Gardening 101: How To Maintain Your Garden

Maintaining your garden can often seem like a never-ending task. But, it is definitely a worthwhile one. There are few things better than the satisfaction you feel when you have weeded a messy patio space. Or when you have carefully mowed your lawn to make your garden look tidier and more organized. 

Whether you have a small backyard with a few flower pots, a perfectly manicured garden, or a wild meadow that has been cordoned off, it’s important to maintain your garden.

Here’s our guide to maintaining a range of different gardens.

Maintaining a Patio Garden or Yard

If you have a small space, even if it’s just a small square of concrete, you still need to maintain this area. You can also still make it a beautiful space. 

One of the best ways to maintain an outdoor space that has a lot of concrete is through weeding. Weeding your garden will make it seem much more spacious. This will make it a lot more enjoyable.

Weeds are strong and determined plants so they can grow in pretty much any environment. You will likely notice them growing through brick walls, tarmac, and concrete patio slabs.

Pulling up weeds can almost feel as though you’re doing something wrong. Most of us are trying to encourage more natural growth to encourage ecological growth. But, you can always replace these weeds with other plants too. There are plenty of wildflowers and herbs that will attract bees and butterflies to your garden. These will be much better for your local ecosystem than overrunning weeds.

Maintaining a Garden with a Lawn

Maintaining a garden with a lawn is going to take more effort than a small backyard garden. This is mostly due to the fact that gardens with lawns are generally much bigger. But also because mowing a lawn is a pretty big task. Although some people find it satisfying and enjoyable (especially because of the lovely smell of cut grass), it is definitely still a chore.

One way to make maintaining a garden with a lawn easier is through investing in a good quality lawnmower. There are several different types of lawnmowers. We all know that there are sit-on lawnmowers and lawnmowers that need to be pushed.

But there are also differences in terms of blades and other features. The main lawnmowers are rotary, hover, electric, and reel lawnmowers. The best type of lawnmower for you will depend on both the type of lawn you have and your own personal preference.

Maintaining a Flower Bed Garden

A garden with lots of flower beds requires a lot more maintenance. This is especially true if you have some difficult and delicate flowers in your garden. A lawn needs mowing every now and then. 

But a flower bed requires maintenance throughout the year. A flower bed will require watering, weeding, composting, and potentially deadheading. This does depend on the flowers as certain flowers will require certain kinds of maintenance.

As well as responding to problems such as weeds, it’s also important to work toward preventing the growth of weeds and other problems. Once you have planted flowers or flower seeds, it can often feel like the job is done. But this is absolutely not the case.

Flowers need to be well-watered (but not over-watered), fertilized, and dead-headed. But, make sure to check the specific requirements of your flowers before doing anything to them. Some flowers are very fussy!

General Guidance for ALL Gardens

As you will likely have noticed from the sections above, there are a few things that every garden needs. No matter the size, shape, or style of your garden, they all need to be maintained. Maintenance is important for the general appearance of your garden. We all want to be able to look out on or sit in a lovely outdoor space.

But maintenance is also necessary for the overall health of your garden. It might seem good for the environment to leave your garden to grow as it pleases. But this can result in some plants becoming overcrowded. And some flowers that will attract bees and butterflies (which are crucial to the survival of our environment) won’t be able to grow in an overcrowded garden.

So, it’s important to keep your garden well-maintained. But this doesn’t mean you have to have a perfectly manicured garden. You can maintain a healthy garden with just a few important measures.

The most important things your garden needs are:

• Watering
• Weeding

Other factors are also important, such as mowing your lawn or pruning trees. But watering and weeding are important for every garden. 

Watering

Every living thing requires water. This is especially true of everything growing in your garden. But not all areas of your garden will require watering in the same way.

Flowerbeds should be watered every 1 to 2 weeks. This should be increased slightly during very hot and dry weather. 

Your lawn will also need watering during hot and dry weather. Your lawn will generally be okay for most of the year. But, if you notice any dry patches, it’s important to hydrate them. The best way to do this is with a sprinkler. This can be with a built-in sprinkler system. Or a sprinkler that can be bought online.

But, when it comes to plants and flowers, it’s better to water this soil directly. Otherwise, the water can gather on the leaves and petals. This can cause them to wilt or even mold to grow. 

Weeding

Weeding is also very important for all kinds of gardens. This will be more of an issue in patio gardens or flowerbeds. 

It’s also important to try and prevent weeds from growing. This can be done by densely packing the soil of your flower beds. This won’t be fool-proof but it will help.

When weeding, it’s best to dig it out from its source. This means ensuring you get the entire plant, roots and all. This will stop it from just growing back.