Get to know your Garden

Getting to know your garden is a key starting point for any gardener whether you have a small garden, an allotment for growing produce or have a large landscaped garden. The soil and climate of the garden are a very important aspect of getting the best out of the land that you have.

Within your garden plot you will have various climatic factors that will affect the plants that you decide to put in the garden. It depend greatly on the position or location of the garden. Light plays an important role as sunlight provides the energy needed for all plants, but there are different levels of light that suit the various plants that you can choose from. The temperature of heat of a garden throughout the year can affect the way plants grow. Also depending how much shelter the garden gets from fences or natural barriers such as trees, wind plays an important role. Delicate summer flowers for instance will not survive or thrive in a windy area of the garden whereas plants that are primarily from windy regions will do best. All plants require moisture to grow but as with all climatical aspects some plants require a lot of moisture while other such as grasses need very little.

The soil in which the plant grows also affects the health of the plant. Every garden in different regions will have different soil types ranging from soil that is thick and clay based through to sandy, silty, peaty or chalky soil. There is no ideal soil especially when you are needing to have a variety of plants in your garden but any good garden centre will be able to recommend a range of plants suited to your soil. Another soil influence over the choice of plants that are best suited to your garden is the ph of the soil. The soil can either be acid, alkaline or neutral in it’s ph. Plants will grow best in the soil that is the right balance.