National Gardening Day: Tips & Tricks from TextNow

As the snow started melting and the first flowers bloomed, we've talked about spring cleaning (even when it comes to your phone) and budgeting , but today we're actually here for National Gardening Day! To celebrate, we've not only come up with a list of the basics to gardening for all experience levels but we've also asked some experts at TextNow to provide some of their own pieces of advice and pictures of their own impressive horticulture masterpieces. Check them out below.

The Basics to Gardening

It's never too late to start with the whole gardening thing. The most intimidating thing about cultivating a garden is starting, or figuring out where to start. The first step you need to conquer is deciding what you'd like to grow and where you should grow it.

The options are endless, but to get the wheels turning, we've found a few questions to ask yourself: Do you want to grow your plants indoors? Or your favorite flowers outdoors? Do you want a vegetable garden? Or a pollination garden? It's very important to put in the time to research the plant(s) before you make the decision to purchase or grow.

• Do you want to buy from seeds and start from scratch or transplant sprouted potted plants?

• Fruits/ veggies and herbs are some of the easiest plants to start from scratch
• Buying potted plants and transplanting them into the pot or garden you desire is also an easier option for most other plants

• Do your plants grow during a specific time of the year?
• Knowing the growing season or the time of year the weather and temperature allow different plants to grow is important

• Are these plants going to come back organically (Perennials) or do you need to re-plant them yearly (Annuals)?
• Perennials: plants or flowers that live through several growing seasons after blooming on their own.
• Annuals: flowers or plants that live through only one growing season before producing seeds and expiring.

• Make sure you know what kind of sun your plant likes

• Direct sun, indirect sun, shade, or a mixture of different sun types

• Know how often the plant likes to be watered and know what kind of soil the plant needs
• Type of soil and how much water a plant needs do play off of one another and both depend on the type of plant

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Tips For Gardening Success ---  from TextNow gardening experts David and Maria

‍"The biggest thing you can do for success is: Plan Ahead"

By planning ahead, you can decide what you want to grow --- Different plants have different requirements. Give yourself time to research what each plant needs.  When should these be planted or started from seed? Depending on your climate, many plants will die if you put them out too early. Check when the last frost date is in your area, and wait about a week after that. Where should they be planted? Find the right spot in your yard by watching where the sun shines at different times for a couple days. You may need time to prepare a garden bed, clear a space, or add soil and compost. If you buy vegetables at the nursery without a place to put them, they may not survive until the space is ready! Finally, don't just plan ahead for this year, but plan ahead for next year too!  Take notes on what you liked and didn't like, what vegetables tasted great and which flowers bloomed the longest. Keep track of the milestones in your garden like planting and harvesting so you don't make the same mistakes every year." -- David

"The next most important tip for success is to be patient. People get ambitious about gardening but they don't always like waiting for the right weather, season, spot, etc and end up paying for plants that die or seeds that don't end up growing. If the experts says don't plant your herbs/flowers until AFTER the last frost, then listen to them! The last thing you want is to spend some back breaking afternoons planting only for them to all die in some freak May snowstorm." -- Maria

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And there you have it. Whether you've taken up gardening as a hobby or you're an experienced advanced gardener - the most important things you need to know this National Gardening day is: plan ahead, do your research, and be patient! Let us know what your favorite plant to grow is in the comments below!