Gardening tips that will grow on you

Backyard gardening is a great way to grow your own delicious and fresh food, while also benefiting from a beautiful landscape. 

Jon Michaud from Rough Bark Acres, a greenhouse in Weyburn, said that if you're brand new to gardening, growing vegetables is a good place to start, specifically tomatoes and peppers.

"Vegetables are kind of hardy, they're strong, and there's also a better reward when you grow them, right, especially with the price of produce right now, and just the fact that they also taste a lot different when they're grown in dirt and in the real sun. Your reward is good and vegetables are a bit on the easier side to grow."

Michaud said that seeds can also be replanted.

"If you're paying attention there, you can get those seeds and save yourself a whole pile of money. Just always check the seed packet and look at the date that it's going to produce until. Because sometimes you just might run out of time unless you set them in advance."

Michaud added that from there, you can just keep trying new things and get better and better at it.

"If you get a bedding plant that's started, that's good. If you started your own from seed, which a lot are doing, just make sure that you're watching that they get enough sun and don't get too leggy, or looking for the sun too much, especially if you start them too soon."

Petunias are an easy flower to start out with, Michaud said, especially the wave petunias.

Sophistica lime green petunia. Photo courtesy of Jon Michaud from Rough Bark Acres.

"They're the easiest. They need the lowest maintenance and they can take some drought, they can take some abuse, they can take some wind. If they get a little bit rough in the middle of the year, you can prune them back and they'll always come back."

Michaud said that watering your garden is very important.

"I think it's the biggest mistake made, and I think it's the most important thing. If there's not enough water, it will wilt, I mean it needs water to survive, right? But I think the worst thing is too much water. The roots get too wet, and also your dirt will get too wet and the roots will either get rotten or they'll have a hard time getting to where they need to go to get the nutrients they're looking for."

"My rule of thumb always is let them dry out a little bit on the top. Instead of watering a little bit all the time, you're better off to just let them dry out a little bit and give them a thorough watering. Then the water goes right through the pot so the top gets wet, and more importantly, you're ensuring the bottom gets wet and gets brand new water. So water a little less often, but a lot when you do."

Violet and yellow easy wave petunias. Photo courtesy of Jon Michaud from Rough Bark Acres.

Fertilizing your garden is also key, said Michaud.

"I think if you start with a a good dirt base and you have a good watering practice, with fertilizer being so expensive, you really don't need it as much or any at all if you do, because if you start with that, you'll be fine. You're going to fertilize at least once a month in the summer, give them one good shot of fertilizer. Again, a good watering with that blue water and then let them go and if you have small pots like hanging pots and stuff like that, maybe twice a month for fertilizer because there's not as much dirt in those and they might need a little bit more nutrients."

When you're deciding where to plant your garden outside, Michaud said it's a good idea to look at your seed packet if you're growing by seed. If you're buying a bedding plant, look at the tag and the tag will tell you what it will tolerate.

"It will tell you drought resistance, or needs lots of water, it will tell you full sun, partial sun, or shade, and you should hit those because it's going to make a big difference. If you try to grow a plant that needs full sun in the shade, it will get long and leggy and not do well, and the opposite will happen as well if you plant a full shade plant in the sun, it will burn."

"So pay attention to those things and know your south window from your north window, or your south of the house to the north of the house, east of the house, west of the house. Learn where your light is coming from, and they all have it on the back of the seed packet or the back of the tag on the bedding plant, it will let you know what plant you should put where."

Michaud said if you're trying to decide whether you should start indoors or outdoors with your plants, it's more ideal to start outside.

"I mean, if you have a house plant, that's fine, that's easy, you can learn that. If you want to have flowers or vegetables, to me you can start inside, you can get them going. Light is everything, a south window sometimes won't even be enough light for some of those vegetables not to get too leggy. But I mean, if you can get just a fluorescent light or any light will help them also stay shorter and greener."

"I mean, always outside, it's Mother Nature, right? They like the real sun. They like the real air and they just do better outside."

Michaud added that as you go, you'll learn. "You'll learn that this one didn't work well here, and you'll learn that 'Oh, I should have probably gotten a semi-shade one or a semi-sun one or a full-sun one.' You just get better at it."