Avoid Common Gardening Mistakes

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Are you a newbie gardener? In your first years, focus on creating a tidy, manageable garden and not falling into the common gardening mistake of taking on too much.
Are you a newbie gardener? In your first years, focus on creating a tidy, manageable garden and not falling into the common gardening mistake of taking on too much.
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A nice no-dig option for newbies is “bag gardening.” Simply cut out the top of a bag of soil, make slits in the bottom, and plant seeds. The slits will allow crops’ roots to reach the soil below, as opposed to becoming constricted as they would in containers.
A nice no-dig option for newbies is “bag gardening.” Simply cut out the top of a bag of soil, make slits in the bottom, and plant seeds. The slits will allow crops’ roots to reach the soil below, as opposed to becoming constricted as they would in containers.
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Score bigger, better harvests by consistently improving your soil with organic matter.
Score bigger, better harvests by consistently improving your soil with organic matter.
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The roots of crops grown in the ground, rather than in pots, can spread out and reach essential nutrients and moisture. Here, each box equals 1 square foot.
The roots of crops grown in the ground, rather than in pots, can spread out and reach essential nutrients and moisture. Here, each box equals 1 square foot.

Just as there’s no such thing as a perfect garden, there’s no perfect gardener either. We all make mistakes, but, in doing so, we learn which ones never to repeat, and along the way we discover savvy strategies to add to our gardening routines. So, what are vegetable gardeners’ biggest blunders? I’ve made each of the following six common gardening mistakes, and after talking with thousands of organic gardeners, I know I’m not alone. Get a head start by learning from our errors instead of laboring through your own.

1. Tackling Too Much

Spring fever inspires big dreams among gardeners, and it’s easy to forget that every planting requires a commitment to future maintenance. Before you know it, your springtime aspirations will have turned into an overwhelming summer reality — weed, water, thin, plant, prune, stake and harvest, all at once and for weeks on end!

If you’re a novice gardener, you’ll greatly enhance your chances of success by starting small with only a few rows or beds, allowing yourself to focus on each individual crop you’re growing and better understand its needs. Instead of trying out 10 unique tomato varieties and every hot chili pepper under the sun, pick one or two of each and build your plant-care confidence.

Another smart idea is to limit the number of different types of veggies you tend in each part of your growing season (spring, summer and fall, in most climates). Vegetable plants need the most attention during their first month in the garden, so by having only three to four juvenile crops going at a time, you’ll be able to keep up without a hitch. For example, you might grow potatoes, salad greens and snap peas in early spring; peppers, squash and tomatoes in late spring through summer; and cabbage, carrots and spinach from late summer to fall.

  • Published on May 11, 2015
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