5 Tips For Starting Your Own Outdoor Garden

Starting a garden is a wonderful experience. Grow sweet-smelling flowers or tasty veggies, or even both! Everyone can enjoy getting their hands a bit dirty. Here are some tips to help you begin.
🌼 Consider what to plant. Do you want to plant a vegetable garden? An herb garden? A flower garden?
🌼 Pick the best garden spot. Almost all vegetables and many types of flowering plants need 6-8 hours of full sun each day. So you need to observe your yard throughout the day to figure out which spots receive full sun versus partial or full shade.
🌼 Test and improve your soil. To learn more about your soil, have a soil test done through your county cooperative extension office.
🌼 Properly prepare your planting beds. Loosening the soil in new beds before sowing or planting helps roots to grow more easily and access the water and nutrients they need.
🌼 Water at the right time. Seedlings should never be allowed to dry out, so water them daily. Taper off as the plants get larger. Transplants also need frequent watering (every other day or so) until their roots become established.