Unnecessary hassle. Three autumn mistakes of summer residents. Nikolay Kurdyumov - “The main mistakes of summer residents” Poor quality planting material

Many gardeners follow the commandments that are passed down by “experts” from mouth to mouth, from generation to generation. They watch their beds tirelessly, work tirelessly on the plot, and the result does not get any better. And all because some established “rules” are actually serious misconceptions.

Myth No. 1: the better the care, the higher the yield.

This is a half-truth. For example, if you follow all the rules for caring for fruit trees, the conditions for them may be too good. Apple trees, pear trees and others like them will begin to grow actively, but they will stop producing crops.

Excessive care will not harm vegetables, but it is often simply impossible to follow all the recommendations. For example, not every summer resident can water the plantings every other day - many come to the site only on weekends. If you strictly follow all the rules, the yield will certainly increase, but not so much that it’s worth working so hard for this increase.

Myth No. 2 To make the soil light, you need to dig and loosen it more often

On the contrary, the more we do this, the faster the soil dies. Once it rains, the ground turns into “asphalt.” “Asphalt” has to be loosened, and this leads to even more “cementing”. It turns out to be a vicious circle.

Myth #3 If you constantly pull out weeds, there will be fewer of them.

It is not true. Weeds live only on well-cultivated soil; they are adapted specifically to it. Think for yourself: we have been fighting harmful grass for hundreds of years, but it has grown and continues to grow. Of course, weeds must be controlled in the garden, otherwise they will choke the vegetables. But this should not be done every day. Better yet, mulch the beds.

In an orchard, there is no point in fighting weeds at all, because they improve the structure of the soil, loosen it with their roots and, by rotting, supply the trees with organic matter. Therefore, it is better to mow the weeds here more often.

Myth No. 4 If you mulch the soil, the roots will suffocate.

Under mulch, the soil retains moisture, acquires an ideal structure, is penetrated by passages and voids and begins to “breathe.” But without mulch it dries and hardens.

Myth No. 5 Diseases and pests attack from the outside

In fact, we create pests ourselves. Any summer resident, trying to save the harvest, begins to actively fight the “aliens”: poison them, burn them, dig the ground, trying to destroy the larvae. As a result of strict artificial selection, we obtain super pests that are resistant to the most powerful drugs. This problem can be solved very simply. Maintain crop rotation. Do not overuse chemicals - they should be used when there are a lot of pests. And do not rely heavily on mineral fertilizers. Use organics.

Myth No. 6 Trees need to be pruned once a year and not more often.

Partly true. You shouldn’t overdo drastic pruning, but it’s better to break out fattening branches at the very beginning of their growth - this causes less injury to the tree and does not take away excess strength from it.

Myth No. 7: Pruning cannot be done during sap flow.

At the same time, many believe that sap flow continues all summer. I guess, yes. But the peak of this process occurs in April-May. However, even during this period, pruning does not harm the trees in any way.

In summer, sap flow slows down, and therefore there are no obstacles to “correcting” the crown. Trees can be pruned at any time of the year. Even in winter in the south.

Everyone makes mistakes, and summer residents are no exception. To grow vegetables and fruits, you need to put in a lot of physical effort and time. In addition, this activity is very expensive, so it is better to provide for all the nuances and avoid mistakes that could cause poor yields. When starting to run a dacha farm, it is impossible to learn everything at once. Therefore, you should listen to the advice of professionals, look for useful information and acquire the necessary experience and skills. Here are the most common mistakes made by novice gardeners.

Autumn fertilizing of the soil

Most vegetable crops that bear fruit during the season, along with the harvest, remove many useful substances from the soil, which leads to its depletion. In this regard, fertilizing the soil in the autumn is very important. This is necessary to help perennial plants survive the winter. However, it should be remembered that overfeeding the soil is just as harmful as underfeeding. Therefore, you need to fertilize it wisely. First, you need to consider what plants will be planted on the site next season. And secondly, for each wintering plant, the dose of nutrients must be determined individually.
A favorite garden fertilizer is manure, which has a very beneficial composition for plants. However, it should be used with caution. In particular, fresh manure can even be harmful, causing plants to burn. It is much more advisable to use it rotted. This fertilizer can be applied at any time, but without much excess.

Crop rotation

Many summer residents plant vegetables in the same place year after year. As a result, productivity decreases significantly, or even disappears altogether. Why is this happening? Studies have shown that plants of the same species are capable of accumulating harmful poisons in the soil that inhibit the growth of these same plants. As a result, vegetables begin to get sick, late blight appears, and the soil is gradually depleted. This is why it is so important to observe crop rotation, which involves changing where vegetable crops are planted.
In addition, mixed planting of crops that can get along with each other will help achieve good yields and cope with pests. However, you should be well versed in its subtleties and features.

Improper watering of plants

Watering is a very important and responsible moment in caring for cultivated plants. Therefore, it is so important to perform it correctly and in a timely manner, because in most cases the yield on the site depends on it. Without water, most vegetable crops quickly wither and sometimes stop bearing fruit altogether. What are the rules for watering? The most common mistake in this regard is watering in hot and sunny weather. This is especially true for cold well water, which can cause real stress in plants. You should not pour water on the green foliage of plants in hot weather. The fact is that water droplets on the surface of the leaves can concentrate the sun's rays, and this can cause severe burns for them.

Covering plants too early

Some summer residents leave their plot immediately after harvesting, so they try to protect some plants from the winter cold in advance. This is a very common mistake that can cause significant damage to trees and shrubs. The fact is that condensation forms under the shelter, which can cause their diseases, as well as a good environment for the life of some insects. That is why plants need to be covered immediately before the onset of cold weather, and not in advance.

It is advisable to properly monitor your site and avoid such mistakes. After all, proper care of cultivated plants, their timely watering and fertilizing will help you get a good, rich harvest.

Reading yet another instruction for growing any crop, you can be horrified by how much trouble is required. In fact, it turns out that many plants are quite tolerant of mistakes or negligence in care. It also happens that our green pets grow not thanks to our efforts, but in spite of them: in our zeal to do what is best, we can do something unnecessary.

How to make gardening easier

For a real summer resident, working in the garden beds is pleasure and joy. But I also want to enjoy other pleasures, and a working garden owner doesn’t have much time: weekends and, if you’re lucky, a vacation. And in the quickly disappearing summer, every day counts: if you don’t weed on time, don’t feed, you don’t have enough harvest.

I want other dacha pleasures

How to simplify the care of your garden and vegetable garden? I’ll try to put together numerous tips and experiences and compose “Instructions for the dacha “lazy person”. Let's start with 10 basic rules.

1. Curb your greed

“Our greed... forces us to pursue so many goals at the same time that in the pursuit of trifles we miss the essential,” said the French philosopher and moralist Francois de La Rochefoucauld. But how difficult it is for a modern gardener to limit himself in purchasing seeds and seedlings! Numerous real and online stores offer everything: dozens of varieties of vegetables, all kinds of flowers, exotic plants. It's impossible to stop. And every spring we buy a bunch of bright bags. And then a problem appears, the scale of which depends on the amount of greed: how to plant everything bought, and most importantly, where to find the time and energy to take care of everything that has grown.

Every spring we buy a bunch of bright bags

If you feel like you're not coping well in your garden, stop. Try to pull yourself together in front of the seed store counter and curb your greed. Better yet, make a clear shopping plan before going to the garden center. Answer honestly, do you really need 100,500 varieties of tomatoes, an incomprehensible plant whose name you don’t remember and are trying to find by signs (“do you have one with such leaves?”), an exotic vegetable or fruit, which definitely will not grow in open ground and needs to be “attached” to a greenhouse?

Maybe you just think that so many pumpkins are necessary?

A reduced assortment of vegetation will be better cared for; there will be enough time for everyone. And you will still have the strength to admire your garden, which can be very difficult in the classic pose of a summer resident. At the same time, calculate how many cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables you actually need. Throwing out last year's pickles and marinades just to free up jars for current preparations is not a good example of a thrifty housewife. Or 2 buckets of tomatoes for a second cousin’s niece (“what’s her name?”). Maybe an acquired hump is too high a price to pay for good relations with relatives?

2. Choose low-maintenance plants

If you decide that taking care of the garden is not the only thing that attracts you to your dacha, take a critical look at your plot. Avoid plants that require a lot of work. In flower beds, give preference to perennial plants that thrive in one place for a long time without transplanting.

Don't waste time digging up and planting tulips every year

For example, instead of large-flowered varietal tulips, plant botanical - natural species or varieties obtained from them. Of course, they are more modest than their garden counterparts. But, firstly, among the varieties on sale now there is also a lot of variety in shape and color, and secondly, botanical tulips are fashionable. They are indispensable in the design of alpine hills, they will delight you with flowering almost 2 weeks earlier than varietal ones and will free you from the annual ritual of digging up the bulbs at the beginning of summer and burying them back in September. You can also replace some of the regular raspberries with remontant ones: you don’t have to bother with cutting out fruit-bearing shoots or bending the bushes - in the fall you can simply mow everything. This technique, by the way, facilitates another job when growing this crop: by completely removing the shoots, you will destroy a significant part of the pests and next year you will need to process the berry garden less.

3. Consider the frost resistance of plants

Do not try to grow pineapples in the open ground in the Arctic: it will be of little use, but you will waste a fair amount of effort, nerves and time. If you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the fall building shelters for plants, the winter worrying about your wrapped pets, and the spring unwrapping them, limit the number of plants that require winter insulation.

Limit the number of plants that require shelter for the winter

In addition to the time and effort saved, you will receive a bonus: in the spring you will not rack your brains about where to put dozens of meters of covering material before the next use, and in the fall - where to get the right amount of spruce spruce branches. I also recommend that you read the publication on our website: 5 common myths about winter shelter for plants.

4. Plant fewer seedlings

Not all vegetables require seedlings on your windowsill. For example, cabbage can be grown as seedlings in a greenhouse or even sowed directly to a permanent place. And believe me: the cabbage will only get better. She will not stretch out in the warmth of the room and will not get sick during the transplant. Strong and hardened seedlings are less damaged by cruciferous flea beetles and other pests. Read more about this in the publication Sowing cabbage before winter - a gamble or an effective method?

Cabbage seedlings can be grown in a greenhouse

Cabbage seedlings can be grown in a greenhouse. In addition to cabbage, onions do not require too pampered conditions if you grow leeks and onions from seeds.

5. Buy seedlings

Of course, one might think that self-grown seedlings are a guarantee that there will be no mis-grading, infections and other problems. But if you buy seeds, you still cannot guarantee purity - and you may get strange varieties instead of the ones you want when purchasing, and sores too.

Buy seedlings

Find a reliable manufacturer, and your vegetable garden and flower garden will only delight you. After all, a professional approach to growing seedlings requires the correct temperature, lighting and humidity, which are almost impossible to provide in an apartment. You will be convinced that the slightly increased costs will outweigh all your troubles and worries about the “black leg” and other plant problems.

6. Get a handy tool

In any business you need a good tool. This does not mean that it must necessarily be expensive. But comfortable, ergonomic and reliable - a must.

The tool must be good

A pruner or garden shears should cut, a garden saw should cut, and the handle should not slip off the scoop. A rake, shovel or hoe needs to be selected according to your height. And gardening tools must be different and match the tasks, so it is better to purchase them in sufficient quantities. A convenient tool saves energy and, as a result, time. The model or variety should be selected for yourself. If for some reason you are uncomfortable using, for example, a Fokin flat cutter, you don’t need to do it just because you’ve read a lot of laudatory reviews. In our market you can pick up any gardening equipment. Start with secateurs and garden shears, for example. ^category

7. Use advances in technology

It is generally accepted that dacha agriculture is mostly archaic. However, the achievements of modern technology make it possible to refute this. For example, you can use a heating cable to heat a greenhouse: there will be no hassle with return frosts, and you will get an early harvest. Look how seven-dacha resident Svetlana Ilyina from Krasnoyarsk equipped real warm beds. Read more about her experience of getting an early harvest in Siberian conditions in the publication Homework No. 3: greenhouse for an early harvest.

A really warm garden bed by Svetlana Ilyina. Photo by Svetlana Ilyina

Another useful invention for summer residents that saves energy and time is drip irrigation. You don't need to run around with a watering can - just turn the tap. And the installed automation will allow you to forget even about this little thing. You can understand in more detail how best to apply this achievement of civilization by reading the publication Where is it convenient to use a drip irrigation system: let’s look at specific examples.

8. Automatic feeding

Preparing the soil for planting in the fall and applying additional fertilizing during the season are common agrotechnical measures. This work can also be greatly facilitated if you use apions (the name stands for “automatic feeding osmotic pumps”). An apion, once placed in a planting hole, will nourish the plant for a long time. The brand of apion is chosen depending on the type of plant. Can be selected for annual and perennial crops, as well as shrubs and trees.

Apion is a long-acting fertilizer. Photo from the site d-collection-shop.ru Apion is a bag with complex fertilizer and microelements. The shell is made of a semi-permeable membrane, and the operating principle is based on the phenomenon of osmosis (one-way penetration through the membrane). Apion provides exactly as much nutrients as the plant requires. Using this dispenser will not only give you the desired freedom (no need to regularly fertilize), but will also provide a richer and cleaner harvest. It will not be possible to overdose fertilizers - when absorption by the root system decreases, the rate of release of the nutrient mixture also decreases. This means that you will not have tomatoes with nitrates, and the soil will not become salinized.

9. Sow in the fall

Spring is a busy time for a gardener: growing seedlings smoothly flows into sowing. You also need to prune trees and shrubs, treat the area from pests, plant annual flowers and tidy up perennials. And time is short - May is short.

Sow in autumn

To reduce gardening work in the spring, move some of it to the fall. Before winter, you can plant not only garlic and onion sets, but also dill and parsley, arugula, beets, carrots, cabbage, and leeks. And, of course, flowers - calendula (marigolds), marigolds, asters, nasturtiums, morning glory and many others. To learn what you can sow before winter, watch our video.

10. Choose the right garden style

A garden in a regular style with perfect lawns, smooth bosquets and carpeted flower beds is not for “lazy people”. Opt for a design in a country style, landscape or any other, where a somewhat overgrown hedge or a picturesque mess of a mixborder will not greatly disturb the appearance of your site.

An ideal lawn requires constant care

If you absolutely want to have a smooth, green lawn, pay attention to special lawn mixtures made from slow-growing grasses that do not require frequent mowing. Or create a grass cover of low-growing groundcovers such as bryozoan or white clover.

Enjoy your garden

There are many ways to avoid becoming a “slave to the lamp” in your own garden. The main thing is to understand and accept that you have a dacha - for you and your family. And not at the dacha there is a gardener who has no other business than taking care of it. Enjoy your garden, don't work for it!

Even if you are well versed in suburban construction, this does not protect you from mistakes when arranging your dacha. Because mistakes often happen where you least expect them: site planning, “house filling,” agronomic subtleties. We have already written about that. The topic does not lose popularity! And therefore - we continue.

1. Disregard for trees

A summer cottage is, first of all, a green corner. Therefore, the fate of the trees needs to be planned along with the construction of the house. The tree problem is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, there is a risk of destroying those already growing on the site during construction. On the other hand, tree roots can destroy the foundation of a house. Other buildings, especially brick fences, may also suffer from them.

What measures should be taken to protect the foundation? Roots can find a crack in concrete or masonry and significantly expand it. Therefore, from the side of a possible “attack”, you need to use smooth and durable materials. For example, a stainless steel sheet is perfect for this. You can also use slate sheets. Bituminous waterproofing materials tightly glued to the concrete foundation with mastic will also become an obstacle to the roots.

We've sorted out the foundation, but how not to destroy trees during construction? Heavy equipment should not come close to the trunks you want to preserve. Also, you should not store building materials under trees. The root system extends over an area equal to the projection of the crown plus one meter. It is advisable to fence off this area before starting construction, at least with the help of pegs and rope. Overcompaction of the soil here leads to oppression of the plant and can cause its death.

Sometimes, when clearing a site for construction, you have to saw off thick branches. The cut sites are the gateway for infection to enter the tree's body. The main enemy in this case is fungal spores. If you want to extend the life of the tree, treat the cut. Garden stores sell special formulations. In extreme cases, you can get by with improvised means. Take clay, mix it with water, make a dough and cover the “wound”.

2. Leave excavation work for later

A novice developer always wants to quickly build walls and a roof, that is, to see at least the outlines of the future house. But the experience of many summer residents says that first you need to deal with the “earth” matters: install a septic tank, install water supply and other underground communications, level the surface of the site. This problem is especially relevant in small areas. After building a house, there is simply no room left for moving equipment. This means that all work will have to be done manually. It takes longer and sometimes is more expensive. In addition, the question arises: where to put the excess soil if it is impossible to load it into the car?

3. Mix soil with clay and crushed stone

To an inexperienced summer resident who comes out of town in bad weather, the ground seems like dirt and the grass looks like weeds. He is in a hurry to fill his site with rubble and roll the site with heavy machines. As a result, by the end of the construction of the house there is no living soil left on the site. Chernozem becomes over-compacted and mixed with stones, sand, and cement. It turns out to be a typical courtyard of a city high-rise building in a not very good area. Is this what a dacha is built for? The summer resident must protect the soil. Where there will be a house and other buildings, the black soil must be carefully removed. If you don’t know where to put it, try offering it to neighbors who have already built one. Perhaps they will take it from you at their own expense.

Cover the place where you are going to store bulk building materials with geotextiles. Then you will lift it and get clean soil for a flower bed or vegetable bed.

4. Adjust

Additions to an existing house are always a hassle. How to avoid uneven settlement of foundations? How to tie the walls and what to finish them with later? What to do with the roof? After all, you don’t want to refinish all the walls and re-cover the entire roof. And when it comes to the heating and ventilation system, the owner realizes that it would have been easier to build a new house.

Therefore, it is better not to mess with extensions. If necessary, it is better to remodel the inside of the house or add an attic. Do the math carefully, it is possible that these options will turn out to be cheaper and easier to implement.

If there is a need for an extension, then do it on a separate foundation with a separate roof.

It turns out a new house built close to the old one. As for roof design, there are two universal recipes. Either a flat roof with a parapet, or a multi-slope high and steep roof, which will look like a turret against the background of the entire building.

Houses and extensions that have different number of storeys look best.

5. Make a cellar inside the existing foundation

Few people would think of building a cellar or basement in a residential building. But adding a cellar to the project of a house already under construction is a very common idea. And not very good. The foundation must be built as originally designed. If the project did not include a cellar, then it is better not to risk it. Excavation of soil during the construction of an “underfloor” can lead to uneven subsidence and even collapse.

In the worst case, the foundation will be pressed inside the contour by frost heaving forces and destroyed.

It is better to build a cellar separately. This is not as inconvenient as it seems at first glance. There are several arguments in favor of a separate cellar:

– it will not be a source of dampness and unpleasant odor in the house,
– if there are rodents on the property, they will first go to the cellar, and not to the house,
– it’s easier to clean up a cellar than a basement,
– to a separate cellar you can make a convenient staircase and even a driveway for a wheelbarrow, but to a basement not made according to the design you will have to go down a ladder through a lyada.

6. Build a temporary fence

A temporary fence is a waste of time and materials. Only very wealthy people can afford this. If the budget is limited, then temporary structures should be avoided. Immediately build permanent fences on at least three sides - away from neighbors. You first need to agree with them about who pays for what. The sooner you do this, the better. Rebuilding fences on already inhabited areas is fraught with quarrels and grievances. Moreover, it is better to plan the location of the house and green spaces on the site when the fence has already been built. A fenced area is perceived differently than an open one.

A temporary fence can only be installed on the street side if a permanent one will interfere with construction work.

7. Install doors and windows in winter.

As a rule, the house frame is completed in the fall. And the owner rushes to install doors and windows to close the house from the weather. If you have time to do this in warm weather, that’s good. If the thermometer is approaching zero, it is better to postpone until spring. This applies specifically to the dacha. In a house for permanent residence, the calculation is different, there every month counts. But you will use the dacha mainly in the summer. And windows and doors installed in winter will be capricious in hot weather: they close poorly, open with a creak, etc. It’s all about temperature deformations. If the doors were installed in the cold, then in the summer they become a little cramped in their place. But if it’s the other way around, then no problem.

By the way, this also applies to internal wooden doors. But it's not a matter of temperature, but of humidity. In summer, the air is more humid, and wooden doors swell a little. If they were installed in winter, then in summer you may feel that the latches are not working properly.

8. Lead wires from the side of the roof overhang

The mistake seems obvious, but nevertheless it is repeated year after year.
In winter, frozen snow slides off the roof and breaks electrical wires. Therefore, they need to be brought into the house from the gable side. If the roof is hipped, then special snow guards must be provided.

9. Allow ice from the split system

Some air conditioners can operate for heating in winter. This is very convenient for a dacha where you visit. In autumn and spring you can do without stoves and additional electrical appliances. However, condensate constantly flows from the external unit of the split system. In summer, a puddle forms and dries quickly. But in winter, a whole stalagmite can form under the split in a couple of days. If no action is taken, the entire device will eventually be swallowed up by a column of ice. To avoid such troubles, you need to attach a tube to the external unit to drain condensate away from the house. Equip the tube with a heating element that will prevent the water from freezing. The power supply can be connected via a temperature sensor.