Whether it’s the optimal time of day to water your plants or how to properly get rid of slugs, most novice gardeners have a lot of questions – and a lot of mistakes – on their road to creating their ideal outdoor area.
I’ve seen plenty of gardeners make blunders while tending to their plants as a green-fingered professional, so we asked him to reveal the most common mistakes — and what you should be doing instead…
1. Ineffective Watering Technique
Many people water their plants at the wrong time of day. You’ll lose a lot of moisture through evaporation if you water in the heat of the day, and the water droplets on foliage can act as magnifying glasses for the sun, burning the leaves. To conserve moisture and safeguard the fragile leaves, water your plant first thing in the morning or last thing at night.
Another typical blunder is to imagine simply spraying the area’s surface well enough. If you scrape away a small amount of dirt after it has been rinsed, you will often find it dry only a few millimetres down. The soil must be saturated. It is a good tip if it isn’t absorbing well, poke the soil with a broom handle and fill the holes with water. The water will gradually seep into the deeper earth.
2. Planting Enormous Trees
I see these monstrous trees that have taken over people’s front gardens much too often. Conifers, oaks, and Norway maples encroach on window and door areas, blocking all light from reaching the house’s front.
Several smaller, more humble trees look lovely and won’t take over the room. Pencil Cherries, sometimes known as Flagpole Cherries, are lovely and covered with beautiful pink blooms due to their unusually narrow shape. Another lovely alternative is the weeping pear or weeping cherry. Not to mention the beautiful Japanese Maples and Kilmarnock Willow. These ideas will add a lot of personality without taking up a lot of room.
3. Digging Clay Soil When It’s Wet
If you do this, the soil’s structure will be damaged. Wait until the clay is dry before mixing it freely with well-rotted manure. Some people also like to use sand. A good half-spade of manure will improve the soil structure and make it considerably more comfortable for plant life.
4. Poor Weeding
Many gardeners- top mistakes when it comes to weeding is the way they do it. Chopping the top of the weed is not enough; most weeds have strong root structures under the soil and will continue growing.
You should remove as many roots as possible; you can also make use of a systemic herbicide- the roots will absorb the product and die.
5. Slug Invasion
Most people don’t bother about slug problems until it’s too late, which results in invasion later. Different things can be used copper tape, beer straps, eggshells, or even grit- but whatever you are using, you should start early.
If not, they will start breeding, and once this happens, it will be very difficult for you to hold back the tide. If you make sure there are not many of them in the first place, you will be able to enjoy your summer more without bothering about slugs.
6. Scalping The Lawn
Have you ever run in the term ‘scalping’? This is the action of cutting your lawn too short. This can be a problem during drought or even a minimum dry season. If you know that there will be a drought soon, you let your grass grow a little longer.
So, here it is the common mistakes made by gardeners; if you want to know more, let us know in the comments…
