Determining Your Gardening Style – Part 2
In my last post, Determining Your Gardening Style - Part 1, we looked at defining gardening styles:
1. The Romantic Gardner
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| Definitely the Romantic Side of Gardening |
2. The Busy Gardner
3. The Novice Gardner
4. The Intermediate Gardner
5. The Expert Gardner
Do you know what style of
gardener you are? If not, let's start
with some questions to get those green thumb juices running:
1. How much time do you have each
day to dedicate to gardening? Do you
want to spend an hour each day? Or 10
minutes per day? Be realistic. What time do you really want to spend on
gardening and how much time do you really have.
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| Another garden shot - Hanging Pot in Background - 2012 |
If you have less than 30
minutes a day, you are likely a Romantic and/or Busy Gardener. Nothing wrong with that! Now we know a lot about what type of garden
you should have! For these two styles of
gardeners, it is recommended that you focus on container gardening. (more on
that in my next blog)
If you have more time to spend on gardening ask yourself these
questions:
2. Where do you live? What might seem like a trivial question, is actually the most important one when gardening. Here are the pieces of information that you
need to consider about your geography:
a. What zone do you live in? North America
is divided up into 12 different “hardiness” zones and each zone is further
subdivided into “a” and “b”. When
considering perennials for example, you must know your zone so that you can
chose plants that will survive “your” winter.
Once you know this, you can choose your plants with a much greater level
of confidence! More information on
hardiness zones can be found at Hardiness Zone Information
b. Do you live in an apartment
with a balcony or terrace? Or, do you live in a rented house? Or, do you live
in a detached house with your own yard?
In other words, how much space do you have to garden?
3. What direction does your space
available for gardening face? In other
words, how much light do you get?
4.
If you are planning on planting in an actual garden plot, do you know
what type of soil you have? Is it
clay-based? Is it sand-like? Understanding your soil composition will
ensure that you are able to garden with success. If you have clay soil, you will want to amend
it with peat moss for example.
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| Lilies from my garden - 2012 |
5. What do you want to
achieve from your gardening? Do you want
to have vegetables that you can share with family and friends? Do you want vegetables that you can consume
immediately? Do you want to can your vegetables for use over the winter? Or, do you just want some flowers for your
table and/or your terrace?
6. Do you travel often? If so, do you have someone who can care for
your garden or plants while you are away?
Now that you have answered these questions,
we can determine what three remaining Gardening Styles you fall within and how
you can make your gardening experience a good one.
