Properly organizing the homeland of a summer cottage is not only painstaking work, but also a whole science. That is why many novice summer residents, due to lack of experience, make various mistakes.
You buy a cottage in the winter
In winter, prices for summer cottages are very attractive, but there are not so many offers for sale, as many owners withdraw their ads from sale due to difficulties with displaying. There are many disadvantages of buying a summer house in the winter. For example, because of the snow, it is impossible to see the local area, soil, assess its fertility, the presence of weaknesses in the site (for example, whether there is an accumulation of stagnant water or marshy), which can bring a huge amount of trouble and cash costs in the spring.
Also in winter it is difficult to inspect fruit and berry plantations, trees, shrubs, the presence of paths on the site. Debris or other sewage may be hidden under the snow. It is difficult to assess the terrain, the quality of roads in a summer residence, the availability of communications on the site. Yes, and inspection in the cold is unlikely to be a pleasure. Therefore, it is better to postpone the purchase until a more favorable time of the year.
You sit without a plan
Before planting a garden and fruit trees, it is necessary to take into account the climate, land quality, lighting, choose the right place for planting a particular plant. Therefore, before the sowing season, it is necessary to draw up a clear plan of where the beds will be located, where there is a flower bed, and where is the garden.
When planning, it is necessary to observe some conditions. Under the garden, they try to highlight a sunny place, without shading from the south side. Calculate how many beds need to be made for vegetables, how many for greens. For planting trees, choose the southeastern part of the site and first plant low-growing trees, and after them - higher and sprawling ones: this way they will not obscure the low ones. To grow heat-loving crops (tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers), greenhouses are installed, and here it is also necessary to bring its location into the plan, since the east-west arrangement is most successful for it.
You plant conifers too close to each other
Coniferous plants perfectly clean the air, trap dust and exhaust fumes. Essential oils and phytoncides scare away many pests from their summer cottage. In summer, needles are used to mulch beds, and in winter it is an excellent covering material.
For the successful growth of conifers, several conditions must be met: when planting between a tree and a fence or buildings there should be a distance of about 5 meters, between pines and firs - from 2 meters, between conifers with a more compact and miniature crown (thuja, juniper, yew, dwarf pine and spruce) it is enough to retreat 1-1.5 meters from each other. The distance between conifers and fruit trees should be at least 5 meters.
You buy adult plants for planting
The ability to quickly take root of a seedling depends on its age. Buying an adult plant in the hope that it will begin to bear fruit is erroneous. The older the plant, the more problematic it will take root on your site, because the root system of a three-year-old tree is already very powerful, and when selling such a seedling, the roots have to be damaged and cut, as a result of which the tree goes overboard for a long time and stops growing. Therefore, it will be safer to buy an annual tree that immediately takes root and begins to develop and grow.
You plant plants in turf
Planting plants directly in the turf is considered permissible when the seedling is on the verge of drying and death, and it is urgently necessary to nip it. But it’s better to choose different soil for planting, as the turf is uncultivated land, overgrown with grass and weeds, it lacks nutrients for successful plant growth.
You plant valuable plants near the neighbor’s fence
Near the neighboring fence, it is preferable to plant unpretentious and low perennial crops and flowers, so that the place is simply not empty and pleasing to the eye. After all, no one is immune from inter-neighborly wars over the territory, and if your neighbor decides to build a building near the fence or plant tall trees that will obscure your territory, the plants planted next to someone else’s site will also suffer. And if you place valuable plants or fruit trees and bushes that love the light along the fence, they will eventually have to look for a new place. Or part of your crop will certainly fall from a tree to a neighbor's plot.
You do not leave labels with the inscription varieties when planting
Any gardener needs to know which plant is planted in a particular place. In order not to forget where and what you planted, use labels that indicate the name of the plant, variety, planting time and other data that are important for the summer resident. Label loops are very convenient, especially for fruit trees, because they are made of durable plastic, and you can write information with a marker that will not be erased by rain.
You place flower beds under fruit trees
For the sapling, root development is necessary, and in the first 5 years after planting, it is not recommended to plant any plants under the tree, but on the contrary, the earth needs to be loosened and the weeds weed. When the plant takes root and the root system is finally formed, you can make a flower bed of perennial shade-tolerant flowers, taking into account the near-stem circle, which is from 2 to 3 meters, depending on the age of the tree. Dig the soil in the near-stem circle carefully and shallowly so as not to damage the roots.
