Pondering of gardening? Right here’s some recommendation from the director of horticulture at San Antonio Botanical Backyard

SAN ANTONIO – “I love to work in the garden. I started working in a local community garden called Mahncke Park Community Garden about three years ago. I had no idea what I was doing and sometimes I didn’t. But that’s where my love for gardening grew, ”said KSAT12 reporter Sarah Acosta.

Acosta said she learned to grow things like kale, Brussels sprouts, herbs, summer flowers, beans, and tomatoes when she started in a community garden. When she bought her first house, she used what she had learned in Mahncke Park and kept working in the garden, still with a lot of trial and error.

In honor of National Gardening Day, Acosta spoke to a horticultural expert, Andrew Labay, the director of horticulture at the San Antonio Botanical Garden. He talked about gardening and its benefits.

“There is good research out there that just looks at the health benefits of exiting and interacting with nature,” Labay said. “In general I would say two hours a week outside and you could see the benefits of reducing stress, anxiety and healing effects. Not to mention the exercise and the vitamin D you get from sun exposure. “

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He said if you want to create a garden, it all starts with the soil. Labay says to make sure you add about an inch of compost to each new area that you plan to plant.

“We’ve always put a lot of effort into working, tilling, and breaking up the soil here in the botanical garden – and adding compost, which gives the soil fertility,” said Labay.

He said once you’ve decided what to grow, whether it’s flowers, products, shrubs, or trees – make sure you take the location into account. Will what you grow require a lot of sun? If so, he says to plant it in a sunny place. But if what you’re growing can’t stand a lot of sun, make sure you plant it in a shady spot or partial shade.

Labay says that if you want to grow flowers, the best thing to do is to plant native flowering plants. In addition to helping our pollinators, native flowering plants can absorb the heat of San Antonio, are drought tolerant, and can handle sporadic Texas winters.

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Some of the native plants mentioned by Labay are: Lantanas, Texas Sage Shrubs, Salvias, Turk’s Cap, Esperanza’s, Greggs Mist Flower, Mexican Heath, Firebush, Shrimp Plant, Plumbago, Oxalia, and Coreopsis.

And Labay’s best advice? It’s okay if your plants can’t make it because, like the garden, gardeners always grow when they learn.

“Do not be discouraged, even the best gardener, you will lose plants and there is much to learn.”

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