hitting the wall with your space, you can make optimum utilisation of any window sill by using it to plant herbs in trays. No matter how small your garden is, you can grow more by going vertical. Grow climbers, vining crops such as peas, melons, tomatoes, gourds that go straight up. Make sure they are supported by trellises, stairs of ladders or cages. These plants are also easier to maintain and harvest than root plants.For a thriving garden, grow your plants all-together in a closed space to make harvesting more efficient.
Companion planting or planting in combination is also an excellent way to improve your garden. They can grow together making the most of the small space, and can also replenish the nutrients lost by another. Another beneficial thing is to grow plants like onions or chives around your other plants as insects can’t stand them.
When it comes to flowers, full-bloom takes time. They usually require months to grow into buds, but many perennial varieties, after a year or two bloom frequently and easily. Many perennial plants may also take up to 3 years to reach their maximum height. If you have space, and resources on your hand you can also building a greenhouse to protect your plants from rough weather. A greenhouse can support multiple crops a year and even allow the most delicate of buds to bloom.
Apart from gardening being a hobby in current times, or becoming a sanctuary for downtime urban gardening it also helps in decreasing carbon levels. At ADAU, we are focused towards planting more trees and in our route towards it, enabling people to build more gardens such as this for themselves. We are passionate about not only impacting the quality of our environment but creating a respite in it, and if we can also grow more flowers along the way.
Originally published at https://www.adau.life on October 26, 2020.
