The Beginner’s Guide to Starting a Garden in Your Backyard
As the world has changed over the last year and we have shifted to working and spending more time at home, people have also started spending an exponential amount of time outside. Whether it’s a long run on the trail, going to the park with the kids for the afternoon, or enjoying our own backyards for a picnic or afternoon tea, our time spent outdoors has become increasingly special. And with all this time outdoors, gardening has become more popular than ever as people stay home and look for new hobbies.
But the thought of starting a garden can seem daunting. Do we really need an entire bag full of gardening supplies? What about the cool accessories like gardening gloves and a hat? What kind of fertilizer and plant food is best? The good news is, gardening doesn’t have to be elaborate and complicated, especially for beginners creating a backyard garden. Even a small vegetable patch or flower garden can be simple and beautiful. Plus, seeing all the literal fruits of your labor is always rewarding.
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Getting started with a backyard garden is easy — especially when you can shop for everything you’ll need at QVC, whose patio and gardening shop is the ultimate destination for green thumbs this spring. Here, we’re sharing a few basic tips and tools you should be equipped with to start playing in the dirt and how to create a garden right in your own backyard.
Choose Beginner-Friendly Plants
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If you’re new to gardening, it’s best not to choose plants that need specific soil requirements, perfect weather conditions, or a particular amount of shade and sun each day. Choose plants that don’t require much maintenance and ones that aren’t finicky with water and light. These flowering thyme live plants from Roberta’s are perennials, meaning they come back each year so you don’t have to worry about replanting. They’re also excellent for ground cover and look great along walkways, slopes, over retaining walls, and in between stepping stones. Flowering thyme is known to be drought tolerant, meaning less maintenance for you.
If you have a shaded yard, white feather hostas are a beautiful, low-maintenance addition. The hostas start out white and change to a greenish-white as they grow, adding a pop of bright color to the usual darker shaded gardens. In midsummer, fragrant lavender-colored flowers bloom out of the hostas and attract hummingbirds and butterflies. Plant these in containers or a well-drained area out of the sun.
Make Sure to Provide Proper Nutrients
All plants need a bit of added nutrition from time to time. To help your flowers bloom bigger and brighter, give those tomatoes a boost of flavor, and help ward off pests and disease, use a plant fertilizer. This one from Roberta’s Bounty works great for indoor and outdoor plants as well as flowers, fruits and vegetables. Simply mix a tablespoon of the plant food with a gallon of water and apply to the leaves and roots of your plants once every seven to 10 days, and you’re set.
A Few Tools Go a Long Way
Oftentimes, beginner gardeners don’t need all the fancy bells and whistles to get started. But a few essential tools are a great way to start, allowing you to find which tools work best for you as you add to your collection. Consider these pruning shears from Martha Stewart to help you cut back bushes, shrubs, or trim back branches on plants and trees.
If you’re doing lots of pruning or clearing out leaves and weeds, this debris bag from Sun Joe is a nice addition to have on hand.
Of course, a watering can is always a good idea, as it helps you control how much water your plants receive and allows you to walk around your yard without getting tied up in a water hose. This collapsible one from Ultimate Innovations is a great space saver and stows easily in small garden sheds or on a small patio or apartment balcony.
Planters Keep Things Simple
Apartment dwellers and those with small and large yards alike love planters, as they’re great for bringing in plants without having to put them straight into the ground. They’re also great for experimenting with new-to-you plants, as you can move planters around to find optimal shade and sunlight, and it’s an easy way to gauge which plants work well in your space or environment. This planter from Bloem Colonnade comes in a classic earthy-brown color and works well on patios, porches, and in backyard gardens. It has optional drainage holes for plants that need drier soil, and has a classic wood-grain texture that works well in any garden.
This article was created by SheKnows for QVC.
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