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Posts Tagged ‘Gardening’

Most every gardener strives to grow the best, most stunning flowers around, but that goal is hard to get hold of. Whether you want to raise prize-winning blooms or just have a home garden filled with of beautiful flowers, there are some things you can do in order to ensure your garden is in the best shape possible.

Soil chemistry counts
The chemical make-up of the soil is one of the biggest factors that contribute to the success or failure of your garden. If the soil in your planting beds is poor in nutrients, it is unlikely that your plants will thrive or produce those beautiful flowers that you want until you enrich the soil with the nutrition the plants need.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the soil chemistry is the same all over your yard. It is important to test the soil in each area of your property that you plan to plants, especially if the areas are away from each other. This can be important if part of your property is on a slope, or if it has been used for other things in the past.

The slope of the land and the soil type in your area are important considerations to make. A complete analysis of the soil in your yard will give you a good place to starts and a help you to monitor the quality of the soil as your garden matures.

Know what your plants will need to thrive
You probably already have an idea about what you want to plant in your garden, so it is important that you understand what those plants will require in order to grow and flourish. Although many types of annuals, perennials, and bulbs can grow and thrive in a broad range of soil and weather conditions, others can have special requirements for food, water, and soil conditions.

For example, if you are interested I n cultivating roses in your garden, you will need to know the pH level of your soil, and adjust it if you need to. Roses are commonly acid loving plants, and therefore they will not thrive in soil with a higher alkaline level. Getting some humus and tilling it into the soil can amend alkaline soil. If the humus does not do the job, adding sulfur to the soil can raise the acidity level.
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Gardening can add more quality to the way you live and even to some extent may also add quantity to one’s life. There are many benefits of gardening, particularly organic gardening that can make one can forget about whatever is bothering him or her.

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 gardening?

1. Organic gardening is less boring.

One can easily make his own compost from garden and kitchen waste. Though this is a bit more time-consuming than buying prepared chemical pesticides and fertilizers, it would surely be one rewarding activity.

2. Less health harming chemicals on the food that you and your family may consume.

Pesticides contain toxins that have only one purpose kill living things. One of the best known benefits of organic gardening is the zero tolerance for pesticide use. This is the most widely know reason for the boom of organic gardening and is also the best of what we get from the benefits of organic gardening.

3. Less harm to the environment.

Organic gardening has residual effect on ground water. The Environmental Protection Agency says that 38 states have cases of contaminated ground water.

The protection of the topsoil from erosion is another concern dealt with the practice of organic gardening.

The Soil Conservation Service says that an estimated 30 – 32 billion tons of soil erodes from United States farmlands every year. Commercial farming causes this.

4. Cost savings

One does need to buy costly chemical fertilizers and pesticides with organic gardening. One example of organic fertilizer that one could make use of is as lowly as the stale coffee and coffee grounds. If one wishes to attract off aphids from vegetables, plant marigolds.

One frugal garden pest spray could be concocted through mixing 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap and 1 cup of cooking oil. Put 3 tablespoons of this mixture in 1 quart of water and spray on plants.
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When most people think of bulbs they often think of daffodils or other similar flowers. However, the bulbous variey of flowers goes well beyond that.

While tulips, hyacinths and snowdrops also belong with the ‘true’ bulb family, there are many flowers that have corms, rhizomes or tubers. These include agapanthus and hippeastrums, dahlias, cannas and other lilies, irises, begonias, anemones and amaryllis, to name just a few.

Not only do bulbs do the work of reproducing the plant, they store food for those months when the leaves die and the plant is dormant. Thus, when the conditions are right the new plant has all it needs to thrust new shoots up into the sunlight.

Most bulbs need moist, rich, free draining soil and a sunny position to grow happily. Many flower in the spring, but such is their diversity, it is possible to have bulbs flowering in every month of the year.

To grow bulbs such as tulips in a temperate region, keep them in the refrigerator for four to eight weeks before planting out at the coldest time of year. In cold ares, plant in late autumn. Tulips like warm, dry summers alkaline soil. They may be affected by aphids, or a fungal condition called ‘tulip fire’ if there is too much moisture about. Their vibrant colors make them well worth a place in the garden.

Bulbs will usually do well if their natural habitat is approximated in the garden. For instance, daffodils are meadow flowers, so like plenty of sun. They will naturalize successfully in the lawn and flower early before the grass becomes too competitive. It’s best not to mow for at least six weeks after the flowers die, because the leaves provide food to the bulb for next years’ growth.

Woodland bulbs like bluebells and snowdrops will do better in a semi-shaded or a dappled sun position. They do well under deciduous trees. Spring-flowering bulbs may be planted near a well-used path or where they can be seen from a window to save trekking over soggy lawns to admire them.
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Many of today’s new homeowners are looking for environmentally friendly solutions to yard maintenance. Reel lawnmowers are not a new idea, but they are gaining in popularity. Environmentally conscious homeowners are giving up their self-propelled, petroleum powered mowers for the old fashioned, muscle powered versions in record numbers.

Reel lawnmowers differ from typical lawnmowers in several important ways. Invented in 1830 by Edwin Budding, the manual push mower allowed even the middle class to maintain a lawn easily. Mr. Budding’s lawnmower didn’t have an engine and was self-propelled the old fashioned way, you propelled it yourself. The design is fairly simple; several blades are mounted on a circular frame. The blades spin around, perpendicular to the ground, cutting the grass as they pass. Early models were made of steel and were quite heavy and difficult to push. Today’s lighter plastics and metals make the newer reel mowers much easier to use than their predecessors.

Reel mowers are attractive to environmentally conscious homeowners for several reasons. First, they don’t use gasoline and oil, so they have no harmful emissions. Accidents are less frequent with reel lawnmowers as well. Once the user stops pushing them, the blades stop spinning. Engine powered lawnmowers cause millions of accidents annually, but accidents caused by reel mowers are far less frequent, and usually much less severe.

Reel mowers are typically less expensive to purchase and maintain than engine mowers, making them attractive to the budget conscious consumer. Upkeep consists of a little lubricant and occasional blade sharpening. Initial purchase prices are a fraction of the souped up rotary mowers on the market today. Manual push mowers are great for exercise as well, with many users substituting a good lawn mowing session for one of their weekly jogs.

Another benefit of using a reel mower is noise reduction. Except for the occasional grunt of the user, these mowers are virtually silent. Grass cutting at midnight and early in the morning without disturbing the neighbors is a possibility with reel mowers.
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