How to Keep Your Garden Clean In 13 Steps?
Taking a glance at a beautiful garden is always something to enjoy. But when it looks filthy or disorganized – then it won’t be much of a pleasure.
That’s why we want to help you keep it neat and attractive. Nothing compares to having a gorgeous garden at home, especially if you are someone who appreciates plants, colorful flowers, and dark green grass.
So, are you eager to start learning all the steps to follow for keeping your garden clean? Then keep scrolling down and get to know it all!
Step 1: Clean Your Garden
It’s pretty obvious, right? Yet, still many people tend to forget such an evident step. Cleaning your garden to keep it clean - no one needs to be a genius to know this.
But this is not an easy job, and it goes over many different factors to consider that you may even be surprised once you learn about them. Here we will explain them:
Dead Leaves and Twigs
Everyone knows falling leaves and branches are always ugly to leave around. But it is vital to get rid of them not only because they don’t look good, but because they can damage your soil and vegetation. As soon as they start to decompose, they can spread diseases or just damage other plants.
You can always dispose of organic material like this on recyclable bags or barrels and let it decompose inside. Then with dirt, you may be able to use this as rich manure.
Garbage
Yes, even that little plastic bag of peanuts can be damaging to your garden. It shouldn’t matter where it goes or how it looks; the thing is that plastic can keep plants from nourishing from the soil. Plastic also produces contamination and could end up killing entire gardens. Keep all garbage away from your lawn.
Dirt and Dust
Most plants wouldn’t live without the proper amount of dirt or dust. However, it has to be under the plants so they can absorb the nutrients with the roots. Otherwise, you should keep them free of any dirt or dust.
If you see your plants or garden filled with too much dirt or dust, you should try to keep it off. This will eventually suffocate the plants and end up killing them, especially if they don’t receive enough sun rays or water.
Consider all these three factors when cleaning your garden, and you’ll keep it cleaner over time. Just remember there are still some steps to take.
Step 2: Keep Decorations Clean
This should be a single step by itself because many people don’t take it into account often. And it focuses on all the decorations on your garden.
We know gnomes, statues, fountains, and other good-looking adornments may improve how your garden looks. But similarly, to the vegetation around them, they also get filthy with dirt, leaves, and so on which could eventually cause diseases or just unwanted effects on your garden.
That’s why we always recommend keeping them clean. Every time you take some time to clean your garden from leaves, garbage, and some dust, also make sure that your decorations are neat.
They could sometimes even become home from many pest-producing bugs, so doing this kind of maintenance could have a significant effect on the health of your garden’s vegetation.
For decorations with water, try to replace old and filthy for clear water at least once a month. If you want the most significant results, try to get a filter, and continuously drain the water at least once a week from ponds or fountains. Dirty water can produce germs and diseases damaging to plants but also to humans.
Lastly, try to keep decorations away from the rest of your garden. If you can place them over cement or gravel, that would be ideal. This way, your adornments don’t mix with vegetation which could end up damaging both – unless, of course, you like the result.
Step 3: Check your Plants Regularly
Not everyone knows this, but having sick plants in your garden is the easiest way that other plants will also get infected. And this could end up in killing a whole backyard of vegetation.
The tricky part about this step is learning how diseases in plants look like. To prevent mistakes, you have the internet to look for both images with healthy plants and unhealthy ones. You may also search for pictures in magazines, books or catalogs.
This will help you have a better idea in the long run, and with the time you’ll learn how they should look.
Once you check the top of the plant and you spot something weird, you should always make sure by checking the bottom and the roots.
If you can dig your plant out of the garden, it could be easy to see how the roots look and find out whether it is a disease or a malnourished effect. This gets easier if you have to dig a plant in a pot, as you will then only have to invert the pan and let the plant fall down after loosening the soil.
Roots should always look firm and solid. They are slightly white or brownish, and never dark or black unless they are dirty. If you see mushy or dry roots, that’s a huge sign they are unhealthy, and thus you’ll need to get rid of the plant before it’s too late.
The whole purpose is to get rid of plants with diseases before they infect other plants. But also remember that this is a way to be sure that your plants are getting enough water and nourishment. If you see your plants too fragile, it could just be lack of fertilization depending on the soil. Act accordingly.
Step 4: Get Rid of Damaged Branches and Leaves
After looking for diseases or signs of bad plant care, then you should look for dead or damaged pieces.
Plants often let some twigs, branches, or leaves die slowly. This could be either for the season, wrong nourishment, or just because they are sprouting new parts. Whatever the reason, you should always cut these things away before they fall on the ground.
This could be an exhaustive job, but it’s always useful to keep your garden more beautiful and cleaner. And on top of that, it could prevent certain diseases that kill leaves and branches to spread around.
Moreover, getting rid of the leaves and branches that are dying will help to let new parts grow faster. And this is something that will end up making plants healthier and much more attractive.
This also applies to large trees with dead branches, or with flowers that are dying. Cutting them off will open space for new and healthy growth. You’ll just need to grab your garden tools and get your hands a little dirty, and that’s it.
Step 5: Update Your Garden Often
Many people don’t like their garden or think it doesn’t need any fixing. However, both statements are wrong.
If you don’t like how your garden looks, it’s a huge sign that it needs some update and care. And if you like how it looks and don’t want to change anything, then it is actually time to start doing some replacement work.
This is not obligatory, but it’s always an excellent choice for those who have the time and want to improve how their garden looks.
And the best way to do that is by adding new plants and getting rid of old, sick, or dying ones. Sometimes, you may just need to replace something that is giving you headaches, and that’s always the best choice.
Just remember that before adding any new plants to check them entirely. Make sure you always pick healthy vegetation to add to your garden. You won’t like to get rid of a headache to get a new one.
And this doesn’t have to be plants only. You may also want to add some decorations or just updated a few grass patches, and that’s it.
Whatever you do, just try to keep your garden updated, this will also help you remember to keep it clean over time.
Step 6: Use Composted Yard Waste Only
If you want to use manure for new plants or for upgrading your garden, only use yard waste that’s wholly composted. Otherwise, we recommend not using any at all.
This happens because not all composted material decomposes at the same time. For example, twigs and branches decompose at a way slower rate than leaves. So, they may end up producing unfertilized waste that just becomes an annoyance for plants to nourish from.
Also, debris that is not decomposed yet may still hold diseases or pests. And that can be pretty damaging to use as manure, especially for sprouting vegetation.
So, if you aren’t sure of the state of the manure you’re using – let an expert do the work for you. Otherwise, you can always buy completely composted material from garden shops that will very likely be better than dubious manure.
Step 7: Plant Vegetation in the Right Place
Whenever you’re thinking of adding new plants to your garden, think of planting them in the right place.
An organized garden is cleaner and much more good-looking in the long run. This will keep plants in their own place and prevent intrusive ones from damaging others.
Also, placing shade plants in the sun will have an adverse effect and probably end up killing it. The same happens if you add a plant that needs lots of sun under a roof. So, planting them all in the right place is also essential.
It’s also helpful because it keeps plants healthy and their defenses strong when either fighting pests or bugs, or just when trying to survive through difficult seasons.
This demands a little vegetation knowledge and also some effort in finding the right place for your new plants. But with some reading about the species you’re planting, finding the right place won’t be a hard job.
Just remember that similarly to choosing a place away from sun/shade accordingly, you should also keep aggressive species far from the most fragile ones. This will take some time to do to correctly, but it will be beneficial to achieve a cleaner and more beautiful garden in the long run.
Step 8: Leave Some Space Between Plants
When planting new seeds, try to leave enough space between them so all the plants can grow without interfering with the growth of others.
This won’t only have a massive effect on growth; this will also make your garden look better. If two plants start mixing on the top, they won’t look as attractive as they would if they were alone.
The same happens if you’re planting seeds close to already sprouted plants or adult ones. This could end up damaging the seeds or just leaving no space for proper growth.
Plants are always in a competition to survive, and this means trying to get the most nutrients possible. They don’t compete against each other, but they will still try to receive the most nutrients, sun rays, and water which could leave neighboring plants without them.
Crowded plants also have less airflow between them and sometimes even make them easier to get infected with diseases.
Just remember that garden plants are like babies. You’ll have to ensure they get the right nourishment from the earth, sun, air, and water. And this starts with the place you plant them.
If you do this, you’ll be ensuring a much healthier and cleaner garden. So, leaving some space between plants is always a great idea.
Step 9: Only Plant Disease-Resistant Species
In old times, most plants you could find in the wild or in other’s people garden were very fragile to diseases. Once you added them to your backyard, you could see how they started to sprout but ended up dying after a few weeks or months due to diseases.
Nowadays, however, this is not something ordinary. Getting plants from the wild or other’s people gardens is not advisable. Yet, you could always buy vegetation that’s resistant to diseases, that instead of dying when infected, they will fight off the infection and could probably live without any help.
This mostly happens with plants that sprout flowers or fruits. Some tomato seeds and roses, which are some of the most commercial species, were pretty fragile a few decades back. Today, some of these seeds come with protection against fungi and different kinds of plant diseases.
You could find these disease-resistant seeds of different species in garden shops. It all comes down to knowing which one offers this kind of resistance and which do not. Most shop helpers can guide you in the process.
Gardeners and landscapers may also have some advice to give you. You could also find information on the internet, magazines, or books.
This will prevent your garden from falling dead from common sicknesses. So, keeping it clean will be pretty straightforward.
Step 10: Use the Ideal Fertilizer
Not all fertilizers will be helpful to nourish your plants. That’s it is essential to always choose the ideal one. And what’s even more critical, you should add just enough so not to damage vegetation.
Adding too much fertilizer to your plants can burn roots and keeping them from absorbing water. And using too little will eventually prevent the plants from nourishing the right way.
Both will leave plants more fragile to external factors. This will also stunt their growth and sometimes even produce diseases more easily. It could also over-nourish a plant with a particular mineral or nutrient and put unnecessary stress into it. Sometimes, this could even change the color or aspect of the plant.
The best thing to avoid this is to do a soil test before adding some fertilizer and after doing so. This could prevent you from under or over nourishing a plant. However, this could be a little difficult if you aren’t familiar with the process, so we recommend hiring an expert to do so for you.
In the long run, using the ideal fertilizer will help you maintain your plants healthier and more beautiful, which means a much cleaner garden overall.
Step 11: Keep Pests and Weeds Away
Everyone knows getting rid of weed is vital for your plants. But even more critical than weeds are keeping bugs away.
Both weeds and bugs may spread diseases and kill your garden vegetation slowly. Weeds, in particular, tend to stunt the growth of nearby plants by absorbing nutrients, water, and sometimes even keeping others from getting enough sun exposure.
Bugs, on the other hand, will bite and eat your plants without hesitation. They will spread diseases and germs around which in turn may end up killing your whole garden.
This will leave not only an uglier garden but also an unhealthy one. And inevitably, this means your garden won’t look clean as you expect it to be.
To prevent this, we recommend using herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides at all times. Even when you don’t see anything that could damage your garden, keeping them protected will be essential. You just need to make sure you’re using the products the right way, or you may end up killing the vegetation by mistake.
Keeping weeds and insects away will be critical for a healthy garden, which eventually will look much cleaner and stunning.
Step 12: Keep Plants Hydrated
This is no secret, and probably everyone knows about it. Watering your plants every day or as much as possible will be critical for their health as well as for hygiene in your garden.
Remember that hydration is essential for them. This way, you can prevent them from starving and getting dry over time. On top of that, this keeps the soil more fertile, which in turns produces a more effective place for plants to grow healthy and beautiful.
It’s important to note that diseases also benefit from water. You will be keeping plants healthy, but it could backfire. For that, it’s recommended to only water the roots or bottoms of the plants and leave the leaves with no water. Almost no plant needs to hydrate leaves or branches, but diseases need that water to live.
Also, remember that using too much water in your plants could also have the opposite effect. This could produce unwanted fungi, suffocate the leaves, and sometimes even rots the roots. And surely, you don’t want anything that could possibly kill your plants to happen.
So, remember to keep your garden hydrated without overdoing it. This will improve everything from the looks to the health of all the plants inside. And in turn, this makes your garden cleaner.
Step 13: Avoid Soil Erosion
This is all about preventing your garden from looking like a mess. Erosion is one of the worst things that can happen to your garden. It mostly occurs when the soil erodes or just gets out of the ground.
This could be due to strong winds, heavy rains, rivers, or lakes inundating your garden, and many other reasons. So, the best thing to do here is to keep your plants in places where no wind or water passes through.
This can be difficult if you live close to lakes or rivers, or if you live in the mountains or places where staying away from winds is tough. But you can always protect your garden against this if you know how to use crops and mold soil according to your needs. Using stones and rocks can also be helpful to prevent erosion.
Avoiding this will prevent unwanted dirt all around your garden. And that’s probably among the best ways to keep your yard clean.
Keeping your Garden Clean, Healthy, and Beautiful!
Following these tips and steps will result in an almost flawless garden. But most importantly, it will help to keep your yard clean at all times.
We know it’s hard to follow some of this advice, but with enough care and patience, maintaining your garden will be a piece of cake. After some time, you may even become a gardener or landscaper yourself. So, don’t hesitate and start caring about your garden today!