8 Simple steps to start gardening

30th April 2018

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Starting up a garden may seem tedious and cumbersome. But with the right knowledge, it can be easier than you think and of great fun too. Follow these 8 steps and you will be having your dream garden.

Stock up on essentials

When it comes to gardening there are several essentials that you will need to ensure you have a ready supply of.  From the basics like a trowel and fork, garden pots, compost and bedding soil.  Alongside these basics, you could also add in a few decorative pots, hanging baskets and solar lights.  Check out the Aldi Specialbiys Garden range for a host of essentials whether you are starting from scratch or restocking for the upcoming summer gardening season.

Start as small as you can

It can be frustrating to start up something new in a big way than you can handle, especially if you do not have prior experience in doing it. Therefore, start small, and be open to enlargement.

Select your site

You may want an ideal flat surface to set up your garden. Locate a well-drained land with the right type of soil. You may also want to improve the soils with organic matter. The right location should be accessible, preferably close to your house. Your site should be well protected with a fence against pets that may eat up the vegetations. Also, ensure that there is a good and permanent source of water supply. If there is none, you can develop one by laying water pipes in the garden for proper irrigation.

Make you soils fertile

After selecting the right site of your choice, you will have to prepare a compost pile to make you soil fertile enough for the adequate growth of your plant.

Weeding

The first step to take before planting in your garden will be to remove every weed on your site. You can do this manually with your hands or you can use chemicals to get rid of the weeds.

Selecting your seedling

This part plays a vital role on how good your plants will produce. So, you should be careful with the choice of seedlings you choose as getting good and healthy seedlings will yield better result while bad seedlings will produce badly or may not survive.

Protect your garden

After planting your seeds, you will be faced with the task of protecting it from being destroyed by human and animal pests like rodents, insects and birds. So, you have to protect your garden with a parameter fencing, using good pesticides and physically keeping watch of the garden.

Nurturing your garden

After having everything in place, you then start tendering your seedlings by watering them, applying manure, and getting rid of weeds when necessary.

Congratulations! Now you have successfully developed for yourself as you follow the steps give above. All that is left is to nurture it, maintain it and enjoy watching your seedling mature into grown plants.

The Aldi Specialbuys Garden range is available in stores nationwide and online from 3rd May – but be quick, as with all Specialbuys, once it’s gone it’s gone!

Win a Garden Bright Solar Windspinner

To help get your garden ready for summer, A Few Favourite Things has two Garden Bright Solar Windspinners from the Aldi Specialbuys Garden range to giveaway.

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Collaborative Article


Photo Credit: Neslihan Gunaydin Janelle Hewines

42 Comments

  • Karen Barrett 30th April 2018 at 2:16 PM

    Plant seeds in cardboard tubes (loo roll, wrapping paper, kitchen roll) when established plant directly into the ground, protects the roots and bio-degradable

  • Emily 30th April 2018 at 2:34 PM

    Lovely prize

  • Jane 30th April 2018 at 3:36 PM

    Instead of trying to change your soil type ie clay soil, choose plants which thrive in your soil type.

  • Tracy Nixon 30th April 2018 at 3:56 PM

    For easy-to-grow produce (and great for kids to plant and grow), I’d recommend tomatoes, peppers, onions, chard, basil, and beans. And for easy to grow and maintain flowers, I’d recommend clematis, sunflowers, dahlia’s, foxglove, roses and petunia.

  • Claire glace 30th April 2018 at 4:01 PM

    Now is a great time to lift and divide bulbs which have finished flowering. Take off any faded flowers and seed-heads and tease out the bulbs and their leaves and replant them…..

  • ValB 30th April 2018 at 4:11 PM

    Eggshells are useful in the garden – crush them up and sprinkle round plants. They not only put calcium into the soil but also help repel some garden insects such as slugs and snails

  • Kathleen marsden 30th April 2018 at 4:21 PM

    To boost your roses keep any banana skins and place them under the soil around the base of the bush. Your roses will thrive

  • Ellen Sheppard 30th April 2018 at 5:52 PM

    We are a military family and move every few years so rather than spend time and money on the actual garden, we brighten up the place using pot plants – at least we can take them with us when we leave 🙂

  • helen tovell 30th April 2018 at 7:45 PM

    Leave a messy part to your garden for the wildlife

  • laura banks 30th April 2018 at 7:56 PM

    my tip is i get the hubby to do all the hard stuff i do all the watering

  • Lynne Manton 30th April 2018 at 8:16 PM

    Check out how to take cuttings so you can grow some lovely plants from visits to friends and relatives.

  • Mel Turner 30th April 2018 at 8:52 PM

    Make it colourful

  • Lynsey Harvey 30th April 2018 at 9:07 PM

    fab tips thanks!

  • Solange 30th April 2018 at 10:09 PM

    Make sure you give young plants plenty of water, but always avoid wetting the plant’s leaves. Wet leaves can easily lead to mould, rot and a sick plant. The general rule of thumb is to give plants an inch of water per week.

  • Margaret Gallagher 30th April 2018 at 11:27 PM

    Weed regularly – if you dont they take the goodness from the soil

  • Dean T 1st May 2018 at 1:07 AM

    Slugs and snails love bread, if you scatter some big pieces around your vulnerable plants they will go for the bread not the plants and they are easy to collect or better yet a hedgehog will have a meal

  • Alica 1st May 2018 at 11:52 AM

    Seeds need to be kept cool, dark and dry. Store envelopes containing seeds in a biscuit tin and put it in the fridge.

  • Tina Hewitt 1st May 2018 at 8:03 PM

    I grow peas, strawberries and cherry tomatoes in hanging baskets

  • Vivien Baird 1st May 2018 at 9:46 PM

    Keep on top of weeding make sure young plants have plenty of water

  • Kirsty Fox 2nd May 2018 at 1:17 PM

    Always have a decent pair of gardening gloves, if they’re too thin you can feel thorns and stinging nettles through them.

  • Ren Taylor 2nd May 2018 at 3:01 PM

    I put old banana skins under my rose bushes, they love it!

  • Rich Tyler 2nd May 2018 at 4:55 PM

    Use a portable radio to groove while your weeding

  • Jo Richards 2nd May 2018 at 7:31 PM

    My top tip is to get someone else to do whilst you spectate

  • Paul Green 4th May 2018 at 9:42 PM

    My grandchildren love planting sunflowers, dahlia’s, foxglove, roses and petunias

  • Susan Ocock 6th May 2018 at 5:27 PM

    Little and often keeps your garden manageable

  • Maggiee 9th May 2018 at 10:22 PM

    We’ve gone for simplistic and easy to maintain yet beautiful in redesigning our garden

  • Clare B 10th May 2018 at 5:49 PM

    Compost! Even in a small space this makes so much more sense than sending things off site to be composted and buying compost from elsewhere – it is just crazy madness!

  • Kim Neville 12th May 2018 at 2:19 PM

    Make sure your container has good soil and drainage and plenty of compost

  • Michelle Carlin 15th May 2018 at 10:27 AM

    Don’t plant conifers – they’re expensive to get them cut once they’re too high to do it yourself!

  • Jane 19th May 2018 at 10:54 PM

    Get your dad to keep fit by cutting your grass! Always put mint in the ground in a pot otherwise it’ll spread

  • Michelle Hopkins 20th May 2018 at 1:21 AM

    Yes please, it is so beautiful & would look awesome in my garden ???

  • Christine Lockley 22nd May 2018 at 4:11 PM

    Some great tips posted, I would add:

    plant marigolds in your veg patches as they are great at keeping bugs and insects at bay and they look great too

  • Diana 25th May 2018 at 2:17 PM

    Spring onions are so easy to grow so it’s a great first grow and they taste so much better than shop bought ones 🙂

  • amanda greensmith 26th May 2018 at 12:45 AM

    use seaweed extract and chicken manure on the garden to help it grow it works a treat

  • Ian Murray 26th May 2018 at 9:41 AM

    use old bottles as mini greenhouses

  • Jen Jackson 26th May 2018 at 1:52 PM

    Pour boiling water on weeds for an effective non chemical way of treating them

  • Jenny Rogers 26th May 2018 at 5:14 PM

    Keep on top of garden tasks by doing a few things each day – little and often.

  • Patricia Avery 26th May 2018 at 7:57 PM

    Get the whole family involved from shopping for seeds to sowing, tending, harvesting, cooking and eating their own produce. There’s nothing quite like it 🙂

  • Susan Willshee 26th May 2018 at 8:19 PM

    when you buy new plants, instead of planting them straight into the ground, put them into a pot first and live with them for a couple of months. I’ve found that it’s great to be able to move things around before settling on their final resting place in case they grow larger than expected or just don’t suit the original place they were purchased for

  • ellie spider 26th May 2018 at 10:27 PM

    save the water from cooking potatoes and veggies and use it to water your plants not only is it good for the environment it also has lots of good nutrients for them

  • Su Brett 27th May 2018 at 1:15 AM

    Make a wormery – put in kitchen scraps and worms will work their magic – free compost and free plant food

  • denise s 27th May 2018 at 9:10 AM

    use broken polystyrene in the bottonm of large containers makes it lighter and cuts down on the amount of soil needed to fill the pots with.

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