Why Do You Want a Garden?
Gardening is a lot of hard work. That may not be what you expected to read when you first start reading about gardening.
Most gardening guides will start out, and go on and on, about the joys of gardening, and it can be a joy...but it is also a lot of hard work. So, why do you want to grow a garden?
It could be that your yard is plain, and you want to dress it up a bit...but that you don’t necessarily want to go out and do the back breaking, hand dirtying work to achieve and maintain this.
If this is your situation, call a landscaper. Gardening is a year round job, depending on where you live, and this may be something that you will not enjoy.
It may seem more expensive to pay a landscaper, and in some ways, it is. However, if you will not enjoy gardening, this is actually your cheapest option.
If you want to get out and take part in nature, gardening may be for you. But consider the work, and determine whether taking a regular walk along forest trails may soothe your need to be one with nature better. You may enjoy golf more, or collecting seashells. Again, this is hard, manual labor we are talking about.
If you just need a hobby, again, think about the hard work involved. Think about the heat that you will be working in. Think about the dirt under your nails.
Think about your sore back. Is there another hobby that will actually be more enjoyable to you? Is there another hobby that won’t feel like so much work, which can actually be done outdoors?
If you are still here and still reading, there is a good chance that gardening actually is for you. Those who get into gardening need to be doing so for all of the right reasons.
A beautiful yard can be obtained without gardening. You can commune with nature, without gardening. You can have a hobby that isn’t gardening.
So, what exactly are all of the right reasons to start gardening? You want a beautiful yard, you get to take a part in nature, and you want a satisfying and rewarding hobby.
But, of course, there is more. You will also see the work as good exercise that you will actually enjoy doing. You will enjoy getting your hands dirty. You will have a great deal of fun selecting the plants for your garden, and designing the layout.
When your plants flourish, or start sprouting, you will feel like you’ve accomplished something and of course when people comment on how beautiful your garden is, you will feel a sense of pride like never before.
You may have heard that if you build it, they will come. Too often, beginner gardeners have this mentality, thinking that if they plant it, it will bloom.
Unfortunately, this is not the case.
You see, gardening is a science. It is a science that has been improving generation after generation – luckily – and instead of just dropping a seed into the ground and hoping for the best, there are ways to ensure that those seeds will grow and flourish.
If you are serious about gardening, you must recognize it for the science that it is, and be willing to learn a bit about that science in order to be successful.
If you are not willing to take the time to learn, gardening probably isn’t for you. It doesn’t take long to learn the essentials, and there is a great deal that will be learned simply by doing.
Serious gardeners – the ones with the absolutely gorgeous yards that you envy – spend time outdoors, but they also spend time indoors reading and learning about the hobby that they love so much.
Some gardeners believe that this is why Mother Nature gives us winter...so that we can spend some time indoors reading up on gardening tips and techniques, and planning new gardens.
You’ve seen those avid gardeners who have the beautiful lawns and gardens.
They are outside at the crack of dawn, puttering in their gardens, and do not return indoors until it gets dark outside.
Now, if you fear that gardening will have to be like that for you, in order to achieve the same results, you can stop worrying.
It doesn’t have to consume your life, but gardening does take a bit of your time each week through the spring, summer, and fall.
Researching, planning, and designing will take up most of your time...believe it or not.
After that, preparing the soil and getting the plants in the ground will take up the second greatest amount of time.
Once that is done, however, it is just an exercise in maintenance, as Mother Nature does most of the work from that point on. However, your services will be required closer to winter again, when you must winterize your garden.
All tolled, you can expect to spend about twenty hours in researching, planning, and designing. Plan to spend a couple of weekends, during the daylight hours, preparing the soil and getting the plants in the ground, and from there, plan to spend about three hours a week watering, feeding, and weeding.
The amount of time that it takes to winterize your garden will depend on how big your garden is, and what types of plants you have.
If you are serious about gardening, and you’ve considered all of the work and the dirt, as well as the amount of time that must be involved, read on to get started with your very first garden.
