Growing a vegetable garden is a fantastic goal for any household, and it’s a great hobby to get into as your children get a bit older and more independent. They might even be able to help you in the garden, learning some valuable skills in the process.
But like any worthwhile activity, gardening can be hard work. You might find that you’re losing your love for gardening or that your plants are starting to suffer. In this case, you might need to give your garden a little extra TLC and change your strategies to enjoy better results.
Updates to Give Your Garden New Life
Try Raised Beds
One common problem that people have when gardening is that the soil in their garden might not be very fertile. It’s such a shame when you put all that work into digging your garden over and creating beds, only to find that plants don’t thrive in your garden.
Infertility could be due to poor soil quality, or it might be because there’s a lot of clay, stones, or sand in your garden, making it unsuitable for some plants to grow.
One easy way to grow a vegetable garden when you have infertile soil, or even no soil at all, is to make raised beds. Raised beds allow you to grow plants in fertile soil that you buy or make using compost, and you don’t need to dig it over or do a lot of backbreaking work.
Rotating Plants
If you do grow in the ground and find that your soil quality is poor or diminishing, it can be helpful to rotate plants. Some plants, like potatoes, drain nutrients from the soil, so they reduce its quality. Switch the plots out with pea plants, or other plants that can improve the soil.
People with larger gardens can also give plots a break, either growing nothing or focusing on inedible plants that are especially good for the soil.
Of course, another option is to seed the soil with nutrients yourself with compost and plant food. This will usually provide a better harvest.
Get Rid of Pests
Pests can be unsanitary and they can eat or otherwise destroy your crops. This includes slugs, some insects, and even rats.
If you put down slug or rat poison, be careful that pets or small children aren’t likely to eat it. Otherwise, look into different ways how to get rid of rats, such as humane traps. Some people even get animals like cats to hunt pests.
A Garden Makeover
As well as making sure your vegetable garden is productive, there’s something to be said for improving how your garden looks.
Your garden should also have an area to sit and relax in. Include benches and other furniture in sunny and shady spots. Grow a few flowers and ornamental plants to enjoy, and think about a patio or decking area. This could be a great place to have barbecues and even picnics.
This way, your whole family can enjoy the garden to its fullest.
