Gardening–no matter if it’s a veggie garden or a landscape filled with flowering plants, it’s no small undertaking. Many first timers spend a great deal of money on plants, fertilizer, and tools, only to find that their plants die or simply don’t produce as they’d planned. There are a lot of factors to a successful garden or landscape, and the basics are covered here in these tips! 

• Start talking to gardening friends and family now. They have been where you are and know it’s not easy to have a magazine-worthy garden the first year. Find out what grows best in your area and choose a few vegetables to try. 
• Your first plot needs to be small and in a part of your yard that gets at least six hours of sunlight per day. Shade in the evening is great to help cool plants on those hot Summer days, but full sun is best during the day. 
• A soil test is important and is most easily done through your local cooperative extension service. The results normally include recommendations for improving your soil quality. 

• Consider using a raised bed for your first attempt! It will make soil-amending easier and gives you more control of water retention/drainage.   
• Purchase seedlings from your garden center instead of starting everything from seed. You’ll have a head start on the harvest!  
• Don’t forget to add some flowering plants to your vegetable garden! Planting a few companion plants will bring pollinators and beneficial insects that help keep the bad bug population down. 

    Flower Gardening 

• Once again, talk to your neighbors; look at what they are growing in their landscapes and flower beds, and ask them what is the easiest to grow and care for. 
• Soil prep is just as important for blooms as it is for the vegetable garden; test the soil from the areas you’re planning on planting. 
• Flowering plants have different needs when it comes to sunlight. While geraniums thrive in full sun, impatiens need mostly-to-full shade. Take care to note the sunlight recommendation on plant tags when you’re making your purchases. 
• If you don’t have time to lug the water hose or sprinkling can all over the yard, you might want to plant in one main area, or purchase a soaker hose that will stay put so you only have to turn the water on. 
• Planning is important, and you’ll save time in the nursery if you decide what you’d like to grow before you go. Check out this list of easy-to-grow flowers from HGTV. 

Virtually all gardeners have learned by trial and error, and it’s likely you will, too. Don’t let a few failures keep you from falling in love with growing plants and vegetables. It’s such a rewarding undertaking, and recent studies are even looking at how digging in the dirt can improve your mental health as well! 

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

Get Orlando Daily News delivered to your inbox! Subscribe here!

Photo credit: marketplaceevents.com

Summer is waning, and very likely, your vegetable garden is yielding less, if it hasn’t stopped already. You may think that it’s time to put the soil to rest until Spring, but there is plenty that you can plant now that can be harvested through late fall!  Don’t hang up the shovel–get inspired to keep things growing with these Fall planting tips: 

• Greens love the cooler temps, so plant all that you love, and try something new!  Kale, lettuces, and spinach are easy to grow, as well as swiss chard.  Check out this article from Mother Earth News about growing greens and how to take care of them. 
• Beans of all kinds thrive despite the shortening days, and reportedly taste better when grown in Autumn.  Planting bush varieties are best, as they only take about 45 days until harvest.   
• Any veggie in the brassica family–cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, and kohlrabi grow very well this time of year.  These are best grown from young plants, and if possible, start them in your garden on a cloudy day. 

• What’s a dinner in Winter without some delicious roasted root vegetables?  If you’re dreaming about yummy parsnips, turnips or carrots, find a planting guide for each of these and more from Territorial Seed. 
• If you’re busy with the kids’ extracurricular activities, and general activities this time of year, consider planting a cover crop.  Cover crops can organic matter and nitrogen to the soil for the next year’s planting.  Learn more about them and what to plant at eartheasy.com. 
• Plant onions and garlic now.  They will likely go dormant when the weather cools, but they’ll establish their root system and reward you come early Spring. 
• Leave it to the tried-and-true advice from Farmer’s Almanac to set up a handy Fall planting schedule!   

The temperatures can still soar in September, so have some light row covering available for hot days to provide some shade in the heat of the day.  Just like in the Summer months, keep a watch for pests, provide plenty of water and mulch, and don’t fertilize too much.  It won’t be long before you’ll be harvesting and storing plenty for your Winter dinnertime! 

Access Teri’s one-stop Orlando FL home search website.

Teri Isner is the team leader of Orlando Avenue Top Team and has been a Realtor for over 24 years. Teri has distinguished herself as a leader in the Orlando FL real estate market. Teri assists buyers looking for Orlando FL real estate for sale and aggressively markets Orlando FL homes for sale.

You deserve professional real estate service! You obtain the best results with Teri Isner plus you benefit from her marketing skills, experience and ability to network with other REALTORS®. Your job gets done pleasantly and efficiently.  You are able to make important decisions easily with fast, accurate information from Teri. The Orlando Avenue Top Team handles the details and follow-up that are important to the success of your transaction.

Get Orlando Daily News delivered to your inbox! Subscribe here!

Photo credit: Harvest to Table