Tips for garden and orchard or kitchen garden
Useful tips for creating and caring for a garden, identifying the type of soil, the best way to fertilise the soil, irrigation techniques, eliminating weeds and pests, pruning plants and mowing the lawn.
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Find out all about lawn and garden care to become an expert:
Create your garden
A garden today should be useful, functional and pleasant. It has to consist of different elements such as the lawn, bushes, flowers, trees, etc.
Steps to create your garden
- Make a list of everything that needs to be provided for in our garden.
- Examine what physical elements are available to build the garden.
- Know the outer boundaries of our property in order to know the land we have available.
- Examine what the planting and sowing schedule will be.
- Draw a first plan (sketch) of our garden.
- Check the layout of paths, steps, stairs, dwarf walls and various installations.
- Build dwarf walls and walls, irrigation and electricity supply network installation, ponds, fountains or swimming pools.
- Prepare the surface of the soil needed to plant grass (10 to 30 cm, depending on the land). Perform earthworks with a shovel and wheelbarrow. Carry out staking, distributing and practical planting of plants.
- Create beds of perennials, annuals and grass. Plant bulbs.
- Perform finishing work and placement of garden accessories.
- Examine what the garden maintenance schedule will be.
The fertiliser of the soil
Whatever the type of soil in the garden, it is necessary to turn the soil every year by digging, so that the soil is clean at the start of each growing season.
The best times to sow grass are spring and autumn, when the earth is neither too dry nor too wet. It is not advisable to turn the earth if it is too wet, as this is detrimental to plants. To find out if the earth is in good condition, simply take some of it in your hands and check that it is loose, i.e., not compacted.
It can be fertilised at any time of the year, although autumn is the most suitable time, as from the beginning of September to mid-October the weather conditions are usually better. In spring, there is a risk of weeds proliferating, and in summer it is too hot.
Before starting to fertilise the soil, the first thing to do is to clean the terrain properly. To do this, we recommend applying Fertiberia Jardin "Herbicida Maleza" as it will eliminate weeds and existing vegetation, which will favour the establishment of the new lawn.
After a week and a half, when the product has already taken effect, prepare the soil with tillage. In this operation we turn the soil and loosen the surface layers, while at the same time the weeds cuttings are turned over and prepared for decomposition, which will add organic matter to the soil. Tilling will oxygenate and drain excess water from the soil. The earth should be fine and clump-free, with a spongy texture. This will also facilitate root growth.
The earth should then be raked to even out the surface. In this way, the soil is prepared for basal dressing, which is always carried out before planting grass. Afterwards, the fertilised area should be raked again to incorporate the fertiliser into the terrain.
We recommend applying a slow-release granular solid fertiliser that strengthens and stimulates the growth of seeds and young grasses. To do this, we will apply about 20-30 grams of "CespedPLUS Siembra y regeneración", per square metre. Fertiberia's range of slow-release fertilisers incorporates Methylene-Urea molecule technology, which supplies the plant with the nutrients it needs for germination, and then gradually releases the rest of the nutrients as the plant needs them for growth. In this way, we ensure that our fertiliser will be fully utilised by our lawn.
The earth
Before starting to create your garden, you need to know what kind of soil you have. To know this, we must bear in mind that the earth consists of a mixture of various elements. Depending on the percentage of each of these elements, it will have different characteristics. These elements are:
Note – Mixed-earth gardens that have two of the characteristics in common are most often found.
Sand
Formed by tiny pieces of weathered rock. It can be siliceous (greyish white) or calcareous (yellowish grey). Sand is rough to the touch and is the complete opposite of clayey soils.
More information
Where do we find it?
It is found in regions at the edge of the sea near dunes.
Which plants grow well in this earth?
Siliceous sand
- Flowers: amaranth, azaleas, camellias, nasturtiums, mimosas, verbenas, yuccas and all bulb flowers (tulips, daffodils, gladiolus, lilies, hyacinths, etc.).
- Vegetables: carrots, green beans, turnips, spinach and all early vegetables.
Calcareous sand
- Flowers: columbines, anemones, chrysanthemums, centaury, pinks, heliotrope, nepenthes, sweet peas, among others.
- Vegetables: most of the cruciferous family (radishes, mustard, turnip, etc.).
Clay
It is the cement of the earth. If there is no clay, there is no cohesion in the soil and no water retention. When the weather is dry, the clay is hard, but when it rains, it is soft. It also has the property of retaining the fertilising elements in the soil very well, so that the plants can then feed on them.
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Where do we find it?
It is found in all regions and can be recognised in dry weather by the cracks it displays.
Which plants grow well in this earth?
- Flowers: balsamines, centaury, dahlias, ageratum, cosmos and heliotropes, among others.
- Vegetables: artichokes, potatoes, cardoons, cabbages and cauliflowers.
Humus
It is the end product of the decomposition of organic plant matter. It is indispensable in all arable soils and retains water as well as fertilising elements.
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Where do we find it?
It can be found within forests.
Which plants grow well in this earth?
- Flowers: astilbes, daylilies, lily of the valley, phlox, pincushions, tritonia, violet and heather, among others.
- Vegetables: all early vegetables, with a preference for leafy vegetables.
Chalky
It coagulates the humus and clay in the soil. We can find it in soft or hard rock form. It is important in regulating fertiliser absorption.
Irrigation
Watering techniques are extremely important in gardening, as, like other maintenance tasks, it is a fundamental part of keeping plants, lawns, trees and shrubs alive in our garden.
The watering period, depending on the climatic conditions in Spain, normally varies between March and September, although in warmer areas it lasts a little longer until November. Depending on the geographical area and the characteristics/demands of each garden, it can generally be watered as follows (always without waterlogging the soil):
- From November to March: every 20 days if it does not rain significantly during this time.
- April and May: every other day or every two days in case of mild springs.
- From June to August: every day. In very dry areas with very hot summers, it is advisable to water twice a day (morning and evening).
- From September to November: every other day or every two days in the case of mild autumns.
Never water more than once or twice a day, providing the daily amount (5 to 10 litres/m2) in a total of 30 to 40 minutes. These recommendations are general, and depend on many factors (climate, soil, plants, etc.), so we should adapt them to our particular conditions.
The best time to water is early in the morning or late in the evening, as these are the coolest hours. Above all, watering should be avoided during the hours of maximum solar radiation and over-watering should be avoided so as not to cause waterlogging. Waterlogging weakens the grass, making it more susceptible to fungal attack. Moreover, if it receives too much water, it does not absorb it well and it is lost through deep infiltration, wasting most of it.
Weed removal
Weeds are plants that grow spontaneously in unwanted places and grow faster than cultivated plants, so it is advisable to monitor their occurrence and growth to prevent them from developing excessively. To do this, weeding (weed removal) must be carried out.
Weeds can be removed in two ways: either by hand with the help of a hoe or by using chemical products such as herbicides. Manual weeding is the most sustainable, but at the same time the most laborious as it requires much more time and dedication. When there are a large number of weeds in the terrain, it is advisable to use herbicides.
There are three basic types of herbicides that help us to combat weeds: total and persistent herbicides, total non-persistent herbicides and selective herbicides. Depending on the number of weeds, their type, and whether or not we have crops, we will use one or the other. We recommend using products that are authorised for domestic outdoor gardening, such as the Fertiberia Jardín products "Herbicida total" and "Herbicida selectivo". Always read the label before using an herbicide.
Pruning
Pruning is an important part of caring for plants, trees and shrubs, as it helps them to remain strong and alive, and favours their development. The important thing is to know which is the most suitable and recommended pruning technique and the right time of year to do it. There are 4 types of pruning: cleaning, shape, maintenance and renewal.
- Cleaning pruning: its main objective is the removal of unwanted elements and formations on plants, trees and shrubs. Therefore, dead, dry, diseased or damaged branches or parts of plants are removed. Misdirected or canopy-entangling branches; regrowth of root, collar or trunk stems. It is important to bear in mind that this type of pruning is necessary for all types of plants or trees and can be carried out at any time of the year. They should be an ongoing habit as they are an essential part of normal garden maintenance.
- Shape pruning: its main objective is to achieve a certain shape of the plant or fruit tree.
- Maintenance pruning: its objective is to keep non-fruiting plant species in good condition, as well as to maintain the shape of plants.
- Renewal or rejuvenation pruning: its main objective is to remove the aged parts or elements of the tree or shrub, in order to replace them with new, younger ones.
The mowing of the lawn
This is probably one of the most frequent and also one of the most typical interventions in lawn maintenance.
The final mowing height logically determines the time that must elapse between mowings. This interval is also conditioned by the weather, the time of year and the type of grass, among others.
Mowing consists of cutting the lawn to the desired height. This height depends on the type of lawn we have and the ornamental effect we are looking for, the type of garden or the use we are going to give to the lawn, etc. However, as a general rule, the mowing cut should eliminate one third of the height of the plants that make up the cover:
| Type of lawn | Height of the plants that make up the cover | Mowing height to be maintained |
|---|---|---|
| Natural meadow | 20 to 30 cm | 10 to 20 cm |
| Normal grasses | 12 to 15 cm | 6 to 8 cm |
| Ornamental grasses | 6 to 10 cm | 4 cm |
| Sport grass (e.g. football field) | 4 to 6 cm | 1 to 2 cm |
| Sport grass (e.g. green on a golf course) | 2 to 4 cm | Less than 1 cm (0.4 to 0.6 m) |
