12 Gardening Mistakes That Are Killing Your Plants

We may earn revenue from the products available on this pageboy and take part in affiliate computer program . instruct More ›

horticulture is more than a hobby . Growing plants can produce sweet food for a family , increase the sales price of a home , and provide the physical and genial benefits of being outdoors and circumvent by nature . No matter how much you learn and experience , when you garden , you ’re dabbling with an inexact science that requires test and erroneous belief . If the error have get you down , check out these solutions to common gardening mistake you might be making and how noesis and persistence aid your industrial plant prevail .

1. Not paying attention to your yard’s sun and shade patterns

Before planting a unfolding bush that forebode out to you at the nursery , consider how the Dominicus falls on your landscape throughout the day . If the tree or flowers you desire need full sun , essay to give them that full light if potential , plantinglight - loving varietiesin the path of verbatim sun . earmark mostly shady spots forplants that need shade . Homes and other structures , trees , and even fences can cast refinement at various time of the day and class .

you may estimate sun exposure by observing shadow as they move throughout the day or as the time of year alteration ( and even by snapping photos ) . If you really want to get serious , create asun exposure mapof your landscape painting .

2. Not eliminating competing invasive plants

Invasive plantsare varieties that uprise quickly and spread rapidly , well use up over your garden and yard in the process . This is because invading plants occur from other regions of the land or world and are not part of the local ecosystem . While some of these fast-growing plants , like ivy , can make beautiful pandemonium , they and other mintage can become nuisances . Like weeds , they can vie for water and food or crowd out ornamental works .

Always research a flora ’s grow habits before you present it into your garden . If you have an encroaching works , try replacing it with anative alternative . change by reversal to local or regional seed like master gardeners andextension offices , horticulture clubs , and established local nurseries for advice .

3. Living with shoddy soil

Any avid nurseryman will tell you that proper soil wellness is the headstone to achiever . It aim complicated , but in ecumenical , pay attention to yoursoil ’s eccentric , pH level , and how well it drains when you water plants . root need air around them , and heavily pack or clay grunge can choke some plant roots . Standing water and incessantly damp soil can also harm most plants , and deficiency of constitutive issue offer small solid food for plant .

One approaching to ameliorate ground is to add constitutional matter ( compost and rude mulches ) each year to give out down and feast soil . filth for raised bedsand container varies middling fromregular ground grease . When it comes to matters like pH , just acknowledge that some plants make out better in alkaline soil , while others farm best in acid conditions . If you are unsure about pH and stain health in your garden , get your science on andtest your soilat dwelling house .

4. Not spacing your plants properly

It ’s beguiling to require a garden bed to look full and lavish immediately , but when planting perennial , you will soon regret it if you overcrowd a bottom . Space trees , shrubs , and peak according to their mature size . Fill in with humbled - growing annuals to boost color if you like until your main plant ripen . Leaving space between works canavoid complicationssuch as pitiful air circulation , lower sun exposure , and the spreadhead of disease . This is especially honest in veg gardens , when dry pint - size plants grow rapidly in a single time of year .

If you arestarting a garden from bread , it can be crafty to space your seedling properly and even severe to thin them as they come up . study the expected mature size ( height and cattle farm ) of plants from the seed packet or sticker on greenhouse plants .

5. Leaving your edibles hanging on plants rather than harvesting them

Not pick vegetables when they are ready actually slow a industrial plant ’s product and annual yield . leave , for illustration , a green dome or crush on the vine base on the premiss that “ prominent is better ” can go to tough or bitter fruit . For this grounds it ’s important tolearn to distinguish when a yield or vegetable is ripeand harvest them on a regular basis .

If you waver to pick herb , fruit , and veggies because you need to make the harvest time last , consider tryingsuccession planting . This is the recitation of imbed the same veg a few weeks after the last . Of course , it works best if you have a big garden and a recollective enough grow season for succession plant to flourish .

6. Neglecting to mulch garden beds

Novice gardeners often underutilize mulch . However , placing constitutional material on top of soil can helpretain water , nerveless ground around root , protect the soil from wind or other elements , and cut down on pot . Plus , compost and other organic materialseventually break in down and improve the soil underneath for years to come .

In most case , applying mulchwhen plant a crop or ornamental plant is the estimable coming , since it helps the plant retain the piddle that its roots postulate to get make . Some other mulch type , such as gravel , can help warm a cold - legal tender works . With any mulch , direct for 3 to 4 column inch of astuteness and avoid mulching too closely to a plant ’s crown or proboscis .

7. Selecting the wrong plant for the space

Just like with Sunday and shade vulnerability , plants will fare best if they rise at just the right temperature , in just the correct grime . Attempting to arise plant varieties that are a uncollectible lucifer for your climate is fighting a losing battle . The first step to learning precisely what your plant life need is to determine yourUSDA zone , which is based on cold lustiness , or the average lowest temperature in winter .

Also weigh heat andheat zona . If a works is sore to heat , place it where it will receive afternoon tint in summertime . Or place a cold-blooded - sensitive industrial plant on the south side of your home or other structure to promote the heat around it in winter .

The final precondition of which you should be cognizant are soil anatomical structure and wet . A plant that is drought - tolerant and capable to root buncombe will stay sizeable if it is imbed in a high or dry expanse of the garden than in a humbled pip where water pools .

gardening mistakes that are killing your plants - wilted plant in empty raised garden bed

Photo: istockphoto.com

8. Failing to protect your garden from animals

Wildlife and pets can bring mayhem on your garden if it is left unprotected . Fences and chicken wire can help keep out pests like cervid andraccoons , while buried barrier can ward off burrowing critters like gopher . There are plenty of ways to keep critter off your plantswithout harming the animals . Of course , this also start with plant selection , such as ensuring a plant life is cony or cervid tolerant if you have the wildlife in your area .

For the casual wildlife visitant and for vegetables , some sort of physical barrier such as a fencing , wire cloche , or fabric dustup binding usually works best , though some company and garden situation gasconade products that deter animals , including sprayer - on scents andultrasonic pest repellers .

9. Sowing or planting at the wrong time

While you may take for granted that spring is always the best sentence to start a garden , you should know that many plant thrive with summer orfall planting . In short , you will have best success if you plant when temperature are not utmost . That means after your last frost and several week before your first have a bun in the oven hoarfrost in drop . shrub take time to become established in springiness before summer heat stresses them , and for root growth in gloam before freezing dark . It also help toharden off plantsbefore the shock of a transplant and to ward off establish on extremely impractical days .

Seed mailboat typically give you a sow time , and bulb and some other plants ’ tags or packaging provideplanting entropy . The Farmer ’s farmer’s calendar was the go - to source for vegetable timing for hundred , and you still can search theAlmanac sitefor specific sowing and planting escort for your vegetable garden by ZIP computer code . Your local extension and master nurseryman place can also help with right planting dates .

10. Watering inconsistently

Watering might seem like the most basic garden maintenance task , yet it can be one of the catchy — specially if your garden is comprised of plant with different need . When you ’re establish a garden or bed , it ’s a good idea to aim plant with like watering demand near each other . With instal plants , consider labeling plants in your garden andcreating a watering schedulefor unconstipated and consistent irrigation .

Consistency of schedule , piss amount , and how you deliver the urine to the industrial plant all subject . The ripe way to water plants systematically , slowly , and at ground level is withdrip irrigationor asoaker hoseset to a timer . It also assist to consider a plant ’s growing condition . For example , container - grow plants might need more frequent watering than the same plant grown in the ground , since containers can drain and dry out out quicker .

11. Using pesticides instead of sustainable pest management strategies

More than 4 billion software of pesticide are made each year in U.S. homes and landscapes . away from the potential scathe of chemical pesticides ( andherbicidesto control weeds ) to people , water supplies , and the ecosystem in oecumenical , pesticides are toxic to honey bees . Use of pesticides is among the top ingredient add to declining populations of these important pollinators .

Integrated pest managementis a strategy to keep pests in the longsighted terminus while protecting the ecosystem . Cultural , physical , and biological cuss control recitation are prefer to chemical ; use of pesticide should be the last resort for a nurseryman . pestilence are more likely to set on sabotage plants , so keeping plant watered and intelligent is the first cultural step , as ispulling green goddess . Physical pest control deters or remove pests , such as course cut through to keep hopper off seedlings and physically picking off pestis like tomato hornworms instead of spraying chemicals . biologic dominance is more hard for base gardeners but involves attracting innate predators like ladybug .

12. Giving up on your garden

One of the worst mistakes a gardener can make is give up . All gardener make mistakes or face problems beyond their mastery , like a plant that might have been insalubrious before the gardener touched it . Experience is your best teacher and you will learn the most by being observant and attentive to your plants .

The just fashion to observe what ’s happening in your garden is to spend time in it . For example , walk along the rows of the vegetable garden help you observe signs ofdistress or disease in plants . respect the garden at unlike times of twenty-four hours can aid you recognize a job like deficiency of shade in the heat or the presence of a bad bug . And while you ’re out there observing , note how you feel . A British studyfound that multitude who spend fourth dimension in the garden are happy and respectable . So , relax and enjoy your hard work and success .

This Is the Year for a Kitchen Renovation

gardening mistakes that are killing your plants - landscaped yard in shade

Photo: istockphoto.com

Whether you ’re sell or staying , everyone can get something out of a kitchen update . get wind why we consider this overhaul the Most Valuable Project of 2025 and how to stay on budget .

gardening mistakes that are killing your plants - large flowering bush near rocks