How to Create a Garden
Introduction: How to Create a Garden
My name is Ben Arnold and I am a high school junior who created an initiative called Seed to Salad to create gardens for local non-profit organizations in Miami, FL. After discovering my own love for gardening, I wanted to help others find their own path to a new sustainable future by helping them create their own gardens. Scientific studies have found gardening to be beneficial to our lives in so many ways, such as improving self-confidence and teamwork skills and reducing stress/anxiety. But, I noticed there was a problem. There were no practical, comprehensive instructions to help beginners get started on a garden. In this Instructable, I will teach you how to make a garden so it will be hassle-free for you. If you have a black thumb, you should at least be a yellow thumb by the end of this.
Supplies
Garden Box:
Home Depot wood box
Fabric pots
Soil
Cardboard or weed fabric
Watering system:
Rain Bird watering timer
Drip irrigation
Hose
Nutrition:
Liquid kelp
Fish emulsion
Black Kow brand manure
Dry fertilizer (will be available at your local nursery)
Plants and soil:
Plants (dependent on what's available at your local nursery)
Soil (dependent on what's available)
Pest deterrents:
Neem Oil
BT
Extras:
Moisture + PH sensor
Moisture sensor only
Trellis
Snippers
Spray bottle
Step 1: Commitment
When planning a garden, you have to be willing to commit the time to maintain it. Your garden will be like a pet, except instead of the joy you get from owning and taking care of a pet, you will receive delicious food in return. I am sure we all have busy lives, so this Instructable will teach you how to set up a garden in order to get growing and eating those delicious fruits and vegetables as soon as possible.
Step 2: Location and Planning
First, you will need to decide on your location. A garden needs at least 8 hours of sun. 389
Make sure that there are no trees casting shade over your chosen spot to prevent sufficient sunlight, and check it multiple times throughout the day before you make that final decision on where to start planting.
Step 3: Base
There are many different bases you can choose from - reclaimed wood, bricks, woven pots, or even in ground beds. If you are feeling savvy enough to make the bed yourself from wood or concrete pavers, you can look at other Instructables for info on how to do this.
Bed:
Depending on your age or back condition, you might want to settle for a raised garden bed for easier access. But, this can limit the types of plants you grow to those with less height.
Wood:
If you want to make it out of wood, then I recommend using Cedar, due to its longevity.
* You have to make sure that it is not stained with chemicals because that can leach into the soil. You can choose to make it by yourself or use a kit. There are a multitude of different kits that you can use, but I recommend Home Depot, as they are easy and decently priced.
Pots:
Fabric pots are great because they prevent circling roots and allow you to move your garden if need be.
Inground garden:
While this is the cheapest option, it is the most labor intensive. Depending on where you live, you have to make sure you can easily dig deep into the soil. For example, in South Florida where I live, the first 5 inches or so from the surface is made out of hard limestone, which is not ideal.
Size:
When you are starting a garden for the first time, you should start small. So I recommend that you should either use a 4x4 or 4x8 foot bed.
Step 4: Soil
Soil is the most important component of the garden!!!!
If you are going to invest your money into a garden, you have to invest in high quality, organic nutrient-rich soil. This is the key to a successful garden.
How do you determine good quality soil?
Soil should crumble like your mom's fresh-baked cookies. I am serious - it should be just like the crumbs of a cookie.
Don't compact it! You want your soil to be nice and fluffy so that it allows the plant's roots to take in oxygen and expand quickly.
When picking out the soil at your big box gardening store or your local nursery, try to feel the soil or the outside of the bag to make sure the soil is fine with no large sticks and pieces of wood. This can be very hard to tell, but it's very important, so ask an employee for help. 389