6 Things to Do to Cultivate Your Blog and Your Garden

Help your garden and blog to bloom with this advice from Jane H. Read more from Jane on her blog.

How does your blog have anything to do with a flower garden, you may ask. Quite a bit more, than you may realize.

One day, I was working on the design of my blog, when it dawned on me, tending to my blog is like tending to my flower garden. It’s ever changing, growing and transforming, as I add or remove elements. Yet, certain things are required before you can begin to enjoy your flower garden or blog. I’m sharing with you, six things your blog and flower garden need to grow and flourish.

Six Things Blogs and Flower Gardens Need:

Location
Site Preparation
Style
Design
Access
Type

Let’s dig a little deeper!

Location-
One of the very first things you have to decide, before you can get started, is where are you going to place your blog or garden.

For your garden you need to decide if it will be in the shade, partial or full sun, curbside, front or back of the house, or in a container. Will the garden be located on your property, or are you planting at a community/shared garden?

For your blog, you need to decide which platform your blog will live at, there are lots of choices! Some of the more popular platforms are WordPress, Blogger, Squarespace, Weebly, and Tumblr. Will you be self-hosted or use a free hosting?

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions…
Oh, location, location, location…

A very big and important decision, whether you are planning a garden or a blog!

Site Preparation-
The next step in planning your flower garden, or blog, is site preparation. As with any project, preparation is key to a successful outcome.

In flower gardening, you need to prepare the site you have chosen. Remove any large roots, large rocks (unless you are planning a rock garden), and weeds. You will want to mark off/plot out, the size and general shape of your flower garden. The soil will need to be conditioned properly for your flowers to thrive.

Once a location has been confirmed, for your blog, you will need to begin preparation of the site. Choosing a name for your blog, is similar to weeding. Yes, I did just make that comparison! Names are like weeds, there are so many of them, which can become overwhelming and cause frustration. Grab a pen and paper, write down all of your ideas for names, walk away for a day or two, then return to the list. You’ll see things in a whole new light. Weed through the list, until you are left with the one perfect name for you, and your blog. You will need to decide the layout of your blog, dimensions of the header and body, left or right side bar, the footer, and image sizing; just to name a few!

Style-
Now comes the fun and enjoyable part of the decision making process!

What style do you want your garden or blog to have? Will it be traditional, classic, whimsical, or something else?

The style you chose, will set the tone of your garden or blog. Your style choice, is the stepping stone to the selection of colors, theme, and elements of your garden or blog.

Design-
When designing your garden or blog, you need to do some research. It helps to know a little about color theory, placement, and complimentary shapes. Why? Let’s face it, you want your garden or blog to be visually pleasing!

You need to decide if you are going to use a premade design or create your own unique look. Will you do all the design work yourself? Or hire an expert?

What colors will you incorporate into your design? Will you choose complimentary colors, monochromatic, or maybe trendy.

Will there be an element of surprise? A special accent that makes your design unique and stand out from the crowd!

Access-
Whether you have a flower garden or a blog, you need to determine who can access this space.

Will you have a secret garden, hidden behind a gate? Will your blog require readers to subscribe, before they can access your content?

Perhaps you will place your garden curbside for the community and public to enjoy. Most blogs are set up this way, anyone can enjoy your content.

One more thing to consider…

Will you be the only contributor to your garden or blog? Or, will you, have others participating in the decision making, and tending to, of your creation?

Type-
You will need to decide what type of blog or flower garden you would enjoy. Yes, the key is choosing something you will enjoy, or eventually you will stop tending to it.

What type of garden will you have? Perennial, Annual, Seasonal, or Year Round-Constant.

Will your blog be a specific niche, such as food, fashion, parenting, or home and garden. Or, maybe a lifestyle blog, with a little of this and a little of that! Will you publish content year round, seasonally, once a month, weekly, or every day?

The most wonderful thing about flower gardening and blogging is that you can make changes, whenever you want, nothing is set in stone! It’s your creation, your expression of who you are, and you have the final decision of the results. So there you have it! How your flower garden and blog have quite a lot in common!