Nearly five months into the global pandemic, people continue to shelter-in-place for their safety. On the bright side, this means more adopted dogs, home improvement projects, and backyard gardens!

If you’re one of the many that decided to make their garden dreams a reality in these unfortunate circumstances, I’m sure you’ve researched best practices. But in case your results were lacking, here are some tricks and tips on how to maintain your quarantine garden and how to make it last. Don’t worry, I’ll talk about house plants, too!

Watering

• It’s good to water your garden either early in the morning or late at night.
• You should only have to water your garden a couple of times a week, depending on the amount of rain you’re getting.
• A mistake people make is under-watering. Each time you water your garden, be sure to soak it, instead of just doing a layer of water over the entire bed. This is true for house plants too, except for succulents and cacti. Water your plants until water begins to drain out the bottom or flows over the top of the pot, ensuring your plant gets thoroughly watered each time, and you don’t have to water as often.
• You can typically tell if a garden or plant needs water by sticking your finger in the soil. If there isn’t any moisture two inches below the surface of the soil, it’s probably time to water. 
• Feel the weight of the pot. Eventually, you should be able to tell whether a houseplant needs water just by lifting the pot.
• If you’re insecure about your ability to know whether your garden or houseplants need water, check out moisture testers that help you judge.  

Light

• Observe how many hours of sunlight your backyard gets each day in different areas. 
• Vegetable gardens should get at least 6 hours of direct sunlight.
• This applies to houseplants, too. Part-sun means 2-3 hours of direct sunlight a day, and full-sun implies at least 6.
• More sunlight means they need more water, so be sure to account for that!

Congratulations to first-time houseplant owners! Welcome to the plant club! If you’re just getting into houseplants or always wanted them but feared killing it, here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Before buying any type of plant, take note of how many hours of sun each room in your house gets and pick a room/window that gets the most amount of sun.
2. Plants for first-time plant-owners:

• Snake plant
• ZZ plant
• Pothos
• Aglaonema
• Succulents
• Cacti

Above all, remember that plants die sometimes, it isn’t always your fault, and don’t let it discourage you from trying!