A GARDENING expert has shared her humble techniques for tending to her veggie garden.
Her most-used tool, she added, is not only straightforward to use but also cheap.
Linda Ly (@gardenbetty) shared the gardening tips with The U.S. Sun.
Ly's blog has won accolades for her work, including the title of “Best Gardening Blog” by Country Living and a “Top 10 Gardening Blog” by Better Homes and Gardens.
The expert explained that she prefers a slower approach to garden maintenance.
"My joy is in learning and sharing what I know with people just like us," she wrote on her site.
"People who love to be a part of everything in nature, who value old-timey skills like tending to their vegetable gardens and stocking their pantries with home-canned goods."
The best solutions are often the simplest, as she revealed her favorite gardening tool.
"A simple pair of scissors is my most-used gardening tool!" she said.
"It's so versatile since it can be used for cutting, pruning, or harvesting."
For beginners who are new to growing their own food, Ly recommended starting slow.
"Grow what you like to eat and what's usually most expensive to buy organic in the store," she said.
"I'm also a big fan of growing perennial herbs and vegetables, which you plant once and can harvest year after year.
"Perennials take all the stress out of spring planting, and it's a huge motivator to have something edible growing in your garden by late winter or early spring—all on its own."
Ly warned that, at first, watering may be a source of agony as most beginners struggle to get their plants the right amount.
"In general, vegetables need to be watered more deeply but less frequently to encourage better root development," she explained.
How to repel weeds and pests
Ly explained that instead of pesticides and herbicides, she prefers to rely on natural remedies to keep weeds and pests at bay.
"Mulch is the best way to reduce weeds, whether it's straw, shredded leaves, or a living mulch that grows between plants," she said.
"For natural pest control, I rely on an army of beneficial insects that I attract with lots of nectar-rich flowers (especially edible flowers so I get a bonus harvest).
"I also let herbs like parsley and cilantro bloom at the end of the season to attract more predatory bugs (as well as pollinators)."
"If you mulch your garden beds well, most established plants only need a good deep watering twice a week.
"On the flip side, container plants outside dry out more quickly and need watering more often, sometimes every day in summer."
For novices with limited space, she urged them to turn to innovative space-saving solutions.
"I like to use intensive plant spacing and succession planting to maximize the garden space I have and the harvests I get," Ly said.
"Rarely is there ever a bare patch of soil in my garden, as I like to have it filled with something edible or something beneficial (such as flowers for pollinators).
"In winter, I always have a cover crop growing (usually winter peas, since I can harvest a little for salads, too). Doing this keeps the soil active and healthy year-round."
She also relies on DIY projects during extreme weather to protect her crops from the elements.
"I have hoops installed permanently over my raised beds (made from electrical metal conduit)," she said.
"This allows me to add frost protection when it's cold, shade cloth when it's too hot, or floating row covers for early-season planting and also makes it easy to cover plants when there's a threat of summer hail."