Image Credit: Southern Living
When it comes to planting/gardening it can be intimidating at first glance, especially if you are attempting to grow your own food. Any new gardener knows that keeping your plants alive is often the hardest part of it all! A much simpler method to gardening or growing your own food would be Container Gardening, it is super easy and gives your balcony, window or back yard a spruce of color. Here are some helpful tips on how to start your own container garden. Let’s get planting!
Location
It can be super exciting starting your own container garden, but when people grow plants they forget about the kind of atmosphere that they live in. For example, if you live in a dryer and more humid climate like Pennsylvania you might want to think of where you place your plant to get a lot of sunlight and making sure it doesn’t dry out. If you live in a more wet and cooler climate like Portland, Oregon you might want to consider placing your plant on your balcony a couple times a week so it can be watered and making sure it gets enough sunlight. You don’t want to over water, but sunlight can be an issue for a much wetter climate.
Kind of Plant
Before you go out and buy all of your supplies that you will be needing to start your garden, make sure you know exactly what you want to grow. When it comes to container gardening, it doesn’t really matter what kind of plant you want to grow as long as you take care of it and help it grow. So, make a list of possible ideas whether that be a succulent garden, a tomato garden, a herb garden or even a flower garden. Know what you want!
Tools
In order to start and take care of your garden with compost aerators, here are tools that you will be needing:
- Gloves- to really get in there and make sure your plants are at the right place in the pot.
- Watering Can- to make sure your plants are nice and hydrated.
- Scissors- you can find special scissors at your local hardware store that makes it easier to trim your plants.
- Soil- so you can place your seeds/plants in it to grow!
- Mulch- to retain moisture and keep your plant cool.
- Fertilizer- to help feed your plants!
- Pot- you can buy a pot, a wooden box or really anything that has a hole in the bottom of it so the water can drain easily.
- Seeds or Plant- you can buy these at hardware stores or even at your local farmers market.
Start Planting
Now that you have all of the necessary tools to make your awesome container garden you can finally get to planting! Location is key, so make sure you know where you want to place your garden, whether that be the window, balcony or back yard. When planting make sure there is enough soil in the pot, you can then take your plant and tease the roots of it gently in order for it to grow out more. After you have planted everything in the exact spot you want you can water it and spread some mulch around the surrounding areas that are still exposed so it can retain moisture. A great idea for you to keep track of watering and keeping your garden healthy is to make a chart where you mark down everytime you water your garden and feed it. Now you’re all set!