When it comes to gardening, we have so many things to think about.
Gardening is a skill that can be both time-consuming and stressful, but it can be made much easier if you follow some basic tips.
Apartment gardening, though, can be even more confusing than you may have first assumed!
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Apartment Gardening for Beginners
In a bid to help you make apartment gardening for beginners a less trying experience, we’ve put together a list of useful ideas to think about.
Keep these in mind, and you should find it much easier to make your apartment garden successful long-term.
Start with new tools
Before doing anything else, though, we highly recommend you invest in some good quality tools. You can find that tools need to be in good condition to allow for the best experience.
Don’t use those old rusty tools that you found in a lock-up; use new tools for the best results and the greatest promise of consistency.
There are some great urban gardening books out there that show you the exact tools you’ll need.
Make use of rolling shelves
First off, make use of a rolling shelving system. This makes sense because it will allow you to move your plants around the property easier.
It will also ensure that as your plants grow and might need more/less room than before that you can adjust.
Always factor in the humidity
Apartment gardening has to take into account the importance of humidity. Humidity can often play a major role in ruining the planting conditions that you thought were perfect.
The temperature indoors and outdoors has to be spot on if you want your gardening to be just right, so consider this part of the equation closely.
Invest in the right soil
A major beginner error for rookie gardeners is to invest in the wrong kind of soil. You should be looking for soil that comes with the right pH level based on the plant(s) you are growing.
Always research the plants before you do anything else, as this can reveal some pretty interesting insights.
Set a watering schedule
Time can become a hard thing to judge and stick to, but do your best to have a watering schedule.
So long as you can stick to it nine times out of ten, it should be more than good enough to keep things moving forward. Adjust your schedule to suit the individual needs of each plant, too.
Utilise various planters
Part of the fun of being indoors is being able to add some color and charm to the apartment with your gardening. So, try and use various planters – various colors, styles, shapes, and styles should be recommended.
For example, macrame planters make a unique addition that looks good and really adds energy and invention when needed. See this selection of hanging plant holders we have looked at previously on this blog.
Focus on high-traffic rooms
Apartment gardening should be focused on the rooms where you are most prevalent.
This is because plants can act as a natural form of air purification, allowing you to quickly and easily focus on the high traffic areas in the property.
This will minimize the risk of your rooms lacking the air quality we require indoors.
Don’t settle for horizontal planting
The best thing you can do with apartment gardening is to use both vertical and horizontal spacing. Those familiar with container gardening techniques will know how much you can do with a small space.
This not only adds variety to the shapes on display, but it can help to add some individual charm and character that was otherwise missing with your plant layout, helping to add to the charisma of the room.
Invest in subscriptions
Part of apartment gardening that can become confusing is choosing the right kind of plants and products.
We recommend you use a gardening subscription service – many exist both nationwide and worldwide – that sends you various seeds and plants to work with.
It’s excellent for creating greater variety than you might know of.
Consider seed sheets
Another way to simplify apartment gardening is to invest in some seed sheets. These give you specific plants and products which are made with a very specific process and purpose.
These allow for easier plant development and growth, maximizing the quality that you get from your output when the time comes to see what you have produced.
Focus on high-sun areas
For many apartments, the decision that you make is going to be driven mostly by where your property is seeing the most sun.
Look for areas where the sun is going to get to the plants and give them the depth and level of light that they need to thrive, maximizing the vitality of each plant.
Use your windowsills
Another useful place to start when looking at places to get plants on is the windowsill.
This is an obvious starting place for many, but some avoid them as they worry it’ll be too warm and/or cramped.
Use these areas to make sure your apartment looks fresh but also maximizes space usage and lighting.
See this list of window sill plant shelves that will give you some great ideas on how you can brighten up your home with minimum space.
Focus on temperature, too
A common mistake for a lot of people is to focus on the temperature too much. Temperature can kill a plant and it can make it hard for it to grow and to be its best, so keep that in mind.
The more that you can do to both get balanced temperatures and avoid fluctuation, the better.
Artificial heating counts, too
Speaking of heating – you should focus on making sure that you don’t use any artificial heating sources near your plants.
Things like heaters can lead to the plants becoming needlessly warm, forcing them into evasive action that could run the risk of harming the plant.
Consider that before you do anything else, as the heat sources have to be adapted to.
Think about access
Lastly, make sure that your apartment garden can be easily reached and accessed from various areas in the household.
This will ensure that you can get to each plant and give them the individual time, treatment, and care that they need.
Apartment Gardening Ideas: What’s next?
Now that you have a rough idea of how apartment gardening for beginners should work, it’s time to make some important calls.
Without some of the benefits of a community garden, apartment gardening can be a confusing and exhausting experience if you are not sure what you are doing.
This guide, though, should give you some useful tips to avoid some of the most damaging mistakes that people might make.
Apartment gardening can become a nightmare, but it’s not something you should overly worry about if you follow the tips and tricks laid out in this guide.
Start small, work on it as you go, and you’ll start to see genuine progress in the short and medium-term!
See these versatile wall planters which can help you to make the most of any free space you may not have thought of before in your apartment.
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