Monsoon Gardening Ideas, Tips, and techniques in India
Today, we discuss the topic of monsoon gardening ideas, techniques in India. All the garden plants will require a very good amount of moisture, but at the time of monsoon, you will face a lot of challenges. The challenges of gardening during monsoons will be like waterlogged plants, soil erosion, leaching of nutrients in the soil, problems with pests and diseases. If you want to face these challenges and reduce these sort of problems, you will need to go through the below gardening tips for monsoon season in India to learn how to protect your plants in monsoon. In order to decrease the impact of the problems which are based on water, you will need to have a very good observation and also some amount of thoughts and strategies. The best plants to grow in monsoon are hibiscus, Gulmohar, Coleus, Jasmine, Monsoon cassis, etc. In this gardening article, we will discuss how to take care of your plants in monsoon. Below are a few strategies which most of the successful gardeners use to prevent any issues caused at the time of rains. As a gardener, you must be aware of monsoon gardening techniques.
- You will need to have a very good drainage system to take care of your plants in the rainy season. For this, you will need to elevate your garden with the plantation in mounds or raised beds. This will help in the prevention of water logging in the roots of the plant and soil.
- Make sure that you are growing your plants in containers or by making use of vertical systems. You can also consider a few examples such as Planters which are wall mounted or railing, window boxes which will drain very well. The best alternative is to make use of pots on castors or wheels, so that they can be moved around whenever required to shelter.
Read: Summer Gardening Ideas in India.
- It is not correct to waste the rainwater which is valuable during the heavy rainfalls and later pay for the water in summers or when the temperature is high and also dry. You can harvest it by redirecting the rainwater to the place where it is desperately needed. Swales are one of the most useful features of the permacultural designs and are mainly useful for your garden if it is located at a slope. You can build a swale which is usually called as a raised mound on the contour to soak the water as it is flowing down the slope. A raised mound will slow down the rainwater and will let it settle in a shallow trench in order to get the soil to be soaked. Raised mounds are also of great help for harvesting the water for food plants which are thirsty like fruit trees and bananas which can undergo plantation on the raised mound’s top.
- Make sure that you are adding some amount of organic matter to your soil. A very good amount of soil humus will hold the moisture just like a sponge where the plants require it desperately. Humus is defined as a rich black soil which has undergone the process of decomposition completely and will provide a boost up to your plants when they are in stress.
- The soil structure which is good will help in draining away the excess amount of moisture. If the soil in your garden is sandy, it will undergo good draining but will not retain the nutrients and moisture. The clay soil is the one which will hold the moisture but it has a very poor drainage system because of which there is a chance of root rotting if there is any waterlog. In the weathers which are dry, it will work. If the structure of your garden soil is poor, it is very much essential to add organic matter. For instance, leaf mold, compost, manures, other mulches.
- In order to decrease the risk of the most common diseases at the time of monsoon, you will need to support your garden plants with ties and stakes or any other sort of vertical structures. This will help the foliage to not lie on the wet soil. If the growing of the plants is done in a vertical direction, then it will increase the flow of air around the garden plants and there would be no overcrowding.
- The pests need to be concentrated more and have to be given a very hard time during monsoons. Snails and slugs are the ones which will survive in the weathers which are wet and it is your responsibility to make sure that you are not giving any chance to those pests to feast on your plants. Make use of tepees and vertical growing so that they cannot climb, even if they climb, they will get exposed and then they will become a feast for birds. You can also make use of eggshells by sprinkling them around the base of the seedlings which are sensitive or delicate. This is done because the edges which are sharp will be like a bed of nails for their tummies which are soft and slim and will be most effective at keeping these away until the establishment of young plants takes place.
- When you bake the eggshells on a tray by keeping them in an oven for at least 10 minutes, they will become hard and also crunch in a perfect manner. You can maintain a container to collect for all the new seedlings irrespective of the weather.
- A Mulch layer will help you to take advantage of the rainwater as it will help in retaining the important moisture in the garden soil. The other advantages are that it will decrease splashing which leads to diseases in plants and also plays a vital role in the prevention of soil erosion by giving a buffer.
- When you feed your garden soil with granules which release slowly, trace rock materials, organic fertilizers which are powdered, it will help in retaining the soil nutrients. Always keep in mind to restore the nutrients which are lost at the time of leaching because of heavy rainfall.
- Make sure that you are applying a foliar spray. A quick foliar spray which consists of seaweed or liquid kelp or fish emulsion for the leaves of the plant is a perfect mixture which will help the plants to grow back quickly.
- Make sure that you are harvesting your garden plants on a regular basis. You will need to choose the plants which are edible in the weather which is humid wet. This is done because there is a chance of spoiling the vine or stalk due to the attack of pests or diseases when the produce stays on them for a long time.
- Remember to follow the practices of water management. The basic rule of watering the plants in the weather which is humid is that you will need to avoid watering the leaves of the plant. Splashing will lead to the creation of ground for breeding of fungal spores which will further lead to mold diseases and mildews and will transfer them to every plant in your garden.
- If you are having a low-lying area in your garden which has occurred naturally, you will need to collect the harvest and run-off water instead of wasting it. You can add a plant or a small pond or move it to the plants which are water-loving so that their roots will take up the moisture and will leave the plants which love the dry atmosphere.
- Weeding is the most important part of the maintenance of the garden at the time of monsoons. Weeds will grow in a rapid way at the time of rains and will soak the nourishment which is for your plants. So, make sure that you are trimming your garden regularly so that you can avoid any growth of harmful weeds.
- Make use of fertilizers and earthworms at the time of monsoon to make sure that the soil in your garden is not losing its fertility. Earthworms will play a major role in keeping the garden soil aerated and will also ensure that the water gets filtered below the surface.
- Light is the main problem to worry at the time of monsoons, mainly if you have the plants which are dependent mostly on the sunlight. You can try making use of artificial sources of light to meet this requirement. This is an effective way to get rid of the excess number of monsoon insects from your garden. You can let some toads or frogs enter your garden as they will not cause any harm to your garden and will also help to keep your garden free of insects.
- A small thing to remember is to not walk on the soil which is wet, mainly at the place where to are interested to plant new saplings. Walking on the wet soil will pack the particles of soil and will remove the oxygen which is required.
- You can also make use of perforated sheets to protect your garden plants from rainfall. The perforated sheets are becoming popular as an important thing at the time of monsoon than the opaque sheets which will make the growth of the plants difficult. Perforated sheets will protect the plants from excess rain by giving them the required moisture.
- You will need to remove the algae which are slimy and start growing as soon as the monsoon arrives. You will need to check the surface of your garden soil on a regular basis for the patches of green algae and make sure that you are removing them immediately.
- We hope that the above tips have cleared your ambiguity to some extent on how to maintain your home garden during the monsoon. It is not the time to get trouble as it is also the perfect time for the growth of plants. The rain will reduce the need for watering your plants on a regular basis. But you will need to do a few things to maintain the garden which you love.
That’s all folks about monsoon gardening ideas in India.
Read: Vertical Vegetable Gardening Ideas.