If you are interested in starting your own garden, you will need to do some research first. You will want to know which fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs can be cultivated in the environment where you live. Certain types of soil are required by some plants but are only available in specific locations.

If you have a vegetable garden and plan on eating the vegetables, you should inspect them carefully every week. Look for bugs and worms or traces of disease and damages. Do not eat a vegetable that does not look healthy. Make sure you wash your vegetables carefully before you cook them.

When removing and replanting perennials, it is important to replenish the soil as well. If you remove a large number of perennials, and then replant them without adding additional compost and soil, the bed will be lower, reducing drainage and air circulation. Also, the compost will replace nutrients that have been used up by previous growing seasons.

A good idea when gardening is to keep a record of progress. If it is a journal form or photographic form of recording the progress of the garden is helpful for the years to come. Recording which types of plants work well, which did not work or what types of soil can help future gardens start without any trial and error of previous years.

Flush your plants with water if the rim of the pot or top of the soil has white salt deposits. Flush using twice the amount water as the size of the pot. Salt accumulates when using liquid fertilizer and can cause a PH imbalance. Once you have flushed the plant, do not water the plant again until the soil is dry.

It is important that you not forget to water your garden on a regular basis, especially when it is hot. If your plants do not get enough water, roots stay near the surface which can kill your plants or cause them to take even longer to grow. About an inch of water a week is sufficient.

Used tea and coffee grounds make good soil enrichers. Both coffee and tea grounds are great additions when you need to raise the acidity of your soil. If your soil is pH balanced, adding the tea and coffee is good, as flowers such as rhododendrons and azaleas, and fruits such as blueberry, appreciate soil that is on the acidic side. You can work the grounds into the soil before you plant your garden, or sprinkle a little around existing plants once a week or so.

Grow plants from seed rather than purchasing plants from a nursery. It can be tempting to purchase plants that already have a head start, but it is usually not necessary. By growing from seed, you could find yourself landscaping your yard for under $50.00 worth of different plant seeds, rather than spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars at a plant nursery.

Follow the instructions and you are sure to succeed in your new hobby. Over-watering is a problem some people don’t consider, so it is important to research the needs of your particular plants. It is incredibly rewarding to cultivate a garden from nothing but soil, seeds and water. It’s a great way to reap what you sow.