$aving Money Through Backyard Gardening
A cool way to save money, connect with nature while spending time with family is to start a backyard garden that has so many benefits. Many homeowners are ripping out some of their flower beds as beautiful as they are and as painful as this may seem to install gardens such as vegetables, herbs, and fruit trees.
Backyard gardens in this respect have become popular as many weekend warriors are taking advantage of these types of gardens because it is a win-win situation that is worth the investment.
As a kid growing up backyard gardens were so popular but with the passing of time these gardens had disappeared and were replaced with flower and ornamental gardens but in this day and time, there has been a resurgence as many homeowners have taken an interest in growing their food crops.
Advantages of starting a backyard garden
If you believe that starting a backyard garden is not that important then continue reading to find out what you are missing out on.
1. $ave money by growing your own food crops.
2. Getting that much-needed exercise.
3. Spending time with your family strengthening that bond.
4. Growing your food crops safely by growing organics.
5. No need to worry about chemically grown food crops.
6. These types of gardens can be great for kids as you teach them about the importance of sustaining one’s self and also the different food groups such as vegetables, herbs, and fruits.
7. A continual supply of food crops.
8. Can help to relieve stress.
9. Can improve mental health.
10. Eat fresh from your garden.
11. Having a sense of pride
What do you think can you now see the benefits of having a backyard garden? The advantages are truly amazing.
Backyard gardening
For the beginner, this may be rather confusing but trust me it is not and you will have so much fun engaging in this activity. In the category section of this website, I have included several posts for the beginner garden that you will find to be most helpful so check it out it will be worth your time.
What you will need to know?
Here is a list of things you will need to know in order to have a successful backyard garden.
1. What type of garden do you want to construct?
2. Location of your garden.
3. The amount of space you have to work with.
4. Type soil for growing your garden.
5. Having some knowledge of plants to be installed example water requirements, fertilizers, pest, and disease issues. Let’s go down this list as we look at each of these requirements individually.
6. The number of plants to install.
What type of garden do you want to construct?
This question is the first step in the right direction. Decide on what you want or it could be a combination let’s say of a vegetable and herb garden. If this is the case then what that means is you will need that little extra space to ensure sufficient space for both gardens.
Each garden should have its individual beds or if there is just sufficient space for only one bed but you really want a combination then you can let’s say install your veggies directly into the ground and your herbs can be planted in containers that way you have both gardens which I believe is so cool.
Location
This is so important in the life of a plant and in order for you to have garden success, Some plants love full to medium sunlight while other plants love medium to low light,
In the case of growing herbs, veggies, or fruits these garden crops require between 5-8 hours of sunlight so make sure the area that is chosen gets this amount of sunlight.
The amount of space
I know that we touch on this a bit earlier but another suggestion is to make your entire backyard a food crop garden and to make the front of your yard into a flower garden again this is a win-win situation which I think is great but then the choice is still what you want. There are just so many ways to go about this with much success.
Type of soil for growing your crops
This is a big one because many garden failures have come about because of installing a garden in the wrong soil type. There are different type soils as well as plants which have their soil requirements. Having a soil ph test done is so important in having success.
The good news is if planting a herb garden the soil type is the same, as well as with a veggie garden the seem is true. I don’t want you to overthink this or make it sound complicated. For more on soils and soil, ph click on these links. Soil ph, Starting a compost pile, Composting indoors, Organic soil mix, Best soil amendments, and Feeding soil microbes.
Plant Knowledge
No matter what we do no matter what field of choice we can all agree that knowledge is something which we all need in order to have success. When it comes to garden plants knowledge is a requirement that is most needed.
Having a knowledge of your food crops is important because this makes a big difference in the success of your garden. Get to know the individual names of your food crop and what is required to grow them. Your nurseryman is a good source of information. I have included this link that gives some insight into some garden herbs (how to grow herbs) you may want to plant.
Garden Insect Pests
Whether working in residential or commercial properties as gardeners we are all too familiar with garden insect pests which can really do much damage to our food crops. I have seen these insect pests in many garden projects that I worked on which was not good because of the amount of destruction they cause.
Identifying these garden insects pest and knowing how to eliminate them is so important. Here are several links that can help you to win the war on garden insect pests. How to use insecticidal soaps, Homemade remedies for garden pests, Garden snails and slug Insect pests, Organic insect control, Garden pest, and pest control methods. These are just a few ways to eliminate garden pests.
Plant Diseases
Plant disease is another factor to consider when seeking to reap a good harvest. These diseases are brought on by overwatering, a combination of heat and moisture exposure, using garden tools that are not sterilized, and so on for more on plant disease and how to bring about control-click on these links. Plant disease and Control. Fungicides and their many uses.
The number of plants to install
This so important because all garden food crops need sufficient space to grow. If garden plants are planted too closely this will contribute to poor air circulation which encourages disease also planting to close will make your garden cluster looking disorganized so give sufficient spacing.
When choosing plants ask your garden nurseryman about the proper spacing of plants and the size of plants at maturity. This will go a long way in ensuring garden success.
Having a sense of pride
There is nothing like reaping a harvest of your labor. Just to stand back and to see what both you and your family have accomplished gives such a sense of pride knowing that you grew these garden food crops with your very own hand. This is an awesome experience which gives such a good feeling.
The Final word
Having a backyard garden is so rewarding as you have seen. These gardens offer so many benefits. Join the many home gardeners from around the world and have a garden of your own you can be proud of. This is the way to go in this day and time especially when food safety is so important. With that said let’s get started on that garden.
About the author
Norman loves being in the garden, both at home and for his job....
he is 'Natures Little helper' being outdoors, growing his vegetables and flowers from an early age.
Now having spent over 22 years in the profession he want to give some of his knowledge to others...
his vast array of hints and tips you will find scattered over this site will help you no end growing plants in your garden.
I enjoyed this article. Every year I plan on having a garden in the backyard, but a lot of times I don’t go through with it. My wife’s grandfather used to bring us buckets of buckets of tomatoes that made the take from my little garden look silly, but after he passed, I find myself wishing for some good homegrown stuff again. Maybe I’ll get this going for next year. I always used to have a problem with the deer eating my veggies though. Any suggestions on how to keep them out without hurting them?
Hello so nice to meet you and so sorry to hear about your wifes grandfather. Having a backyard garden is really amazing so I want yo to go for it. As far as keeping deers away you can install motion sensor spriklers, using deer repellent that can be purchased from your garden center, Install deer resistant plants, Put up a fence. These are few you can try. Please let me know how it goes. All the best of success and have a good day.
My Dad was a huge backyard gardener, he believed in us eating healthy. This was many years ago, the great thing was there were not as many Indian herbs available in stores, but since my Dad gardened we always had access to them.
The containers is really good idea, ‘n not really into gardening, but could use containers to sit on my balcony. I’ve seen that as being very popular.
What do you think about growing a garden in containers without the need to re-implant into the ground?
Hello so happy to hear from you and thanks so much for sharing your story. I think that container gardensare pretty amazing and you such go for it. Here are a few post that may give some ideas. https://gardenofedengardencent…
https://gardenofedengardencent… https://gardenofedengardencent… https://gardenofedengardencent…
I can definitely see the benefits to having a back yard garden! There are so many advantages, I’m surprised that not more people have one. Unfortunately, in my case, the backyard garden is a balcony (live in an apartment). I’m thinking of growing some herbs out there or maybe some cherry tomatoes or some other smaller vegetable. Do you perhaps have any idea which plants would work best on a balcony? It does get sufficient sunlight 🙂
Hello so happy to hear from you. Backyard gardening’s really amazing. As long as you are getting sufficient sunlight lets say 5-6 hours you can plant rosemary, chives, basil, garlic, tomatoes. Here is a post that I wrote on container grown tomatoes and indoor edible plants. Please let me know how it goes and wishing you the best of success.
https://gardenofedengardencent…
https://gardenofedengardencent…
Finally something refreshing. I love gardening. Although it has been years after I left my homeland gardening was a daily routine back home. Where I am now doesn’t have a backyard and it makes me long for my home that I left. Fresh veggies and fruits taste way better than what we buy from the stores, not to mention that it’s free. This is a great topic. I love it.
Hello so happy that I could help and it is good to have such wonderful memories. Backyard gardening is really amazing and has lots of benefits. Hopefully you my want to consider starting a container garden. I have wrote several post on this topic so feel free to have a look around on my website and please let me know how it goes. All the best to you.
Hi Norman,
Thank you so much for posting this article. I really enjoyed reading it! I have honestly never looked at gardening like this before. I had no idea that it has THIS MANY advantages!!! The only thing that I thought was good about gardening is that you get fresh food. You really inspired me to get into gardening.
Keep up the great work!
Hello Ios I am so happy that I could help. All the best of success and please let me know how your garden project go. Have a good day.
This is great advice for people with a back yard. There isn’t much better than fresh vegetables. However I live in an apartment. Do you have any good suggestions for apartment living and gardening? Maybe you could write an article about this. I can guarantee there would be a lot of people interested. I have heard about community gardens. DO you know anything about these? I am looking forward to some answers. Great info, thank you.
Hello, Dale so good to see you and thanks so much for commenting. Backyard gardening is really amazing and offers so much benefits. For person like your self that lives in a apartment I have included these links. Please let me know how it goes. All the best of success and have a good day.
https://gardenofedengardencent… https://gardenofedengardencent…
https://gardenofedengardencent… https://gardenofedengardencent…
https://gardenofedengardencent…
Hi
Love this article, I wanted to see what you point of view was after reading another one of your amazing articles on plants that remove toxins from the soil.
I can say proudly that I am one of the privileged because i have grown up with my Father growing our vegetables in the backyard. From pumpkin, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, Rosemary, Thyme, mint, apples, pears, plums and I could go on.
We also have family and friends that grow theirs in allotments so we never run out of what they call now organic fruit and vegetables.
So reading you detailed, helpful and informative article was a treat to know that you are encouraging others to do the same.
I will be sharing this article on social media to help spread the word.
Thank you
Jennifer
Hello Jennifer so happy to hear from you again and a million thanks for your kind words and helping me spread this message on backyard gardening. It is good to see that you are no stranger to what I am taking about so you know the benefits of these type gardens.
From what you have listed it seems like your family grew a lot of garden crops which is really amazing. Thanks so much for sharing, all the best of success to you and have a good day. Will stay in touch.
Hi, while reading your post I remembered that my grandpa has his own backyard garden, I was so happy whenever he took me there to help him out those are such beautiful memories 🙂 he died 8 years ago and no one continued to take care of his backyard. I have space, the same he used to use, I’ll really like to make that kind of happy memories with my one-year-old son but I have a question, how can I get the space free of cats? because there are a lot of cats around here who does their bussiness in the land and that will no be good for the plants 🙁
I always wanted to start my backyard gardening but my house is too small to create a garden. If I am building a small one, how deep is the soil supposed to be? I understand there are different type of soil and I was wondering whether different soil can impact the “nutrition value” of a plant? I hope you are able to advise me on which plant I should start with to increase success rate.
Hello so happy to hear from you. Starting a backyard garden is truly amazing and has its benefits. Soil ph do impact nutrient availablity so adjusting your soil ph to meet your palnts requriement is so important. To be success and growing a garden it depends on your knowledge of the plants you are chossing to install. I have a included a few links that can help with this.
https://gardenofedengardencent… https://gardenofedengardencent…
There is so much more information that can help just checkout the catergory section of my website Oh the depth of soil depends on what you are planting say that you are planting a herbor vegetable garden then the soil can be about 12 inches you may consider container gardenering I have also include a post on this. This is just one of a few on my website. Hope this help, all the best of success and have a good day.
https://gardenofedengardencent…
I am interested in this website, you have great post which can change people ‘s lives. Having backyard gardening is very important to people because as you showed it the benefits are limitless. When people grow for example the vegetables garden, they will save their money and they will be consuming fresh vegetables from the garden not from the market where they could meet dirtiness, vehicle pollution…
It also helps in teaching young ones to conserve the environment.
Backyard gardening is very important to all people
Hello, you are so right with what you said and I am so happy that I could help. Backyard gardening is really amazing and offers so many benefits. All the best to you and have a good day.
I grow my own herbs and I have recently wanted to try growing some vegetables, because I love to cook with fresh vegetables. I believe growing my own vegetables will help me same a lot of money in the long run. I have found your article very helpful in understanding on how to check the soil.
Thanks
-Dora
Hello so happy to hear that you are growing your own herbs and also considering to grow your own veggies. So happy that I could help and wishing you the best of success.
Wow what a brilliant idea to have a vegetable garden instead of a flower garden. Back in the days too, we had large farms only to cultivate crops. It was so fashionable at that at that time. And our garden was rather located in front of our home. I remember very vividly, the big leafy greens we always harvested and prepared at home, without having to go to the market. We had a section for spices and tomatoes too. LOL. I actually remember my dad always mixing his rice with fresh tomatoes harvested from the farm.
There was indeed a sense of pride with all the food we were able to cultivate, and above all, a feeling of security of knowing that you always had enough to eat. All you had to do, was go harvest some spices and vegetables, and in a couple of minutes, dinner is ready. Wow how I loved reading this post because it appeared you were writing my story.
My opinion about this article? An excellent write. Awesome article. Thanks for sharing.
Hello so nice to meet you and thanks so much for those very kind words. Backyard gardening is very amazing and has so many benefits. It is good to see that you have had this experience and can indentify with what I am talking about. It is my hope that more persons like yourself would get excited about turning a part of their green space in a garden where they can grow and harvest food crops. So happy that I could help. Wishing you the best of success and have a good day.