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06 Nov 2012
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Gardening Tips for your Dream Garden

 

Does everyone else’s grass always seem to look greener? You may suspect that your neighbor is employing some trick you do not know in their garden. Truth be told, there is no real secret to creating a gorgeous garden. All you need is the proper information on how to correctly care for your plants. You can begin your quest for knowledge by reading this article for some gardening tips.

Great Gardening Tips!

Flowering Annuals

There are some annuals that grow better in the colder months. They enjoy cooler daytime temperatures, and do well in areas where nights get quite cold. For a spring flush of color, plant early flowering annuals. Sow seeds in fall: they will lay dormant over the winter, and germinate in the spring. Following the pruning, it generally takes only a couple weeks before blooming occurs again, which creates a lovely image compared to the traditional foliage of the winter months. These plants may need to be trimmed if they are growing too much during these months.

Good varieties include snapdragon, petunias, California poppy, dianthus, candytuft, stock, linaria and cornflower.

Planting Lily Bulb

The time to plant lily bulbs is during spring so that they will be well-established by winter. However, you will find many varieties of lily bulbs in garden centers in the fall. If you opt to plant lily bulbs in the fall, be sure to mulch heavily at least six inches on top with hardwood mulch or straw to protect them from cold winter freezes.

For a ‘cottage’ garden

Rambling roses, traditionally grown in cottage gardens, are some of the oldest varieties of roses. They are once-a-year bloomers, featuring huge clusters of small flowers in midsummer. It stems can grow to 30 feet long if not pruned, in fact, the most benefits from simply being left alone. An advantage of rambling roses is that they are quite disease resistant and very hardy.

Deadheading blooms

Maintain your bulbs after they have flowered. When your bulbs have finished flowering, resist the temptation to cut down the foliage. The foliage is only present for a short time and it manufactures food for storage underground. The bulb needs this food to send up flowers the following year.

When it comes to deadheading blooms, wait to remove the faded blooms until the bloom is completely finished. Leave on as much foliage as possible so that the leaves can continue to feed the plant. Ideally, you should allow the foliage to yellow and wilt before removing it. When the foliage begins to fade, cut out the dying or discolored canes of the plant so that rot or disease does not set in.

Protect your garden from pest

When gardening, be watchful of stink bugs, particularly in the fall. They like fruits, as well as peppers, beans and tomatoes. If they go unnoticed, they can cause large amounts of harm to your garden, so remember to take protective measures to reduce the population of stink bugs there.

Protect your soft fruits from birds. Birds can be a problem when your soft fruits are maturing. Cover bushes with temporary netting once the berries start to ripen. Wall-trained soft fruit can be draped with netting attached to the top of a nearby wall, and allowed to hang over the plant like a curtain. Just be sure that the netting you use is fine, so that the berries get enough light.

Garden Gloves

When gardening, best ways to keep your fingernails clean in the garden is by wearing gardening gloves. Search for the best fit. If the gloves are too bulky or too loose, you will just take them off in frustration. One suggestion is using nitrile latex gloves. They will fit to your skin, can be re-worn a few times before tossing, you will not have the bulkiness of an over-sized garden glove and no hard to get out dirt under those nails!

Healthy and happy garden

Keep your plants thriving through the winter by bringing them inside. You might want to transplant your most valuable varieties. Carefully dig around the root ball and replant in an appropriate pot.

Keep your container plants watered if you go on a short vacation. If you are away from home for a few days, this short-term measure will keep your plants happy. Put the container in a shady spot, fill a bucket with water and place it on bricks so that it is higher than the container. Suspend a length of capillary mattings between the bucket and the container. This will transport water to the soil consistently and keep your container plant sufficiently moist.

Always fertilize your garden. Choose commercial compost instead of homegrown manure to keep toxins out of your plants. Although there are plenty of fertilizer choices, don’t be concerned with which one you use; just be sure to use one.

In conclusion, these are a few of the most important gardening tips available for your garden. All of the gardening advice contained in the tips above is simple and relatively easy to implement. You just need some basic education on gardening techniques, and then you can put that education to good use. Hopefully, this will give you not only knowledge, but also the confidence to do your best in the garden. Pay attention to how your plants respond to the methods that you use. Experimenting with already existing plants will only lead to disaster.

You want to be the best you can be when it comes to gardening. This is important because you want to be able to proudly show off your garden to anybody that comes to your house. Be patient and your garden will eventually be envied by your neighbors. Go ahead and give them a try and you should be happy with your turnout.

If you’re looking for more gardening tips, don’t hesitate to contact us at 805-773-5395.

04 Oct 2012
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Organic Garden at Home

 

In the world of organic gardening, there are plenty of great resources available to both new and experienced organic gardeners alike. There are many e-guides, books, videos, and other resources available.

Organic produce is better than normal produce in terms of flavor and better tasting than regular produce. You can grow your own fruits and vegetables instead of getting them from the supermarket. This set of tips contains some of the best advice for helping a good organic gardener become a great organic gardener.

Excellent Advice for the Organic Gardening Beginner

When planting seeds in containers, plant the seed roughly three times deeper than the seed’s size. However, you should always know that some seeds cannot be covered, even the slightest bit, because they need to be in direct sunlight. Examples of these are petunias and ageratum. If you are unsure about the specific needs of your seeds, you should consult your local garden center or conduct further research online. Important things to look for include water requirements, ideal soil type, and recommended sunlight exposure.

As you plot the schematics of your garden, make room to create small valleys between each row. This will assist the water in flowing straight to the plants so that you will not have to water them quite as often. By doing this you won’t have to use as much tap water in your garden, and will therefore reduce your annual water bill.

Use gutters and rain barrels or buckets to trap the water and use it to hydrate your plants. This will save you from paying for extra water your watering. Rainwater is also be more beneficial for plants. You can do something similar by developing a compost pile for the garden. This helps to recycle, recycling and increasing the produce of your garden.

You may find an old plastic laundry basket ideal for gathering vegetables from your garden. A laundry basket will act as a strainer for your produce. When you put your produce in a basket, you can then rinse it off and let it strain any excess water through the laundry basket holes.

Six Tricks for Organic Gardening

Organic gardening is the way of growing vegetables and fruits with the use of things only found in nature.

Why would one want to indulge in organic garden?

  1. You can easily make compost from garden and kitchen waste. Though this is more time-consuming than buying prepared chemical pesticides and fertilizers, it certainly helps to put garbage to good use and helps to save the environment.
  2. Organic farming does not use chemicals that may have an adverse effect on your health. This is especially important when growing vegetables. Chemical companies tell us that the chemicals they use are safe if used according to direction, but research shows that even tiny amounts of poisons absorbed through the skin can cause such things as cancer, especially in children. On the average, a child ingests four to five times more cancer-causing pesticides from foods than an adult. This can lead to various diseases later on in the child’s life. With organic gardening, these incidents are lessened. Remember, pesticides contain toxins that have only one purpose – to kill living things.
  3. Less harm to the environment. Poisons are often washed into our waterways, causing death to the native fish and polluting their habitat.
  4. Organic farming practices help prevent the loss of topsoil through erosion. The Soil Conservation Service says that an estimated 30 – 32 billion tons of soil erodes from United States farmlands every year.
  5. Cost savings. One does not need to buy costly chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic gardening. Many organic recipes for the control of pest and disease come straight from the kitchen cupboard. Sometimes other plants can be grown as companions to the main crop. An example of this is the marigold, which helps to repel aphids from vegetables. Mixing 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap and 1 cup of cooking oil can make a cheap garden pest spray. Put 3 tablespoons of this mixture in 1 quart of water and spray on plants.
  6. A simple mulch of pine needles will help to suppress the growth of weeds as well as keeping the moisture in.
    Organic gardening practices help to keep the environment safe for future generations.

Ideas to Grow a Garden the Organic Way

  • Plant strawberries for your children in the organic garden.
  • Children love to snap up these sweet juicy fruits for themselves and will be more willing to eat other foods you’ve planted as well.
  • Try to put aspirin water for fighting plant diseases. Dissolve 1 aspirin (1.5 pills per gallon of water) in a plant disease fighting solution. You can just spray the solution on your plants to assist them in warding off diseases. The process can be repeated every three weeks.
  • Keep your gardening tools handy to work more efficiently.
  • This also gives your flowers appear beautiful and finished all year long.
  • Coffee grounds are a great mixed in with your soil. Coffee grounds contain many of the essential nitrogenous nutrients that growing plants need
  • Spacing is an important factor in gardening. You can easily underestimate how much space you need when they begin to grow. Plan your garden carefully and put an appropriate amount of distance between the seeds.
  • Do you want to know how to kill weeds naturally? You need many layers of newspapers. Weeds cannot grow without sunlight. The newspaper will block sunlight and weeds because they no longer receive any sunlight. Newspapers tend to break down nicely over time to become part of the compost. You can cover the newspapers with mulch on top for aesthetic reasons
  • Fill this jar up with beer to about one inch below the top of the jar. The beer will attract the slugs and they end up trapped.
  • Create a raised bed for your organic garden out of stone, brick or untreated wood. Choose a wood that is resistant to rot and is untreated. The most popular options for this type of project are cypress, locust and cypress wood. In order to avoid toxic substances from getting into the ground and perhaps into your vegetables, don’t use treated wood since its chemicals can leech into the food crops and soil. If you have to use treated wood, consider using a liner to keep chemicals out of the soil.
  • If you sell your crops and label them organic, you should become a certified organic gardener. This will up your sales and prove to your loyal customers that what they have been getting the best possible food that you possibly could get.
  • Add mulch to your soil healthy. The mulch in a protection for the soil underneath. Mulch will keep the soil at an ideal temperature and protect your roots. It helps the soil retain moisture in the evaporation rate. This can also help control the weeds.
  • You may be able to skip watering for an entire day if rain is on the pending weather
  • When you are purchasing tomato seedlings for your organic garden, keep an eye on lush green starts with root systems that are bad. These starts will stick to the seedlings for quite some time, and the seedling won’t start to grow until these starts have gone
  • You will no longer have to purchase your produce. Use what you learn from this article in order to grow your own vegetables and fruits.

In conclusion, the tips that you have read above should have you well on the path towards becoming the best organic gardener you can be. There are many resources available; you just have to learn how to find and use them. Take what you have learned and use it make your garden as successful as you can.

Ready to start your own organic garden at home? Contact us for a Free Consultation 805-773-5395.

26 Sep 2012
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You Can Be Successful At Organic Gardening

 

Organic gardening has become very popular in recent years as people start to understand the consequences of corporate farming techniques. Many people who choose to live this lifestyle grow their own plants and herbs, so they can benefit from them. Organic produce is both nutritious and tasty, far surpassing the typical supermarket selection of fruits and vegetables. Rather than purchasing it from stores, you can choose to grow it yourself. This article will get you started with the knowledge you need to construct your personal organic garden.

Organic Gardening And You – Let’s Get Started!

In an organic garden, ruffle any seedlings with a piece of cardboard, or even your hand, a couple times each day. It sounds weird, but research has shown that handling the seedling like this often will make them grow bigger than seedlings that are ignored.

Open your imagination as to what type of plants you would like to plant into your organic garden. Treat plants that thrive in acid to some mulch. These kinds of plants will do better if they are mulched with a nice thick layer of needles from a pine tree during the fall season each year. The needles will decompose and transfer their acidity to the soil.

Help Your Backyard Plants Get the Nutrients They Need

All plants require certain nutrients for good growth. Carbon and oxygen are taken in through the leaves during photosynthesis, while the rest of the required nutrients normally are taken up through the roots. Most nutrients and water are taken up through the very fine roots called root hairs. These are very small, but are extremely numerous and effective in nutrient uptake. The more soil the roots are able to penetrate, the more potential they have to contact needed nutrients and water. Therefore, providing a non-compacted, well-drained soil is important for optimum growth of most plant species.

These tips will help your plants develop healthy root systems for maximum nutrient uptake:

Do not work in your garden when the soil is wet. Working the soil when it is too wet causes compaction which makes soil particles clump together, reducing the pore space between particles. This makes it more difficult for roots to penetrate the soil and leads to reduced water infiltration and increased runoff. While it may be tempting on those warm early spring days to dig up the garden, you should wait. The right time to work in your garden is when the soil crumbles slightly when you squeeze it in your hand.

Add organic matter to your soil. Organic matter is extremely important in improving soil structure and increasing pore space. Organic matter improves the ability of the soil to hold moisture during dry spells. Worms thrive on soil organic matter and are excellent at improving the structure of the soil through their tunneling activities. Also, their castings or excrement is an excellent source of plant nutrients. Compost and peat moss are both excellent sources of organic matter. Any time you use fresh vegetables in your cooking, take a moment after your meal preparation to finely chop any excess pieces and place them in your garden. As the chopped up vegetables compost, they will give your soil good nourishment. Of course, if you have a large amount of vegetable scraps, you should compost them in a compost heap, but small amounts of scraps can go directly to the soil.

Mulch your soil. Organic mulches such as bark chips or grass clippings help protect your soil from the impact of raindrops. They prevent crusting of the soil surface. Crusting of the soil can prevent seeds from sprouting and reduces infiltration of water into the soil. As mulch decomposes, it also adds more organic matter to the soil. Remember that some mulches will lower the pH (the acidity of the soil), making some nutrients less available.

Using a good amount of mulch is a wonderful method to conserve water in your garden at home. A greater amount of mulch means less frequent watering of the garden. Mulch can be either purchased from a store or you can use organic materials from your yard, including yard clippings, newspapers, or even dried leaves. It doesn’t matter as long as you have enough. Use raised beds for a garden if your yard has heavy, poorly drained soils. Raised beds can be made using tillage equipment. You can make permanent beds with rot-resistant wood, filled with a mixture of soil and organic matter. But, you may decide that growing plants tolerant of wet conditions is a less troublesome, more rewarding experience! If you treat your soil well, your plants should develop extensive healthy roots capable of taking up the required plant nutrients.

Annually rotate your garden. When similar plants are planted in pretty much the same spot every single year, this can cause fungal and disease growth. Plants of the same type will be vulnerable the next season. If you change things up on a regular basis by varying your planting locations, you take advantage of a natural methodology to avoid fungus and disease problems.

Grow items that are high in value, either in terms of money or in terms of your love for them. No two people are going to agree on the exact value of a plant because personal preferences vary. If you can grow plants that are costly in-store, there will be a savings. So, plant things that you love and enjoy their results.

To be most efficient in your gardening, always keep your tools close at hand. Put them into a basket you carry with you, or use an apron with many pockets and hanging loops. Tools you’ll need to garden efficiently include towels, gloves, pruning shears and other plant-specific tools.

Organic gardening sounds like a new fad but in fact it is the tried and true method that existed long ago before the advent of chemicals. In olden days, pilgrims were encouraged to plant a fish with their seeds when they sowed them into the ground. To help your organic garden along, you should start the previous year by making a compost pile. This will reduce your garbage production, reuse old refuse and recycle your fertilizer, leading to a more abundant garden.

There’s no need to buy produce that’s not up to standard. Apply what you’ve learned in this article today, and start growing your own produce. The more you know about the ins and outs of organic gardening, the more effective you’ll be.

Looking for more organic gardening ideas? talk to an Expert! Call 805-773-5395.

13 Sep 2012
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Gardening Tricks That Can Work For Anyone

 

Gardening serves different purposes for many people. For some, gardening is really a means of relaxation, because they find it therapeutic to produce beautiful flower arrangements and provide new life to flowers. Others use gardening as a way of sustenance, growing their own fruits and vegetables for consumption. This article focuses on the Bonsai tree due to its miniature size and popularity as a household potting plant. Here are some gardening tricks that will work for everyone.

Gardening tricks for miniature plants

Picking a good indoor plant requires a little bit of research. When looking at plants to keep indoors it’s necessary to learn about its fragrance, growth rate, how quickly it loses leaves and other nuisances.

Do not allow the garden to go without water. Many people have unrealistic expectations of watering the garden after work every day, but life gets in the way and that is the end of the garden. Install a sprinkler system to ensure the garden gets enough water. Although this does add expense to the garden, the convenience of it is well worth the money.

Ladybugs are not only cute bugs, but in fact are of great benefit to your gardens. They eat insects called aphids that are notorious for destroying the stems and leaves of your plants. Having a limited number of ladybugs in your garden can help keep the aphid population at bay.

Collect your dirt for a soil analysis to see the nutrients your soil needs. You can get this tested at a local university’s agriculture department, usually for a fee. The fee is well worth it usually because then you will know what nutrients your dirt needs to have a garden that is successful.

An easy way to build up layers of plant materials for your compost pile is by putting the material in large plastic garbage bags. This can be done in the fall season after you have raked leaves in your yard. Store the bagged leaves in a warm place. When spring arrives, you will have perfect soil material to add to your compost pile.

If your tomato plants have long branches that are not flowering or producing fruit, go ahead and pinch them off. It won’t hurt the plant, but will actually help. Pruning back the branches that are not producing fruit allows the plant to focus its energy and nutrients on producing larger and more flavorful fruit.

Before planting anything, clean up as much as possible the area where you plan on having flowers or any other delicate plants. Remove all the weeds and the grass if you think it is necessary. Your flowers should not have any competitors for the nutrients they need while they grow.

More gardening tricks to consider

  • Draw your fingernails across a bar of soap, to seal the undersides of the nails off. This will prevent dirt from becoming trapped underneath them when you are gardening. When you are finished in the garden, you are able to clean your nails with a nailbrush to remove the soap.
  • Make use of a mixture of vinegar, rubbing alcohol, and water to get rid of salt deposits. If you are having a problem of salt buildup on your clay pots, mix equal parts white wine vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water inside a spray bottle. Spray around the deposits and they will wash away with ease. Make sure to allow the pots dry thoroughly before use.
  • Grow sweet basil easily. Basil is definitely an annual herb, and incredibly responsive to cold, so try growing it in a pot in a sunny kitchen window. Continuous harvesting of the plant encourages growth so be sure to select the top leaves constantly. It can be grown within the garden, but watch out for lower night-time temperatures as this will cause the whole plant to wilt as well as die.
  • Recycled newspaper can be used within the garden. Newspapers are eco-friendly additions to a garden that can keep weeds at bay and help your soil retain important moisture. Simply wet some newspaper, and place it around the bases of your garden plants. Sprinkle with soil to ensure the paper does not blow away. It will smother any weed seedlings attempting to emerge and assist the soil hold onto its moisture.
  • If space is a problem, try vertical gardening. Despite the limited space of condos and townhouses, lots of people have thriving gardens within the small area they have using vertical gardening. By using trellised gardens one can grow pole beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers in a tiny place during the summer, and in the fall a wide variety of greens can be grown within the same space.

To help keep dirt from getting under your fingernails while gardening, reach for a bar of soap beforehand! Around we all love gardening, none of us enjoy all that soil that gets stuck under our nails that can be so challenging to remove. Simply claw a bar of soap before you begin employed in your garden and when finished, run both hands under water and as the soap washes away, the same is true the dirt!

Miniature plants can be great additions to a personal household. Aesthetically pleasing, Bonsai trees can be very meditative to prune to personal preference. While this article covers mainly Bonsai trees, the possibilities for gardening or utilizing smaller plants indoors are limitless. Potted plants cover a wide variety of species, from flowers to herbs.

In conclusion, lots of people have different reasons for gardening. Some garden for relaxation, while other garden for food. Should you remember the gardening tricks from this article, you may create an outdoor that meets your requirements. Whether you intend to grow a beautiful floral landscape, or perhaps a personal grocery in your back yard.

Looking for more gardening tricks? Contact us today! evergreen-contact

26 Aug 2012
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Gardening: Improve Your Garden With This Useful Information


Gardening not only benefits you physically and emotionally, it can also feed your family and drive a business. You can determine all the things that you need so that you don’t waste any money on equipment that isn’t needed, or the wrong seeds for your type of environment.

Make sure you protect your knees well while you are gardening. Bending over for a long while is quite difficult for a lot of people. Kneeling is a preferred way to get to your plants while minimizing back pain. You can purchase an inexpensive kneeling pad for gardening in order to protect your knees.

Consider what particular vegetables are most often on your dining room table and include them when you plan your garden. By planting your own vegetables, you will save a lot of money at the grocery store and also experience fresher, better-tasting food. It is pointless to grow an item your family or you won’t eat, particularly if your space is limited.

If you have salt spots on your clay pots, try using a mixture of rubbing alcohol and vinegar. It is common for build-ups of salt to accumulate over long periods of time on pots made of clay. Clean the pot with a mixture of white vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water measured equally into a spray bottle. Scrub it down with any brush you happen to have handy, and the salt will come right off. Use some clear water to rinse the pot before planting anything else in it.

Water your garden wisely. Put down the watering can or garden hose, and spread out a time-saving soaker hose instead. Keeping the water pressure low on your soaking hose will help avoid harm to tender plants. You can go about your business and leave your soaker hose at work for an hour or two.

Gardening Woes? Helpful Information To Improve It!

There are an immense number of resources available that you can use to obtain high quality gardening. Here are the best tips in one place in order to take up gardening.

• The handles of your gardening tools can be used as a convenient measuring instrument. Just lay your tool down on the floor next to the handles. Use a permanent marker to label the distances.

• You don’t need a costly chemical solution to deal with powdery mildew on plants. Mix a little liquid soap and baking soda into water. Spray this mix on plants every week and the mildew is gone. This method is not going to cause any damages to your plants and it will eliminate the mildew in a short amount of time.

• When fall has arrived, it’s time to start planting all of your fall edibles. A hollowed out pumpkin can become a planting container instead of clay pots. Once you cut an opening at the top of the pumpkin and scoop out the insides, spray the edges and inside with Wilt-Pruf to prevent rotting.

• Don’t cut your grass too short. If you leave a bit more height, the roots will go down deeper into the dirt, which makes the grass less prone to drying and other hazards. Short grass is more prone to getting dried out and dead grass.

• Try “boiling” weeds in your garden with boiling water to get rid of them. Boiling water in a safe herbicide which won’t damage your garden or your body. Boiling water can hurt the weed roots and will inhibit future growth.

• Moisture on plants is a sure way to attract disease. Fungi are a very common problem in the world of gardening. It is possible to get rid of fungi after it appears with anti-fungal sprays, but the key is to treat your garden before any problems arise.

• Do you enjoy fresh mint leaves but hate how they grow so fast and take over your entire garden? You can stunt the growth by planting them inside a pot or super-sized bowl. You can plant the container into the soil if you want to, but the walls of the container will hold the roots captive, and make sure that the plant doesn’t run rampant in your garden.

• You should divide your irises. You can increase your stock of irises by dividing the overgrown clumps. The bulbs, and once you put them back into the earth; they will typically flower the following year. Use a knife to divide rhizomes. Cut new pieces from the outside then throw away the remaining center. Each new piece should possess at least one healthy offshoot. Replant your pieces as soon as you have finished the cuttings.

• If you are just getting into gardening, make sure you read and follow all the directions on any tool or chemical you use. If you miss this easy step, you expose yourself to safety hazards or a risk of experiencing adverse reactions. Keep yourself safe and always follow directions.

Gardening is an entertaining and rewarding activity. The greater your knowledge, the greater will be your gardening abilities. Research, hard work, and some dedication are the main requirements. Use all the information available to you. Try using these tips so you can get a better gardening experience! Once you see the literal fruits of your labors, the time and effort you’ve invested will seem worthwhile.

Need a jump start with your gardening? Contact Evergreen Landscaping for a free consultation, 805-773-5395.

16 Aug 2012
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Home Gardening and Landscaping Ideas

During the last couple of years home gardening has become an increasingly popular past-time and hobby. Actually, research has shown that home gardening is at an all-time high in America at this time. In the USA 8 from 10 households take part in some form of home gardening activity. Obviously from the number of individuals which are doing the work, home gardening is one of the most widely used outdoor recreation in nation.

No time is better than the present. You probably have a lot of inquiries on how to start and what to do, but no worries, this article has you covered. It contains some great information about home gardening. And before you know it you will be on your way to growing an amazing garden.

Home Gardening and Landscaping Ideas

Many people that try their hand at home gardening plant flowers; at least they begin out planting flowers anyway. Roses will probably be the very first thought into any gardeners mind, but roses will require extra time and work, and really should probably be left to people who’ve gardened before. When planting flowers many choices can be found, for example bulbs, perennials, and annuals.

Edible vegetation is another big thing in home gardening. Perhaps the best thing about edibles is the reward of eating them. The list of edible plants that gardeners can grow at home is endless. Some of the most common edible plants in the vegetable arena are potatoes, peas, corn, carrots, squash, and cucumber. Many gardeners go for fruits, such as, watermelons, tomatoes, peaches, plums, apples, pears, and apricots. Small fruits, such as strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries often require less work and less space. These are making them much more feasible for home gardening.

Herbs, most often used as spices in cooking, are growing in popularity every single day. The most grown include basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, and cilantro. Probably the most essential things to watch whenever planting edibles is insects and disease. In the end, you don’t want to lose out on the feast you’re going to get to savor from healthy plants.

Many people don’t realize it, but landscaping is a form of home gardening. Landscaping covers many different areas and types of gardening. You may also classify mowing your lawn as landscaping! Keeping in the line of grasses, landscaping usually involves decorative grasses, and the great thing about them is they don’t take much work for upkeep. Kinds of grass include monkey grass, pampas, buffalo grass, flame grass, and ornamental millet. Landscaping is not just limited to plant life. Additionally, it includes anything completed to a yard for decoration, for example adding rocks or stones, placing a small pond, statutes, or a waterfall.

Learning More about Home Gardening and Landscaping

Humidity might be needed by some houseplants. You can create humidity in any environment by grouping different plants together in one pot, or replanting the specimen into a larger pot and filling the gap in with compost or stones. You can also provide the requisite humidity for your houseplants by using a spray bottle to mist it one or two times per day.

Clay is difficult to dig through with a shovel, as it is sticky and compact. To make working in clay easier, rub the shovel with floor or car wax and then buff it with a cloth. This will both make the clay fall off of the surface, and prevent the surface from rusting.

Collect rainwater for your plants to become more ecologically friendly. Using a barrel or any sort of container to collect any amount of rainwater can not only save you money on your water bill every month, but you are using a natural resource as well. Bear in mind this tip to have a chemical-free garden while saving money.

When deciding on which plants to include in your home gardening projects, consider evergreens which produce colorful berries. These types of trees can offer your garden a splash of color, especially during the winter when all other plants and trees have lost their hues. Some evergreens that will add life to your yard in the wintertime are the American Cranberrybush, Common Snowberry, Winterberry, and American holly.

There isn’t much difference between home gardening and gardening anywhere else. Plants still have to be planted inside a good location. The plants still need water plus they still require the same nutrients. Home gardening shouldn’t cause anyone to get nervous. Should you choose decide to use homing gardening and finding out that you simply don’t possess a green thumb, don’t get discouraged.

After reading this article, you should be well on your way to growing a fantastic garden. If you think that you were ready before, you should see yourself now. Acquire some information, read up on home gardening, and try it again the next planting season. Hopefully, the tips that were provided gave you some pointers that will help you get started with your gardening adventures so that you can begin growing like a pro.

Need a jump start with your home gardening? Call 805-773-5395 for a Free Consultation or 

10 Aug 2012
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Container Gardening for City Dweller

Sometimes, the urge to garden might be stopped by other circumstances, such as living arrangements or space constrictions, but container gardening can help you. If you live in an apartment, you obviously can’t grow a garden, as you don’t have a back or front yard! One of the best solutions for this problem is to start container gardening. You can try sitting them near the window or on your balcony, or even hanging them. Just a few containers and your whole living area will look much more beautiful and serene. Even though you miss out on the full garden experience, there are benefits to container gardening.

Getting Started in Container Gardening

One benefit of growing in small containers is the fact that you can move them around to suit your needs. If you rearrange your furniture and feel that it would look nice better if it were in the other area, you can just move it over. No transplanting or labor required! As long as the lighting is about the same, your plant won’t mind moving at all. Another benefit of container gardening is the fact that you can adapt it to any environment. Depending on the type of soil you fill it with and where you place it.

container gardening

One way to give container gardening an interesting look is to hang them at different heights. Hanging plants is a great use of space and clears up your counters and windowsills. This is called “vertical gardening”. If you pull it off right, you can make a beautiful arrangement of plants while conserving your valuable space. If you live in an apartment, you know how important it is to conserve space! One method of vertical gardening is the use of a wooden stepladder. If painted correctly, you can arrange all the plants on it in a stylish cascade of color.

A downside to container plants is that you can’t use an irrigation system. Thus, have to go around and water your plants one at a time. However, the square footage for container plants is much less than that of an actual garden, so the time spent on maintenance and watering is more balanced. You won’t have to worry about weeds or pests. It is important that you don’t over-water your container plants. This can be just as fatal to their health as under-watering.

When choosing containers for your plants, buy some extra containers in case it breaks or other unforeseeable circumstances. Change things up by buying different sizes, shapes, and colors. Try to make sure that they complement each other. Plastic containers are the best and require the least amount of watering. But if you want clay or earthen pots then you should line the inside with plastic. This helps it retain water more, as the clay will soak up water.

container gardening

Another thing to remember when buying pots is the fact that the size of the pot will ultimately constrict the size of the plant. In other words, the smaller the pot, the smaller the plant. Make a careful choice of pots according to what you wish to grow in each one. If you search for the plant you chose on the internet, you should be able to find specifications as to how much root space it should be given. This can even be an advantage for you if you choose a plant that can grow very large. If you have a limited amount of space for it, you can constrict it by choosing a pot that isn’t large enough to support huge amounts of growth.

Tools for your Container Gardening

A lot of gardeners find the hobby to be both relaxing and therapeutic. Without the right information, though, it can be confusing. Gardeners have to know not only how to do the actual gardening, but what tools and equipment are most useful. Spend some time relaxing in the sun, tending your garden.

If you’re growing veggies in the garden, they need to be in a spot that lets them get about six hours of sun daily. Many veggies require this amount to properly grow at a faster pace. This is true of some flowers.

 

Two items you need to invest in when working in a garden are a wheelbarrow, and a kneeling stool. Using a large portion of your time near or on the ground working on your garden puts a huge strain on your knees. Therefore, having a portable, lightweight garden stool will greatly assist you in making gardening easier on them. A wheelbarrow will help you move heavy items without hurting your back so ensure that you invest in one promptly.

In a dark area, pre-soak your seeds overnight. Put a few seeds in a small container and fill it near to the top with water. This lets water soak into the seeds, giving them an extra boost of hydration when they start growing. The seeds will most likely have a greater chance of maturing and surviving.

As you have learned from this article, container gardening can seem like quite the task. Yet, it is manageable if you know what you’re doing. If the benefits of container gardening sound appealing to you, then you should start planning out your container garden today. If you write a list of all the plants you desire to have, you can do the necessary research. Find out what size and shape of pots you should get. After that, it’s just a matter of arranging them in a way that makes your home look the nicest.

If you have children, then container gardening can be a great hobby for your family to bond with each other. Most children enjoy choosing the plants and flowers that will go in the garden. Not only do most kids enjoy getting dirty, they will also take extra pride in everything you grow together.

Your garden will start giving you enjoyment after you realize you have the abilities to make it happen. A beautiful garden requires the right tools, soil, water and sunlight. If you need more container gardening assistance, contact us today! Or call 805-773-5395.