Creating Microclimates to Facilitate Growth of Different Plants

In many areas almost all plants can grow without any problems and with very little effort. Just planting the seeds and watering them for some weeks will give you a beautiful lush plant. But there are also areas where it might be too dry or too hot for many plants so you have a very small selection of plants that can grow naturally. There may also be other unfavorable circumstances in the environment. In such areas it can be a challenge to grow a large variety of plants. You might feel that the surrounding area is working against you.

A way to solve this problem would be to give your plants all kinds of fertilizers and other chemicals. This usually works, but it is rather unnatural to rely on artificial substances to grow your plants. And if you want to grow fruits or vegetables, you don't really want to eat all those chemicals, do you? You don't need to because there are better ways to make your plants feel well.

A method many advanced gardeners rely on to grow different types of plants is that of creating a microclimate for every type of plant they grow. You can achieve this by regulating the moisture, wind, sunlight and shade for each group of plants. It is not easy but you can control each of these factors so that all the plants get their ideal growing conditions. The microclimate can be changed by the use of shading umbrellas, wind barriers, extra water and different types or amounts of compost.

You should make a detailed plan in advance before starting your first attempt to creating microclimates. A large tree or bush that has naturally grown and provides shade is a good starting point. If you don't have such a tree or bush you can grow your own. Just look at undeveloped areas near your garden and see what kind of trees or bushes are there. They have almost certainly grown without any human support. Plant such a bush or tree and it will help you grow more challenging plants later.

If you have a fence around your garden then you already have some shade to work with. You can start developing microclimates using the shade of the fence perhaps combined with a bush or a screen that gives shade for a direction where your fence can't. The fence can also work as a windbreak for more fragile plants. With the shade you have created a slightly less harsh miniature environment. You can now grow a plant that only survives in cooler weather.

Of course your house can also help to achieve a certain microclimate. It provides shade, protects from wind and if you are heating in winter the outside of its walls will always be warmer than the environment. That way you can have a much milder microclimate than you would usually have. This can help you to grow plants that usually would not survive in your area in the winter.

If you want to try to grow plants that need a higher humidity than your area provides, a small pond or fountain could help. There will be more moisture due to the evaporation. A pond or fountain also makes your garden more attractive. Not only for human eyes but also for some animals you would possibly not see otherwise like dragonflies, some rare birds or even newts. For better water quality a small pond should be in the shade most time of the day.

We can't explain every single step of the process in detail here because everybody will have different goals and of course different gardens. To reach your goals research on every plant you want to grow and find out everything you can about the climate zones it lives in naturally. Then with careful planning you should be able to change the environment and provide the right microclimate.