Gardening is a task that requires care, attention, and patience. Not everyone is born with a green thumb – however, by following certain tips, every gardening rookie can find themselves becoming an expert gardener in no time. Find below five gardening tips, that will help you become a garden expert in no time:

Be mindful of your region

While it is a no-brainer, not everything grows in every region. Before you begin your gardening adventure, you should be mindful of your region so that what you plant is in accordance with it. Take in the characteristics of your gardening area – the climate, the amount of sun exposure it receives, and conduct some research on local plants. While you may be able to grow plants that are not local to your region, the process would be a tad bit expensive and require a ton of maintenance. Hence, it is suggested that you stick to local and native plants.

Check and test your soil

You need to conduct soil testing in your backyard or the area that you plan to build your garden on. You can either send a sample to your local nursery or get a self-use soil testing kit and test your soil yourself. Either way, a soil test checks for the soil’s pH and nutrient levels. The acidic or alkaline levels of your soil essentially determine how the plants planted in that particular soil will absorb nutrients, and since certain plants grow in only certain pH levels, it is important to know which point in scale your soil falls into. You’d also be able to understand what nutrients your soil lacks and fertilize accordingly. If your soil completely lacks in texture and nutrients both, you should consider replacing it with new soil altogether and you can find garden soil for sale in multiple places.

Create a gardening plan

Once you decide to finally begin planting, you need to have a gardening plan to go with it to avoid crowding. In order to create a gardening plan, you need to conduct research on how big the plants you plan on planting are likely to get overtime and then space them accordingly. For instance, perennials should be planted at least 18-20 inches away from each other which gives room for substantial growth. You should also be mindful of the approximate height of the plants in the sense that taller plants should be placed in the back of the garden area and shorter ones towards the front or the edges of the garden to ensure optimal sunlight for both of those types.

Begin with easy to grow plants

If you are a complete rookie to gardening, you should begin your gardening adventure with plants that are easy to grow. Vegetables are easy to grow and do not take much time in fruition either which makes them a great series for beginner gardeners. Even if you make a mistake while planting veggies, you wouldn’t be wasting months of your time witnessing little to no growth – you’d possibly figure you made a mistake in a few weeks’ time. You should also consider growing sunflowers or certain varieties of ferns that are both easy to plant and grow quickly. Such plants don’t require a ton of maintenance and grow in most conditions. If you find yourself successful with the easy plants, you can then move onto perennials and other difficult to grow varieties.

Mark and set your calendar

In order to have a general idea of your gardening duties every season, you should set up a gardening calendar. For instance, most gardeners begin fertilizing at the onset of spring and repeat the same every 6-8 weeks up till fall season. They also prune shrubs and trees in late summers or early spring and trim their woody plants before winter spells. While your calendar may slightly differ due to your region’s climate, you can take a general idea from online gardening calendars and make your own.