Different Types of Gardens and How to Promote Growth

While there are hundreds of different garden types most boil down to one of the following three basic types: Flower or landscaping, herb, or vegetable. In other words, gardens are either there for decorative purposes, or to grow food. The following is a look at three things you can do for each garden type to help promote growth:

Flower garden

Separate bulbs in the fall: If you have flowers that are bulbs, like tulips, it is important that you give them a chance to grow properly. Each fall, dig up your bulbs, and then separate them before replanting. This makes them stronger, healthier, and gives you more flowers each year. Just be careful to store them properly during the winter, or they may mold, and become worthless to you.

Proper lighting: Flowers vary significantly in how much direct sunlight they need. Be sure that you plant your flowers in your yard in the locations that best suit the flower types. A tulip, for example, will not bloom unless it gets several hours of consistent sunshine. So, don’t plant them in shaded areas, or you won’t get much color.

Proper watering: One of the beautiful things about flowers is that they are much like a weed, and can grow even when crowded, so spacing and other things are not as much of a concern. However, water is. Without sufficient water, flowers will wither and die away quickly.

Herb garden

Portability: Herbs often need very specific conditions to thrive. It is far easier to get these conditions right when the herbs can be moved. This way they can be placed in the sun when they need to be, and removed when they don’t. Location is one of the key factors to successful herb growth, so planting in a pot helps you overcome other location obstacles.

Misters: Most herbs require water frequently, however only in small quantities. A great way to promote growth is to set up misters on a timer so that they get what they need without being drowned.

Instructions for specific herbs: Herbs are not hard to grow if you know what they need, so look up instructions for the specific herb you are growing, and follow them carefully.

Vegetable garden

Sunlight: Most plants that grow vegetables or produce require about 6 or more hours of sunlight a day. So, plant your vegetable garden in a spot that will be able to get that much sunlight.

Weed stoppers: If you want to promote vegetable garden growth, you have to inhibit weed growth. Consider using plastic or mesh barriers to help eliminate weeds, and protect your vegetable plants from being over run by them.

Space: Most plants in a vegetable garden need sufficient space to grow. If you plant pumpkins by peppers, the pepper plants, which tend to remain quite small, will likely be over run by the squash and not get enough light or soil nutrients, so spread them out.