GREEN Gardening... a life-long hobby that will never disappoint you by Bee Fisher Kocher If you are like most people this year you dipped your toe into the wonderful world of gardening. Congratulations! Hopefully you were successful and want to continue this lifelong hobby. If your garden didn’t turn out as you planned, have no fear because that is also part of the wonderful world of gardening. Here are some tidbits that will help you continue your gardening success: 1. Accept failure. It’s going to happen. Plants will die. Seeds won’t germinate. A family of groundhogs will move in and eat all your bounty. The weather won’t cooperate. Welcome to the world of a farmer. There is no such thing as a perfect season. Once you accept this fact you will feel so much better about your gardening skills. Remember this quote from author unknown: “The true test of a seasoned gardener depends on the number of plants that they have lost.” 2. Pull weeds once a week. I know, I hate it, too. But it is the best and a surefire way to keep them under control. Yes, there are sprays and homemade tonics but when it comes down to it, pulling them out by the roots is the most effective without killing everything in your garden by spraying chemicals everywhere. 3. Fix your soil. Most Central Ohio neighborhoods have the worst soil. You can Google why our soil Reynoldsburg Magazine • Fall, 2020 is so hard but it won’t change anything. It will make it difficult to dig and plant beautiful flowers. The remedy? Add compost, such as Sweet Peet, or other natural ingredients, such as decayed leaves, to help break up the dense clay. 4. Water like a pro. Don’t mimic actors in a commercial spraying water all over the tops of their immaculate garden. That is wrong. Watering overhead introduces so many problems such as fungus, diseases, bug issues, you name it. Water at ground level to ensure the plant is actually receiving the water and not just running off. Using a long wand hose extension to s ave you from getting a backache, too. (Side note: tropical indoor plants benefit from occasional overhead watering or spritzing water on their leaves.) 5. Right plant, right place:. We’ve all done it. Bought a plant because it was soooo pretty or just a cool plant you’ve never seen before. But then you get home and realize you don’t know where it fits best into your garden. Or, worse, it’s not hardy in Ohio. Plant tags have a wealth of information on them - from what sunlight conditions it needs to how tall it will be at maturity. Be informed. Gardening and gardens are ever changing and never complete. Treat them like dieting...once you’ve lost the weight you have to maintain the health habits otherwise you’re back to square one. Bee Fisher Kocher is a Reynoldsburg resident and has been a frequent contributor to Reynoldsburg Magazine. 17
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