Gardening doesn't have to be complicated. learn how to start a garden from scratch with these simple steps.
Starting a garden and learning how to grow your own food, flowers or both, is easily one of the most rewarding things you can do. If you're new to gardening it can sometimes be confusing trying to figure out exactly where you should start. I'm here to tell you gardening doesn't have to be complicated. With a little bit of effort and some easy steps you can start a garden from scratch in no time!
Find the best space for your garden
This step is critical in having a garden that flourishes. Depending on what you plan on growing gardens tend to need a lot of sunlight (especially most vegetable gardens). Aim for an area that gets 6-8 hours per day.
You should also consider a space that can be protected from wildlife. I will never forget the time I caught a friendly deer who had jumped my (five foot) backyard fence, and was happily enjoying my tomato plants stalk and all! Fencing your garden is a great idea, especially if you live somewhere that undesirable animals might come and forage.
Prepare the garden space
There are a few steps you'll need to follow to start your garden from scratch. First ou will more than likely need to remove any grass, weeds or other debris that are currently in the space. You will then need to decide if you want to build a garden plot where you plant seed and plant starts right into the ground, or if you would prefer a raised bed garden. I personally do a combination of raised bed gardening and garden plot growing. They both have different benefits, but you can grow an excellent garden from scratch in either option.
Garden plot
If you are in a hurry, you can manually cut the grass out if you have sod like grass. If you have more time, like you are starting in the fall and plan to garden in the spring, I recommend the sheet mulch method. You will need newspaper )at least 3 sheets deep or cardboard to cover the space you want to build your garden in. You then add mulch, and compost to the top of the cardboard or newspaper. by the spring you will be able to direct sow or plant your seed starts right into your new garden plot.
Raised Bed Gardening
Raised vegetable garden beds can be a bit of work to build, but they make weeding, planting and harvesting a from scratch garden really easy. You can also use the square footage garden method easily in raised beds. First you will need to build the beds. I recommend covering the entire garden space either cardboard or landscaping fabric before placing the raised beds if you plan on using rock or chips between beds. If you want to continue to let grass grow between beds or just leave it as dirt that works too! Fill the beds with great garden soil and plant!
Decide what you want to grow
Now for the fun part! Deciding what you want to grow in your garden from scratch is so much fun! Research your current growing zone (I'm zone 7b). You can do this by visiting the USDA website. From there you will want to find plant varieties that do well in your region. You will also want to find out when your last typical frost date is.
For some great ideas on starting your garden from scratch and on a budget read my article here.