Plenty of people make errors that are easily avoidable while tending to their plants. It is not particularly hard, but sometimes plants can be unpredictable and uncooperative for first-timers – be it planting spring flowers, bulbs, perennials, or shrubs and trees, there’s always something new to learn in the garden.
Surprisingly, both newbies and experienced professionals sometimes stumble upon unforeseen hurdles like a plant that fails to survive the winter season or a tree that does not seem to be in the right place but has grown too big to be easily moved. Fortunately, due to mother nature’s forgiveness plants sometimes adapt themselves to unfamiliar environments – so your garden will rebound in no time. And don’t worry about making mistakes as this is part of the learning process. So, without further ado, let’s list down and discuss the 10 most common gardening to avoid.
Most Common Gardening Mistakes to Avoid
- Plant flowers to catalyse pollination
- Planting seeds in the wrong place
- Placing plants in close proximity to each other
- Planting too deeply in the ground
- Avoid adding potting soil to your ‘Planting Hole’
- Not harvesting on time
- Not staggering harvest times
- Not all problems require immediate action
- Lack of future layout and design planning
- Evaluate the optimum exposure required for each plant
Lets go over these in detail so you can better understand how to manoeuvre around these rookie mistakes:
Plant flowers to catalyse pollination
This is a basic horticultural fact that plants need pollination to produce fruits and seeds. There are some plants who go about self-pollination techniques yet there is also an abundance of plants that need insects like bees, flies, and butterflies to help them with the pollination process by carrying pollen from one plant to another. By planting several pollination-friendly plants in your garden such as lavender, thyme, and oregano, you can enable your winged-sidekicks to be able to help your plants with the pollination process. This will add to your plants’ ability to generate additional seeds and fruits – which in turn will help beautify your garden.
Planting seeds in the wrong place
Do you plan where to plant your seeds? And which ones do you want? Planting seeds in the wrong place is one of the most common home gardening mistakes that people do. The way forward with placing your plants can vary on your own choice – a mix of heights and colours, going for fruit plants or the flowering ones, getting plants that survive throughout the year or the seasonal ones. All living organisms need a specified environment to develop and flourish. However, artificially, you might be able to grow anything by controlling the environment. To avoid any heart aches and frustrations, it is best to select plants known to thrive in your vicinity’s environmental conditions.
Placing plants in close proximity to each other
The problem with planting too many plants together is that it will restrict their growth prospects. Plants need room to grow. The combination of plentiful sunlight and moisturising air helps erect stronger plants. To go about this issue, we suggest that you make a garden plan – be wary of how the sun moves over your yard throughout the day. Wrong exposure could mean slow plant growth or even death in some cases – not all plants can withstand direct sunlight. So be sure which plants require a cooler shady environment for sustainable growth. The roots of the plants also seek underground space to spread around peacefully.
Planting too deeply in the ground
Probably among the most common reasons why plants end up dead is planting too deeply. The plant’s stronger stem/base should be right above the ground. Moreover, it shouldn’t look like a pole emerging out of the ground – the place where the base widens slightly.
Experts suggest that digging a hole which is about 2 to 3 times as wide as the plant’s container helps preserve the moisture it requires and keeps down the growth possibilities of wild weeds that may act as another hurdle in the slow growth of your plant in question.
Avoid adding potting soil to your ‘Planting Hole’
Depending on the type of soil used in the pot, from which you are planning to move your plant, its growth prospect may vary. Sometimes the ground in which you’ve dug a hole has more nurturing possibilities than the soil in the pots. Therefore, it is always recommended that to avoid your plant’s roots curling up and restricting the spread, always use the mud/soil you just dug up to fill back the hole. So, avoid making use of potting soil as it is one of the most common gardening mistakes.
Not harvesting on time
Newbies and sometimes gardening experts delay the harvesting of fruits and vegetables from their plants to avoid premature harvesting, or to get the maximum harvest – either way, not all plants support this point of view. Try to understand the basic gardening needs and then work accordingly. There are some plants that require timely harvests to further branch out and grow in general. Don’t be greedy, enjoy the fruits of your garden’s harvest. And relax while you enjoy the product of your hard work.
Not staggering harvest times
The issue with this is that all your plants will reach their harvest maturity together! Meaning you’ll have to store and save the fruits and vegetables and won’t be able to enjoy their right-off-the-tree freshness.
To overcome this, plant your seedlings and seeds in variable timings. So, they don’t bear fruit at the same time, and you can enjoy their freshness over a longer period of time as they’ll reach harvesting maturity at different times of the season.
Not all problems require immediate action
Don’t panic and rush at rooting-out weeds. Some may have strong and deep roots which may require you to dig them out – as much as possible. Moreover, not all problems in a garden require a full assault – but regular monitoring of plants is essential. If your observations reveal the presence of yellowing leaves or spots, inspect deeper to separate the sick plant from the healthy ones.
Don’t jump at the occasion to spray the entire lot with pesticides, this can have an adverse effect on your healthy plants. Sometimes insects lay their eggs on the undersides of leaves, scrap them off before they can hatch which can totally avert the problem.
Being overly cautious can be harmful as you’d end up spraying the entire field in an attempt to ward off the undesirable insects – not all insects are bad; some are beneficial. They act like your partners in the upkeep of the garden. These insects kill off the harmful pests and help maintain a healthy practice of providing a suitable environment for cross-pollination.
Lack of future layout and design planning
Yes, you’ve finally been successful in cultivating a healthy garden of your own choosing. But now what? What about the expansion plans? Which plants are you going to replace in the next season, and why? Have you thought of a different combination than the one you initially began with? Obviously, you’d want to evolve your garden into something more. Don’t be impatient and take a step you might regret in the future; relax!
Now that you’ve established a working garden, all green and blooming – now think of how you’d want to expand its beautification. Maybe there is a tree that has grown more than what the garden’s aesthetics approve, or maybe it didn’t grow enough to appease the visual dynamic you were gunning for.
Don’t jump to conclusions and execute a half-cooked plan – a very common gardening mistake. Think ahead and be sure of which plant you want at whatever place you desire and build the perfect nurturing environment that each plant separately demands. This is one of the key factors that will help you grow a lush green garden with flowers, fruits and vegetables.
Evaluate the optimum exposure required for each plant
Not all plants require direct sunlight, some prefer cool and shady regions to grow. While some plants find well-lit places, with little sunshine. Do research on the types of environmental specifications each plant demands optimal growth.
These were the 10 most common home gardening mistakes that you should avoid. If you want to learn about some useful gardening tools for your home and their uses, read this blog. For more informative pieces on home care and improvement projects, keep reading Zameen Blogs. For your feedback and queries, feel free to reach out to us at blog@zameen.com.
