Where will your garden grow?

The factors you must consider before planting anything. Richa Pant in Lucknow writes

Gardening is a passion. You will find that your soul is nourished, your spirit rejuvenated, and you are showered with praise for the beautiful garden you have created!

So let's embark on the next stage of creating your garden: considering the unique habitat you have.

Different plants have different needs: some thrive in the moist jungle and others live in dry deserts. So how you live, where in the world you live and even the environment within your garden are important.

The success of your garden depends on these, so analyse and prepare your garden as follows:

Good soil: Loose, well-drained, level, fertile soil is best. Try to avoid clays and sandy soils unless you can buy adequate organic matter.

Sunlight: Plants can die without sunlight, because sunlight is needed to power growth through a process called photosynthesis. How much light your garden gets will impact how well your plants grow.

For example, north-facing gardens get the least light and can be damp, whereas south-facing gardens get the most. East-facing gardens get morning light, and west-facing get afternoon and evening light. Keep this in mind.

Water supply: Keep a supply of water near your garden. Watering is especially important when starting seeds or transplanting plants.

Fertiliser: Fertilisers are nutrients from nature: nitrogen, phosphate and potash. Fertilisers don't make plants grow - the sun does. Fertilisers are just additives sometimes required, depending on what you're growing.

Compost: You can make your own rich dark humus with fallen leaves, grass clippings, and plant prunings. In fact, using less fertilizer and more compost may result in healthier plants with fewer insect and disease problems. So start preparing a compost pile.

Temperature and Humidity: Different plants have different needs, so learn which types of plants can survive in your garden's climate.

In the next segment, we'll discuss the different categories of plants that can thrive in a garden.

The writer is a freelancer based in India.