Community Gardens are easily the life of a housing society. With green lawns and trees and flower bushes, they bring liveliness in an otherwise boring space of cement. However, maintaining them is a task which is a little tricky, and is best handled by people who have experience in the same.
Need of a well maintained garden
Lawns are a boon to children who play games involving running around, for residents who like to take a stroll and for entertaining occasional society functions as well. Trees and flowers add to the beauty of the plot and help in providing the residents with fresh, cool air. Societies that grow vegetables and fruits also have the advantage of eating pure, self-grown foods.
Key points for successful maintenance
Since community gardens generally spread out amongst a large area, they need the correct kind of persons and equipment for maintenance. Only experienced gardeners have the knack of making sure that all the plants that have been sowed grow healthily. Gardens need to be maintained on a very regular basis, be it watering the plants, mowing the lawns or adding fertilizers.
- Fertilizers and moreThe residents can help by collecting wet waste from the kitchen and saving it as compost for plants. This reduces the usage of chemical fertilizers which sometimes prove rather harmful. However, if fertilizers are being used, it is very crucial to use them only in the prescribed amount. Too much of fertilizers can result in desiccation of plants. Similarly, their inadequacy might lead to lack of nutrition in the soil. Thus, it is a must to add fertilizers and other growth aiding substances to the soil from time to time.
- Flower and vegetable gardeningIt is of utmost importance to have knowledge about the seasons in which each individual plant thrives. This can help maintain a green garden by avoiding plantation during the wrong season. For example, Zinnia flowers only grow best when their seeds are sown in April or May. Some types of Jasmines only bloom during monsoons, whereas flowers like Marigold and Petunia grow throughout the year. Thus, it becomes important to regularly replace plants season-wise in order to maintain the moisture and nutrients in the soil as well as to eliminate the possibility of decaying of plants.It is similar with vegetable gardening. Crops have to be rotated on a regular basis in such a way that a single crop stays in the same soil for not more than one harvest. Additionally, vegetables also have to be grown season wise, since not all veggies are available throughout the year.
- Other important tasksLawns have to be mowed on a regular basis in order to maintain their texture and consistency. Sprinklers have to be installed so that the task of watering becomes easier to pull off on a daily basis. Regular plucking of weeds and insects like worms and slugs has to be undertaken since these unwanted entities hinder the growth of plants. Certain bushes have to be cut and shaped every once in a while in order to maintain the consistency of the garden.
Conclusion
Evidently, as beautiful as housing society gardens look, they do require a lot of maintenance and call for considerable time and attention. However, if given both, they do flourish wonderfully.