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Best Mulch for your Garden

Gardening is an incredible method of relaxing. There are a variety of ways to find peace and relaxation on a personal level. Gardening is a great way to do so. You will not need to spend a lot of money to grow your garden, and it provides many benefits. The best return on your investment is the feeling of happiness and tranquility from growing your own greenery. Many people have enjoyed the hobby of gardening for many years. It can be done for sheer pleasure or it can be done to feed a family. This article brings more of the joy of gardening to your life, especially if you nurture your plants with the best mulch for your garden.

There are many different types of mulch to choose from these days, but you don’t need to narrow down the different options if you are just looking for something that will work for everything. There are some mulches made from compost, while others are made from hay, but you will usually get a combination of a few different options when you’re looking for an all-purpose solution. Let’s take a look at some of the main features that you should be looking to get the best mulch that you can use for any new project.

Best Mulch for you Garden

Organic Mulches

The first thing you should look at when it comes to mulch is whether or not the mulch comes from organic materials. Organic mulches tend to improve the soil in the surrounding area because they don’t come with all of the inorganic materials, such as stones and plastic, that are found in many of the mulches sold in stores today. By going with a natural option, you can make sure that you are improving the health of your yard rather than destroying it.

Bark

Bark is usually the materials that you will want to make up most of your mulch. It can be shredded, chipped, or put together in chunks, and you also have to make a decision between pine, hardwood, and other types of trees. The best thing about bark mulch is that it will last a long time and it looks very attractive in any setting.

Dark Mulches

One last thing to remember is that you will want to stick with dark mulches more often than not. Dark mulches tend to absorb heat much more efficiently than their lighter counterparts, and the good news is that dark mulch and bark-based mulch are usually one in the same. You may find that the plants in the surrounding area become overheated if you go with lighter mulch. The plants will have to pick up the slack for absorbing the heat during the hot summer months. You should definitely try to avoid over-decorative mulches, such as white stones.

More gardening tips

Make use of root cuttings to create many new plants. Wait until winter when the roots are dormant before cutting them. The roots that should be cut are the biggest and thickest ones, use some hedge clippers or a sharp knife. Each root should be cut into lengths of about two inches. Fill seed trays with grit and moist peat, and gently lay the cut roots on the surface. Cover up the roots with a thinner layer of the peat mixture. Place your seed tray in a cool location and new seedlings will appear in about a month’s time. Plant each seedling in its own small pot until they grow big enough for outdoor planting.

Certain houseplants need to be re-potted; while others hate it when you disturb their roots. You can easily find out which plants need to be re-potted by turning each plant upside down, then tapping the pot until the plant frees itself from the pot and drops out. If the root structure is pushing out against the edges of the soil, you should transfer the plant to a larger pot. On the other hand, if only a minuscule amount of roots are showing or none at all, then your plant will be all right in the pot it was already in.

As previously mentioned, gardening is something that has been enjoyed by many throughout the centuries. At one time, most people saw gardening as the sole means of providing food for their family. Today it could be used for profit, need or pleasure. Whatever reason pulls you in to gardening, the information you have read in this article should help you to enjoy the process just that much more. Appreciate the pleasures of your gardening habit.

Need to learn how to choose the best mulch for your garden? Call 805-773-5395

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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.

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