With the weather warming up, it’s time to start thinking about how to take care of your lawn and possibly start gardening! Green grass and a bountiful harvest are possible with a little time, patience, and hard work! Check out these helpful gardening and lawn care tips to help you out this spring and summer!
Gardening:
Get a Head Start
Don’t wait to start your garden later in the season! Get a head start and start your seedlings inside for greater success! Most of the top gardeners use this trick for greater growing success and it’s quite easy as well!
Location, Location, Location
Successful gardening is all about the location of your garden. You’ll want the best real estate for your garden to thrive. Also, when deciding where to place your garden you’ll want to place it where you will see it regularly. If it’s out of sight, it’s out of mind. Therefore, if you place your garden where you constantly see it, you’ll be more likely to spend time in it.
Follow the Sun
Picking a location for your garden is also determined by the amount of sunlight it will get. Before you decide on location, pay close attention to how the sunlight plays through your property and yard. Most plants like, vegetables, herbs, and fruits, need at least six hours of sunlight to thrive.
Stay Close to Water
Make sure that when you decide on the location of your garden you are close to a water source! You won’t want to lug water to your garden each time your plants get thirsty. Save time and energy and stay close to water. Also, to test if your plants need water, push one finger down into the soil (about one knuckle deep) and if the soil is dry, it’s time to water!
Start with Great Soil
Nutrient-rich and well-drained soil is a must for any successful garden. To achieve a “just-right” blend of soil, mix 3 inches of Miracle-Gro® All Purpose Garden Soil with the top six to eight inches of the existing soil from the ground. Or if you’re planting in a raised bed, the use Miracle-Gro® Raised Bed Soil, which is the perfect weight and texture for a raised garden.
Consider Containers
If you don’t have a lot of real estate to work with and have a full garden, you could always consider planting a container garden! Many vegetables, herbs, flowers, fruit trees, berries, and shrubs can thrive in pots or containers. Just make sure the pot is large enough for the plant that will be hosted in it. You’ll also want to use Miracle-Gro® Moisture Control® Potting Mix, which is formulated to help potted plants thrive and helps protect against over- and under-watering.
Timing and Type
The type of plants you decide to put in your garden, as well as the time you decide to plant them will really determine how successful your garden is! You’ll want to plant the right type of plant at the right time of year. To do that, you can easily check the seed’s information or with the United States Department of Agriculture’s plant hardiness zone map!
Discover your Zone
A successful garden also depends on the hardiness zone that you live in. Therefore, you’ll want to discover what zone you live in, so you choose the right plants to grow in your garden. If a plant is “hardy to zone 4” and you are gardening in zone 5, that plant will thrive. However, if you’re in zone 3, then the particular plant won’t survive.
Feed Plants Regularly
Gardening starts with great soil, but the soil works best with regular high-quality nutrition for your plants. Feed your garden with plant food regularly, Miracle-Gro® Water Soluble All Purpose Plant Food is a great choice, and your garden will most likely thrive!
Lawn Care:
Don’t Skip Aerating
Over time, most lawns become compact from many different activities, which makes it difficult for air, water, and nutrients to get to the grass roots. That’s why you don’t want to skip aerating your lawn as the weather warms up. Aerating your lawn will restore healthy soil conditions to nurture your lawn.
Use a Sharp Mower Blade
Before you begin to mow your lawn, make sure that the mower blade is nice and sharp! A dull mower blade will rip through grass blades instead of slicing them cleanly, which stresses the grass. The stress will cause grass to brown instead of getting greener, therefore, you’ll want to sharpen the blade each season.
Don’t Water Your Lawn Everyday
Believe it or not, you don’t want to water your lawn every day for greener grass! If you water your lawn every day the grass will become dependent on the constant watering. Instead, water your lawn one day a week for an hour. Doing this will make your grass healthier and more drought-tolerant.
Don’t Fertilize Shady Area More
In order to get grass to grow in shady areas, you’ll want to use fertilizer. However, most people overcompensate and throw more fertilizer in shady areas, which ends up killing it faster! To promote growth in shady areas, you’ll actually want to fertilize and water the area less.
Mow the Grass Often
Mowing the grass often is better than waiting long periods in between mows. Most of the time, mowing the lawn once a week does the trick and promotes healthier grass for seasons to come!
Don’t Cut Grass Too Short
Most people tend to cut their grass really short so that they don’t have to mow that often. However, by cutting the grass short, you are hurting your grass more than helping it. The blades of grass are actually the food factor for the plant. Therefore, shorter blades can’t generate the same amount of food and nutrients for the grass, making it brown. Also, more weeds are bound to pop up when you cut your grass too short and you’ll have to water your grass more often to keep the soil cool. So when mowing, make sure you don’t cut the grass too short or else you’ll be creating more work for yourself!
Mow in Different Directions Every Time
When you mow the lawn, don’t mow in the same direction every time. By switching up the direction your grass won’t grow at an angle and permanent track marks from the mower wheels won’t appear.
Don’t Cut Wet Grass
There are so many reasons not to cut grass while it’s wet. Not only will the mower wheels leave ruts in your yard, but giant clumps of clippings will smother the grass beneath it and the wet grass will also carpet the underside of your mower deck, which is a pain to clean.
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