By Lee Dobbins

When creating a garden at your home, there is much that needs to be considered and thought out before the spade shovel will ever hit the dirt. The location of the garden is important. What type of sunlight will the garden be receiving? Is this a garden of flowers alone? Is it a fruit and vegetable garden? Is it any combination of the preceding? How big will it be? How much time are you able to devote to cultivating it? All of these are important questions that should be answered and well thought out before you attack the chore of planting.

A backyard may be a big or small space. The space that you will devote to your garden may be big or small. The size of the garden should be the first decision made. Take into account the time that is available to you to care for the garden thoroughly. You want to keep gardening a pleasurable experience, therefore, don’t try to squeeze more than you can comfortably handle into your garden. If you work full time and have small children at home, a smaller garden that requires less care would be better for you. On the other hand, if you’re retired or have the means to stay home and have little else to do with your time, a large many faceted garden would fit your life. Be realistic with the time that you have to devote, those plants depend on you in combination with nature to care for them.

Once you have decided the size of the garden, what will go in it should be the next decision. Again, this will have to do with the time you have to devote to the garden. Some plants need just a little water and they can sustain themselves well while others require constant pruning, fertilizing on a schedule, and watering. When choosing the plants that will be included in the garden, read the labels carefully and they will tell you how much care each particular plant requires. Also, be careful not to plant too many avid growers in the same location. Otherwise your garden will look overgrown in no time and it will be difficult to keep up with pruning.

When those important decisions have been made, it’s time to plot out your land, prepare it, and plant. When plotting out the land, many will have to pull up grass that is residing there currently. In doing this, be sure that you get the grass roots or the grass will make a reappearance in the middle of your garden. When all the grass has been pulled, it’s important to work soil with a hoe or rake about six to twelve inches down. In this way you will break it up and breathe new life into soil that has had little room to breathe in quite some time. Add some fresh topsoil, perhaps with nutrients included to allow for new root stimulation and root setting, and plant according to your plan.

When the plants have all been planted and you’re satisfied with your garden, be sure to fertilize, and water thoroughly. The garden will need to be watered daily for ten to twenty minutes with a garden hose. If fresh rainwater is available, use that for watering as there are more nutrients in that than in what comes out of the garden hose. In a matter of days you will see your plants flourish in their new environment. If it is a flower garden, fresh flower buds will be seen quickly. If it is a fruit and vegetable garden, you should quickly see the beginnings of what has been planted.

Lee Dobbins writes for http://www.backyard-garden-and-patio.com where you can get more tips on creating a garden.

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