Starting a garden? It’s easy to remember to change your soil and buy your seeds. But you might just forget these five gardening jobs, but they will add immensely to the victory of your garden:
- Moisten new garden beds, wait 7-14 days before planting to flush weed seeds, and remove weed seedlings. By encouraging weeds to grow and then getting rid of them when the soil is bare, you will save yourself hours of weeding later on.
- In new beds or compacted soils, loosen soil with a spading fork and remove stones and obstructions just before seeding fresh crops. Refining your soil will greatly improve your crops.
- Seed or transplant crops sequentially for a successive harvest, specifically of crops that you eat regularly or in large amounts. You will have a lot more enjoyment of flowers or vegetables if they flower or ripen over a longer period of time rather than all at once.
- Add organic alterations and 1-1½ inches of fine mulch after vegetable and herb starts are 3-6 inches tall. Saving water is a great reason to mulch your plants.
- Consider growing cover crops in unused garden beds.
