Many people have turned to gardening as a hobby in 2020 and it is easy to see why. Gardening is an active hobby but one that you can safely do from the comfort of your own home, you can enjoy being out in fresh air and it is highly rewarding in addition to improving the look and feel of your garden (and home).

With so many new people into gardening this year, it is worth highlighting how you can maintain your backyard and highlighting what areas to keep and what to reduce.

Weeding

Perhaps the most obvious place to start for beginners is weeding. Weeds are a gardener’s enemy as they take light, water and nutrients away from your plants and you will be fighting a constant battle, but when you make it a simply part of your routine, it will become much easier to keep on top of.

Mulching

Another way to keep on top of weeding and to keep the soil moist is mulching.

Mulching essentially involves using wood chips to give nutrients to the soil while simultaneously suppressing weeds – this method is more expensive but requires much less work.

Composting

Plants need nourishment throughout the year and one of the best ways to provide this is through composting. You could plant a cover crop and then compost over this when it dies to add nutrients in the winter or simply add compost at the beginning and middle of the season to provide nutrients.

Watering

Obviously, watering is another important way to maintain your garden and you need to make sure that the garden is getting enough water throughout the year.

You can achieve this by watering manually with a hose if you want to be more connected to the garden or you could use a sprinkler system to automatically do this. It is also smart to water at the start or end of the day to avoid water evaporation. 

Reducing Areas

As a natural space, growth is inevitable so you will want to keep on top of things like growing grass, trees and hedges throughout the year. This means that you need to have a range of tools at your disposal, including strimmers, mowers and powered saws. Battery-operated tools are the best way to maintain your garden as they give you much greater control and you do not have to worry about a power source when you are down the end of the garden.

Attracting Wildlife

You may also want to attract wildlife to your garden which can make it a lovely space to spend time and increase the biodiversity of the area. A pond is an obvious way to do this, but you can also attract wildlife by providing food, shelter, water and a place to breed. 

Hopefully, this post will help a new gardener to properly maintain their backyard throughout the year. Gardening is a fantastic hobby particularly during the pandemic, but it can also be overwhelming and difficult to know how to maintain your garden throughout the year without the proper knowledge.