Grow Orchids Easily

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Growing Orchids Is So Easy!

I had always believed that to grow orchids would be exceedingly difficult… tender, delicate and temperamental… and so expensive as to be entirely out of reach of the average person. But I have learned that none of these things are true. Orchids are within the means of any of us. There are reasonably priced plants as well as expensive ones, and because the plants remain handsome and increase in size from year to year they are an investment that brings thrilling dividends. This article is about orchid flower gardening made easy.

As for their reputed delicacy, the fact is orchids are remarkably tough and hardy. Indeed. they are freer from disease than any other plant I can think of. The

chief requirement to grow orchids is to learn the conditions under which they thrive in their native haunts and to approach those conditions as closely as possible in the home or greenhouse.

Perhaps the most important condition is proper light. Orchids, like African violets, want light but not glaring sun, in other words, filtered sunlight. Keep in mind that their native habitat is jungle "rain forests," where dense tropical vegetation allows only filtered sunlight to penetrate. Try growing an orchid plant next to your African violet in a window with a north or east exposure and watch it grow! But if you must use a window where the sunlight is too strong filter the sun with Venetian blinds or place the plant so that it receives maximum light but not direct sun.

In the greenhouse, the glare of full sun can be cut by the use of roller blinds or by painting shading on the outside of the glass, especially on south and west sides. I simply use a light coat of white enamel paint, then stipple it with a sponge.

Second only in importance to light is humidity. In tropical jungles, the air is very humid, so it follows that moisture in the air is a necessity. The why of this is readily seen. Orchids are epiphytes, usually growing upon logs or stumps (epi means above or on, phite means plant). Their roots are mostly aerial, and they take their nourishment mainly from the moisture in the air (possibly also from minerals in the decaying humus with which their roots come in contact, although they are not parasites, as is often thought).
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In the greenhouse, humidity is achieved by hosing the floor and benches in the morning, at noon and in midafternoon. As this moisture evaporates into the air, it creates the needed humidity. In my own greenhouse, I have a small automatic humidity system, geared to an adjustable temperature dial, which throws a fine mist spray under the benches when the temperature reaches a certain point. This is a tremendous help, because I am away all day and can’t do the sprinkling needed in hot dry weather. More sprinkling, of course, is needed on hot, dry days than on dull, cloudy ones.

Another humidity aid in the greenhouse is to place pans of water on the floor, particularly in front of or on top of the heater. I keep a pan of water directly in front of my electric heater, and the amount of evaporation from this pan is surprising.

If you grow orchids in the home, you can achieve humidity by placing the orchid pot in a saucer of gravel and keeping the gravel moist. But do not allow the water to touch the pot, for orchids must not be set in water or allowed to become soggy. Good drainage is essential. Pot watering of orchid plants is needed only about once a week.

Fall Gardening Checklist

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Fall Flower And Gardening Checklist – Part 1

When Autumn comes, you have a hundred ways, to improve your garden… its looks, health, its prospects for next spring. Cool weather makes it easy to get things done: there is less rush than when you are are doing spring chores. Proper care now makes everthing easier in the spring. Here is a checklist of all gardening ideas to make it easy to be sure that everything is done. Take out your pen or pencil and mark the ideas that fit your garden, just as you make a list of things to order for fall planting.

THE LATE FLOWERS

Dahlias, chrysanthemums and roses need water now, but no fertilizer. Overfeeding may result in soft plants that may be injured by winter freezing. Dahlia roots may become too soft for storage. Dust them or spray with sulphur or an all purpose chemical to prevent mildew. Stake and tie tall plants against September winds.

LILIES

Madonna, canadense, martagon, superbum and the Washington lily, all known as base rooting, are planted in early autumn. The other, or stem-rooting kinds, are planted either in late autumn or early spring. Base rooting kinds start growing immediately. Cover the bulb top with no more than 3 inches of soil. The soil must be well drained.

PEONIES, IRIS, OTHER PERENNIALS

Peonies are also lifted, divided and replanted in autumn. The whole plant is carefully raised, the soil washed out from the roots and the plant separated into sections… each section or piece with no less than three eyes (buds); five to seven are better for there is more chance of flowering the next year. Peonies planted in fall get a good spring start.

Peonies need a rich deep soil. They should last for 25 years. Dried cattle manure, 4 parts, mixed with 1 part bone meal and worked in before planting will help, if the regular rotted manure is not available. When planting bury the buds no more than 1 inch deep. Peonies must have full sunshine for best results.

Roots of bleeding heart are handled similarly. Exceptionally brittle, they are more easily separated if allowed to dry somewhat in the sun.

Iris clumps can be, separated too, at this time. If the sections are not too small, three to four roots (rhizomes), they will flower next year.

Perennials of all kinds can be lifted, divided and replanted October to early November. Prepare the soil and incorporate manure or compost with bone meal and superphosphate before replanting.
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THE HARVEST: BULBS AND ROOTS

Cut the tops of dahlias, cannas, and tuberous begonias soon after the first frost. Leave 6 inches of a stub for handling dahlias. Begonias and cannas are stored with all possible soil on the roots to keep them from drying out. Ordinary cellar conditions are suitable.

Dahlia roots must dry slowly. Leave in a place out of the sun. When the soil dries on the roots, clean them off, reduce the old stem stub still more and store in peatmoss, ashes, or sawdust in a cool cellar or garage where they will not freeze.

Gladiolus can be lifted before frost, or as soon as the leaves turn brown. Dig with the leaves attached. Dry as soon as possible, then cut off the leaves, remove the paper-like covering from around the bulbs (corms) and, before storing, dust with an organic dust. Discard spotted and diseased corms, and the old shrivelled corms. Store in shallow boxes or mesh onion bags. Old nylon stockings do well too.

Fall Gardening Checklist

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Fall Gardening Checklist – Part 2

When preparing our flower beds and garden in the fall for the upcoming winter we do not want to forget about these! Here we review what to do now for your lawn, house plants, and planting shrubs and trees.

LAWNS

Seeding and feeding are best done now. There is less weed competition and grass grows best in most places, in autumn. Cut and remove crab grass before it sheds its seeds. Clean out other weeds too. Loosen the soil in bare patches, work in grass fertilizer or a complete plant food, then sow with a grass mixture suited to your conditions. If fall-planted grass gets an early, strong it can stand the late fall raking of leaves without damage.

Even on a good lawn, plant food and extra seed are advisable. For such "extra" growth use 3 pounds plant food and 1/4 pound grass seed to 100 square feet.

In making a new lawn in the fall, dig the area and mix peat moss and plant food with the surface soil. If extra topsoil is needed put on at least 2 inches. Rake and roll two or three times to get an even, firm surface. Sow 1/2 pound grass seed per 100 square feet. Rake and finally roll using a 200 pound roller.

HOUSE PLANTS

It’s time to take in house plants, and to dig up and pot others to be used indoors. Geraniums, actively growing petunias, and dwarf salvia are suitable. Cut away a third of the tops before digging: pot firmly, water, and keep in a warm place.

PLANTING TREES AND SHRUBS

Transplant evergreens any time in September or early October. This applies to conifers, pine, spruce, hemlock and the like and the broad-leaved kinds: rhododendrons, mountain laurel, azaleas and similar plants. All growth has matured. The plants come with a ball of soil. Set the plants at same depth they were in the nursery. Their roots are near the surface and will be injured if buried deeply. All must be watered thoroughly and the soil packed against the ball. Mix good soil with peat moss or humus plus a handful of 5-10-5 fertilizer per plant.

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Late September and October is also time for ordering and transplanting the deciduous (leaf dropping) trees and shrubs. The few possible exceptions are magnolia, birch, cherry and dogwood, although when dug from the nursery dogwood is safe.

Unless the trees or shrubs are large, a ball of soil is not necessary. Most shade and flowering trees up to 10 feet high can be transplanted bareroot. However, keep the roots moistened until planted. Pack screened soil between the roots and flood with water. Single stemmed trees planted this way should be secured to two stakes.

Fall Gardening Checklist

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Fall Gardening Checklist – Part 3

Before we wrap up this Fall Gardening Checklist series we wanted to give you a few more valuable and important tips. These are things you should also be preparing to take care of during the autumn and before the cold arrives.

VEGETABLE STORAGE

Beets, carrots, parsnips, potatoes (late) must be stored in a cool place. All except the potatoes could stay outdoors for a longer time by ridging soil over the rows in the garden. Other means of storage are pits dug in the ground and the vegetables covered with boards and hay. For small lots bushel baskets, or boxes submerged in the ground will do. Celery can be kept by covering with soil in the row. Cabbage is best dug and put in a cold cellar or pit.

Eggplant, peppers, and pumpkins must be stored where the temperature is mild. Tomatoes picked before frost and individually wrapped in newspaper will ripen in 2 weeks.

Radishes, lettuce, endive and other greens can be carried along in the garden for some time by covering each evening with cardboard, burlap, or the more enduring plastic sheeting.

COMPOST AND HUMUS

All but diseased and insect-infested material can be composted. Burn all questionable material. Leaves can be put in a separate heap if there is space, or all materials mixed in one pile. Begin with a bottom layer of coarse leaves, corn stalks, or dried stems. Next spread layer of the mixed materials 6 inches deep. Sprinkle a pound or more of any fertilizer, compost activator, or dried cow or chicken manure over 4×5 foot surface, then a thin layer of soil. Wet thoroughly.

Repeat layer by layer to build the pile. A 5 foot height is enough. The pile can be as long as desired. Keep the width to 6 feet. Mulching attachments for power tools are handy for fall work.

The humus supply in the soil is increased too, by sowing rye, or rye grass seed on areas left vacant by removal of crops in the garden. Three pounds per 1,000 square feet is ample. Rake the seed in, as in lawn making. Rolling is not necessary.

SOIL IMPROVEMENT

Before hard frost threatens, dig the soil and leave rough over winter. Where manure or compost is available, spread and dig in. Stiff soil is especially benefited. If soil needs lime, this is applied as ground, or pulverized limestone, 3 pounds per 100 square feet. It is merely spread over the surface after digging.

Soil on sloping ground must be covered to prevent washing. A cover crop of rye, a layer of compost, leaves, hay or the like will prevent erosion. Fall is a good time to dig in soil conditioners.

PROTECTION

In winter protection of outdoor hardy and semi-hardy plants, no covering is applied until all growth has ceased. Growth is ended by frost which opens tissue and prepares the plants for winter. Roses can be covered after several frosts, by mounding the soil up and around the base of the stems. Not all northern rose growers agree on covering, but I prefer it. The pink spirea (caryopteris), shrubs like the crape myrtle of the South, and those of similar tenderness are also covered.

The stems are tied loosely together with soft twine or burlap strips and wrapped with burlap. Where winters are severe, hay is used inside first, then burlap, or chicken wire surrounding the shrub. Fill with dry leaves and top with a piece of canvas. An inverted bushel basket stuffed with leaves is the best for low plants.

Climbing roses are protected where the winter temperatures go below zero. The stems are taken down from their sup-ports, tied together, laid on the ground and covered with 3 inches of soil.

It’s a practice in extremely cold sections to loosen the roots on one side and tip the whole plant over into a trench. No bending can be done when the stems are frozen. They will snap off. So do it early. Pansies and English daisies are covered with marsh (salt) hay.

EVERGREENS

These are protected in a different way and for a different reason. Exposed to winds, the leaves dry out, especially if the roots are in frozen soil. Protection consists in covering the root area with a mulch of leaves, and using a wind barrier of some sort. Burlap attached to stakes, branches of pines pushed into the ground, or smaller ones tied to several stems of the plants serve to break the wind.

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PERENNIAL PROTECTION

Last to be covered are strawberries, hardy perennials, and rock garden plants. This is best done when ground is frozen. Covered while still soft, the plants will rot.

Soft crowned plants: delphinium, columbine, liatris, anchusa, are best covered with a cone of coal ashes, or 3 parts of soil mixed with one part of sand.

Others are covered with a light layer of marsh hay held in place with light twiggy branches. Provision must be made for water to drain off and not collect around the plants in prolonged wet weather.

Beds of spring flowering bulbs must also wait until they are thoroughly frozen before being covered else mice may harbor there for the winter.

SNOW PROTECTION

Bushy evergreens are, in regions of heavy snows, prone to injury when deep snow collects in the interior splitting them apart. Strips of burlap wound spirally around will give some protection. Tying the stems to each other in the interior is still better.

TREE PROTECTION

The stems of fruit trees, especially those newly planted, are in danger of having the bark peeled off by rabbits and mice during winter. Surround these with a band of close meshed chicken wire 2 feet high. Newly planted shade and flowering tree stems are wrapped with burlap strips, or the special craft paper used by tree men. This is protection against frost injury and the action of freezing winds.

Be prepared and ready to go with your fall flower gardening protection plans. You will be thankful you did come next spring!

Flower Gardening Tips

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Flower Gardening Tips For A More Beautiful And Easier Garden Oasis

Welcome to Flower Gardening Tips, where the flower gardening advice you learn about here should have your garden growing splendidly all throughout the year. On our site you will find a variety of information about growing all types of flowers and plants, how to care for your flowers and plants, how to choose the right flowers and plants, and much, much more.

You Can Find Our Most Valuable Flower Gardening And Growing Resources Here

Also, if you have any tips or picture’s of some the flowers you are proud of please feel free to share them with us.

Now to get things started successfully, there are several things to consider before you even choose which flowers to plant. Those include:

• Climate
• The amount of sunlight the area receives
• Soil type and condition
• Water drainage
• Time for care and maintenance

Any of the first four factors can be overcome if you have the time. But, if you want a low maintenance garden, it makes sense to choose plants accordingly.

Seed packages and most seedlings bear labels concerning when to plant, what climates they will grow in and how much sunlight they need. But, before you go shopping for seeds, take the time to prepare the area and do a little planning.

In order to prepare the space for planting, you will need to turn the soil. Depending on the size of the area, you may be able to do this by hand, but you might want to rent a rotary tiller.

The blades of the tiller will break up hard clumps of dirt. Rocks will need to be removed by hand. Large stones can be removed as you are preparing the area. Smaller ones can be tossed outside the space as you are planting.

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Rocks and hard-packed earth interfere with growing seeds. They cannot push through to the surface.

One of the best gardening strategies is to start the seeds indoors, in potting soil, before planting time. You can use pots made of peat moss that can be placed directly into the prepared garden area. This reduces stress on the seedling and makes planting easier.

If you have an open area with full sun growing anything is easier. When you are planning the space, remember to plant tall species towards the center and shorter ones towards the outside, so that the smaller plants will continue to get as much sun, as possible, as time goes by.

Most people have a partly shady area, usually a bed next to their homes or around a tree. The best flower gardening tips for these areas is to plant with the sunlight. East-facing beds will have full-sun in the morning and lots of heat in most climates, while the afternoon is cooler. That combination is actually ideal for growing most flowers.

The novice gardener has a lot to learn. Hopefully, these few flower gardening tips will help. Make sure to visit the other sections of our site to discover even more tips on a variety of flower gardening topics. Remember, it’s a labor of love.

Caring For Roses

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In the spring gardeners have an almost overwhelming urge to start work in the rose garden. However, in cold regions including the temperate Central States, this ambition should be withheld until the danger of a hard freeze is past.

Here are some rose gardening tips to help you along. When caring for roses, on established rose plants the first job is to remove the winter protection… mounds of soil from around the base of each bush. This soil should be carried away and not spread on top of the rose bed.

Correct pruning of roses is also important. On floribunda and grandiflora types of roses all that is necessary is to remove dead wood and small twiggy growth. All dead and winter-killed wood should be pruned back to where the canes have light-green centers instead of brown centers typical of dead wood.

In addition to this pruning, hybrid teas should be cut back to about one-half their height. The cut is best when made just above a good outside eye. On standard climbing roses all that is necessary in early spring is to prune out all dead wood. Other pruning can be done after the major flowering period in June is past. This consists of removing some of the older canes at ground level in order to encourage new growth on which the best flowers will be formed the following year.

Cultivate about the bushes and feed with a good rose fertilizer. The bushes respond quicker to the fertilizer if it is watered in. Repeat fertilizer application about once each month starting in April and discontinuing about September 1.

New rose beds should be carefully prepared. Select a site away from trees or shrubs so that their roots do not rob the roses of moisture and nutrients. The area should be well drained and should receive at least six hours of daily sun. Prepare the area by spading to a depth of 18 inches and incorporating with the soil some peat-moss and well-rotted manure or rotted compost. In the root area of every bush mix with the soil two handfuls each of superphosphate and bonemeal.

Upon receipt of bare-root roses (plants without soil), examine them carefully and prune off any broken canes or roots. It is a good idea to submerge the roots in a large bucket of water for a couple of hours just prior to planting. If roses are purchased in pots remove them carefully so as not to disturb the roots or the soil.

Space bushes about 18 to 22 inches apart and dig holes 12 to 14 inches deep and 16 inches in diameter. Make a pyramid-shape mound of soil in each hole. Place the roots carefully about this mound and adjust the depth of the plant by raising or lowering the mound. A good rule to follow is to plant so that the graft or bud union is about 2 inches below the surface of the soil. Rose plants from pots are set at the same depth or slightly deeper than they were in the pot. Return enough of the soil to the hole so that the roots have about a 2-inch coverage. Press soil firmly against the roots with your hands and then fill the hole with water. After the water is absorbed fill the hole with the remaining soil.

Protect newly set bushes by mounding soil from another part of the garden at least 10-inches high around the canes. After new rose shoots begin to grow, gradually remove all this additional soil. Roses from pots usually do not require this protection.
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When caring for roses it is almost essential to follow a good program of spraying or dusting with insecticides and fungicides to keep them healthy and free of diseases. Start regular weekly applications as soon as leaves appear in spring. A good general rose spray combining insecticide and fungicide is usually very satisfactory. However, at certain times of the year it may be necessary to use a special spray or dust. Spray in the evenings after the heat of the day is past but early enough so the leaves will dry before the night dew appears. Be sure to make a complete coverage of both sides of all leaves.

In dry weather the rose beds should be watered thoroughly at least once each week. Use a water wand or let the water run slowly out of the end of the hose under the bushes.

Remove full-blown or spent flowers every day. Cut them 1/4 inch above a good eye which is located above a five-leaflet leaf. Burn or dispose of these spent blooms away from the rose garden.

Roses are a source of much enjoyment and a very healthful hobby. But like all queens, the queen of flowers requires attention and care and will respond in proportion to the attention you lavish upon her. Following the basics and the rose flower growing tips outlined here will ensure she does just that.

Cold Frame Gardening

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cold frame greenhouseDuring these short days of December, January and February take advantage of every mild day to give your garden cold frame a thorough ventilation. Plants with green leaves are never really dormant unless the temperature drops to freezing.

Pansies and sweet violets should be flowering now, provided the temperature is right. Remove blooms instead of allowing them to decay on the plants. Whenever feasible, stir the soil, especially if you have to give water. If violets seem tardy in flowering, don’t be concerned. They’ll pick up in January, when the sun gets higher, if the temperature can be kept at 40° to 45°. In a lower temperature, flowering will be delayed until around March.

By now you should be picking lettuce, Chinese cabbage and cress, the current problem with them being to keep the temperature above freezing. Little further development can be expected from these crops, nor is it advisable to try to carry them through winter. Cress and radishes will go to seed as soon as spring growth begins.

If the wooden frame greenhouse is used principally for carrying plants through the winter which are liable to damage outdoors, that’s another story. Simply cover cold frames over with hay or straw and leave them. Allow snow coverings to remain. In addition to pansies, biennials carried over in this way include English daisies, forget-me-nots and Canterbury bells. Perennials carried over include chrysanthemums and red-hot-pokers (kniphofia).
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The gardening cold frame design offers yet another possibility for usefulness… the propagation of trees and shrubs by means of hardwood cuttings. These are cuttings taken after leaf fall and after plant tissue has been subject to several frosts. The list of plants suitable for propagation by hardwood cuttings is extensive. It includes the mockorange, butterfly-bush, privet, chaste-tree (vitex) , rose-of-Sharon, willow, deutzia, weigela, false-spires (sorbaria), jetbead, flowering quince, hydrangea, tamarisk and many others. Currants, grapes and gooseberries are propagated by this method also.

Although the garden cold frame is ideal for this method of propagation, you may run into the problem of needing the frame in early spring for raising seedlings before it’s possible to transplant the cuttings to the garden. But the project fits in very well if you don’t plan to use the frame for seedlings before March.

Gardening Pest Control

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Garden Pests Are Common To Most Gardens

I'm sure you've probably been through this at least once in your gardening-lifetime.
You walk outside into your garden, feeling great about the beautiful flower garden you've created and you start walking in to your garden a little further and you start noticing holes in your flowers and plants. What? Holes?! Ooh no! Garden pests. Yep, those little critters, like worms, birds, snails, slugs, caterpillars and every now and then a gopher. After hundreds of hours of work you've put in your home garden you're seeing these animals ruin your garden.

One of The Most Annoying Garden Pests Are Insects
Insects live in too many places, like under the soil, in piles of leaves or in old weeds and that's just naming a few of them. Keeping these insects out of your garden can be done by getting rid of any leaves you've got lying around in your garden, removing weeds and any other decaying thing where insects or diseases may live in. Also turn over your soil on a regular basis and crumble clumps of dirt to destroy the homes of those insects and diseases that live inyour soil.

Not every insect is harmful to herb gardens though, so be sure to check that out before you start eliminating them. For all other harmful insects, use a dormant spray when your plants are dormant, normally that's around February or at the beginning of March. I have personally used dormant spray many times and I have seen it perform miracles at keeping insects out of my garden. But be sure not to screw up like I did in the beginning, I bought it for the first time a few years back and deiced to kill everything in my garden that's harmful. I poured it everywhere I could and in the end I killed everything including my garden and the one of my neighbour. So read the instructions before you use it.

How To Control Birds

Besides insects, you've definitely seen birds coming in to your garden. They can ruin your plants and flowers as well and one way to keep birs out of your garden is to get a dog. Well, not every dog is going to do the job because a friend of mine bought a dog for that reason and the birds come to bully the dog! Another thing you can do is getting a bird feeder, although this doesn't exactly get rid of birds, but your plants will be saved from them. They'll flock to the bird feeder instead of your plants.
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I know a gardener who has had a gopher problem. A real infestation of them. He started seeing mounds of dirt and noticed his plants dieing with no apparant reason. He asked me for advice and we started researching the problem, learing about gopher as much as we could.

We learned that they can be black, light brown or white and they're 5 to 14 inches long and they've got a tiny tail. These root-eaters can be taken care of by setting up traps in the right places by it's tunnels. Also you can use smoke bombs and shove them in the tunnels and hopefully it will reach the gopher. A newer invention is a plug you shove in the ground and it sends out a signal, a sound wave which keeps gophers away.

A Final Advice on Gardening Pest Control

If you notice any of these pest arriving in your garden, start the eliminating process immediately. The longer you wait, the more established pests will become and they'll be harder to get rid off.

 

 

 

 

 

Japanese Gardening

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Japanese Gardens - One Continuous Art-Piece

I love the way japanese gardens look. Japanese gardening is all about mimicking mother nature as good as you can by using trees, rocks, ponds, man-made hills and patches of sand and of course flowing water in such a way that it resembles pure art! Shinto and Zen traditions are a large part of Japanese gardening and are usually symmetrical and very neatly put together. Everything must be in order and must look peaceful. It's a more meditational way of gardening and is definitely a more soul soothing one.

Japanese Gardening Consists Of Three Basic Ways Of Making Their Landscapes

The first is making everything on a smaller scale, like waterfalls, mountains and rivers. Then there's a way of generalization and being abstract, like using white sand to represent the ocean. Then you've got borrowed views who refer to something like a forest as the background, but then the background would become one of the more important parts of the landscape.

And to complicate it a bit further, there are two styles, two ways of Japanese gardening. The first one is called tsukiyami (let me check if I spelled it correctly... yep) and this one is made up of hills and ponds and something outsiders just call it a hill-garden. Then the second one (which has a slightly easier name) is called hiraniwa and that is exactly the opposite of tsukiyami. It's a flat garden. No hills. No ponds, everything as flat as possible.

Japanese Gardens Are As Natural As Possible

When it comes to the things they use in Japanese gardening, you can probably guess that it's all as natural as possible. They'll work with rocks and gravel. And they'll use water, fences, hedges and stones. As well as moss. To bring spirituality to the garden, rocks are commonly used as the centerpiece of the garden. The Shinto tradition tells us that rocks embody nature's spirits and therefore they receive a better place in the japanese garden. With gravel, they usually make those curly waves to simulate those of water and they use stones as a way to create boundaries and sometimes are even sculpted into different forms. Water is another essential thing, wether we are talking about a waterfall, a stream or a pond, it's still an essential part of Japanese gardening because it brings balance to the entire Japanese garden.
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Japanese Gardens And Bonsai

Of the typical plants that are used in a Japanese garden, Bonsai is without a doubt one of the most famous and typical ones. Bonsai is the art of getting tiny trees like cedar, maple and cypress (just to name a few of them) to look large and old, while still keeping them in a miniature version. These can be as short as a couple of inches to as high as 3 feet or a bit more and are kept that small by pruning them, transporting them to other pots, pinching their growth and wiring their branches.

Muso Soseki, a poet, once said "Gardens are the root of transformation" and when it comes to Japanese gardening, I couldn't agree more. The mental change you go through, the different feelings and the experience. It all becomes one big transformation.

Creating A Raised Bed

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Raised Bed Gardening - Easy or Hard?

A raised bed is a great way to increase water drainage capacity. If you're planning on growing plants that need great water drainage and your working area hasn't got it. You should consider creating a raised bed. With some plants it isn't a problem and in a few rare cases they may even bloom better this way. But there are plants that can't cope with it and a bad water drainage can cause them to die of the excess water. To make sure this doesn't happen you'll need to find it out ahead of time and check if your soil has a good water drainage or not.

How Can You Test That?

Well, that's pretty easy. Head over to the place you want to test, dig a hole in the ground. About 10 inches deep will do just fine. Fill that hole up with water and return the next day when all of the water has disappeared. You fill it up once again and if the water is gone within 10 hours time, your soil has good drainage. If not, it means that your soil has a low saturation point. Meaning that the water which soaks in to the soil will stay around too long before disappearing. No plant desires this and therefore you'll have to do something about it to improve the water drainage of your soil.

You Can Improve The Drainage With Raised Bed Gardening

A Raised Bed isjust a patch of land that you raised. You build a border and add soil and compost so that it is at least 5 inches higher then the rest of your lawn. This little trick alone can dramatically improve the water drainage of your garden. Building a raised bed is rather straight forward but you still have to keep in mind that there are a few differences between creating a raised bed on grass or on dirt.

When you want to create a raised bed on an area that's not a grassy one, you won't run into a lot of trouble. You'll need to find something to use as a border. Take for example a couple of 2x4's. After you build up the wall, you'll need to put in the right amount of soil and some steer manure. According to the time it will take you to grow on this raised bed, you can adjust the ratio so that some sort of deteriorating can occur without problem.

Creating A Raised Bed Where Sod Already Exists

It will make it somewhat more difficult for you. You'll need to cut the sod all the way around the raised bed and you'll need to flip the cut out section over. Sounds simple enough, but you'll need something really sharp to get cut through the sod and get under it. After you've flipped it over, you'll want to add a layer of straw in order to discourage the grass. So that it won't grow up anymore. When the layer of straw is placed, just add the soil and steer manure as you normally would.
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When the raised bed is made, you'll want to plant the plants you've chosen. It's pretty much the same as normally. Only keep in mind that the roots shouldn't be too long. They should stay in the raised, new piece of ground. If they go too far they reach the original soil which was saturated. Long roots would completely ruin the point of the raised bed.

Adding the new soil makes it easier for the roots to develop and at the same time it discourages decomposition and prevents evaportaion. You'll see an improvement almost immediately.

Put all of these things together and you've got an ideal home for any plant to live in.

Raised Bed Gardening Isn't As Hard As It First Sounded, Right?

But now that you know how to do it, you shouldn't feel intimidated by it. It's simple and raising a piece or your entire garden makes for some great long term results and it's worth every hour you invest in creating a raised bed.

Indoor Gardening

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A Beginner's Guide To Indoor Gardening

You used to be able to buy a fake tree, put it in a corner and keep the dust of the leaves and get away with calling it "indoor gardening". But these days indoor gardening has evolved into so much more then that. Although a lot of people have the mindset that plants belong and should stay outside, there are still a lot of reasons you could consider starting with indoor gardening. Plants, for example, remove carbon dioxide from the air and they'll even remove poisenous toxins and pollutants from the air. Besides giving you fresher air, they even serve as wonderful decorations!

Choosing Plants For Your Indoor Garden

When you go out and choose the plant you're going to use for indoor gardening, make sure that the plant can adapt itself to new environments. And that it can survive in indoor environments. Also consider how much time you can spend on your plants and how much light your house offers. As wel as how much money you're willing to spend on your indoor garden. If you're on a low budget, start of with seeds or cuttings. If you've got a tad more money, you can buy a maturing plant.

Something else worth thinking about is if you want to display the plant year round or just for a season. Herb gardens are a good thing for indoor gardening as they're both attractive to look at and are delicious. Herbs grow quickly as well and you won't have to wait a long time to see any results.

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You should definitely consider the amount of experience you have before you choose a plant. Some plants are strong and hard to kill while other are fragile and need a delicate touch. The tough plants are therefore a better choice if you lack a lot of experience. Some examples of those plants include Fatsia,Scandens and Brometiads.

Indoor Garden Light

Basic rules of maintenance are slightly different when it comes to indoor gardening. Plants won't get a lot of sunlight as they would when indoors, this means getting extra lighting. You also need to know how much light your garden will need and try to choose the ones that need the least amount of sunlight. Such as ferns or Philodendrons, unless of course you opt for artificial lighting.

If you buy a plant that is already somewhat mature, it'll probably be used to better lighting then the lighting you've got at home. Therefore you'll need to condition the plant and gradually reduce the amount of light it receives. Once inside, rotate the plant regularly so that it will grow upright instead of towards the light.

You Still Need To Water Your Indoor Plants

Even though your plants are indoors, it doesn't mean they're from plastic so you'll still need to water them. How often you do that depends on what type of plant you pick. Make sure though that the water can drain out of the bottom of the pot and opt to go for water that is the same temperature as the room. Which is also a thing to think about, room temperature. 10-15 degrees change range won't hurt any plants, but rapid changes could and probably will cause damage.

As you can see, indoor gardening isn't really that hard to do. It's almost the same as outdoor gardening. And doing it indoor even has some advantages, like not having to worry about bugs or other pests eating your plants! No wind is going to trash your plants, nor is the frost going to get to them!

Gardening Supplies

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A Gardening Supplies List: Read It; It's Essential

Growing and keeping your garden plants healthy is our number one objective when it comes to our garden. And we both know what it really takes to keep it healthy. A good qualtiy of your soil, lots of sunlight and plenty of water. But those things are usually donated to us by mother nature. The things we can to however is using modern gardening supplies to keep the garden in a decent state. When it comes to keeping your plants healthy, modern gardening supplies can really help us out a lot.
When you're working with malfunctioning gardening tools, you'll end up killing your own plants, sometimes in the truest sence of the word. You can end up cutting them or even ripping them out of the ground. If you want to prevent such a thing from happening, you'll need to find the best gardening supplies available at the moment. And when I say "best gardening supplies ", I mean a tool that makes it easier for us. That saves us labor, or makes the labor easier.

List of Gardening Supplies

i'll give you a little list of gardening tools you'll definitely need in order to take care of your garden as good as you can. They'll all make your life a whole lot easier.

First up are lawnmowers

The Luxus Push Reel Mower is rated as the best by a lot of gardening enthusiasts. This one has a large top cover which in turn protects the overhaning flowers and shrubs from taking any damage. American Lawn Mower is another mower which a lot of people swear by. But this one takes a bit of effort to use. It doesn't polute the air though. (Imagine mowing your garden without a lawn mower)

Garden Shredders come in at a close second

Shredders like these usually have a high powered motor and a rather quiet crushing system. Most commonly used to accelerate your shredding activity (as the name so obviously states)
Garden shredders with an electric shredder are very easy to assemble (well, most of the time they are).

Cultivators receive bronze in our list

This one gives a smooth cut to any hard compacted soil with its patented tines. They're available with a free border edge and is perfect when it comes to cleaning moss, thatching and aerating. This modern day gardening hand tool can really help in preparing flowerbeds, vegetable pots and so on.

Leaf sweepers at number four

Although these gardening tools are commonly used for the smaller gardens or lawns, it can still be useful for a few parts in your larger garden. Some people use them relentlessly, other wouldn't even think of using them.

Number five, Edge trimmers

Although some people value edge trimmers a lot more then lawn mowers, edge trimmers aren't all that cracked up to be (that's just my opinion though) It's main uses are trimming hedges and pruning plants.
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Spading forks

Aerating and transplanting becomes a lot easier with a spading fork. You can split grasses and perennials with these gardening supplies and you can also use them as a manure fork, you can use them for sorting hay and distributing mulch in tiny gardens.

A mattock

These are very important when it comes to breaking up a soil made of clay and when you're working yourself around established trees with large roots. A pick, hoe and handles are a thing of the past when you're using a mattock.

When you go to the garden center, make sure you've got every tool on this list. It'll cost you a bit now, but you'll be very happy you did. Write it down or print this list as it will help you save and improve your garden.

Square Foot Gardening

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Getting Started With Vertical And Square Foot Gardening

The willingness to garden might be there, but not having a physical home garden might deter you of any chance of gardening. You may live in an appartment and don't have a garden and can't rent on of those plots people use to grow their veggies etc. The solution to your gardening problem is square foot gardening: to grow your plants in containers, like baskets or pots. You can put these containers on your patio, your balcony or your window sill. You can hang them up as well (vertical gardening) and having a few pots or baskets like this can really make your place a lot more nice and definitely classier.

Benefits Of Square Foot Gardening

There are great benifits attached to square foot gardening (or container gardening), like for example you can move them around as much as you want. As long as your plants get the desired lighting they won't mind and another thing is that you can simulate every kind of environment that would be ideal for any type of plant. You can do this by using certain types of soil and where you place the plants.

Vertical Gardening

Using plants for esthetic reasons can be a great way and you can do just that by placing the containers at different types of heights. You can place them on supports or hang them from the ceiling. Which is called "vertical gardening". When done right you can make the best of your available space and make it look very beautiful. One idea you can use for "vertical gardening" is to use a wooden ladder, you can put the pots or baskets on the different steps and when you arrange them neatly it'll be a wonderful and classy part of your home with beautiful colors as well.

When you're vertical gardening you'll be spending a little more time watering all of the container plants, compared to a traditional garden. But when you think in square footage, you'll realize that the containers have a lot less square footage than a regular home garden and that heavily reduces the time you spend on maintaining your garden. So overal time between watering and maintenance is more in balance. Keep in mond to keep your plants watered, but don't over- or under-water your plants!

Buying Containers For Square Foot Gardening

When you go out to buy the containers for your plants, you'll want to buy them all at once, as well as some extra containers. That way you'll have some spare ones to use if one of them breaks or you want to add plants. Don't buy them all in the same size and shape, but definitely buy them all in the same style. We wouldn't want non-matching containers, right? Plastic containers work best, because they hold water really good. But if you want clay or pots made of earth you'll want to line the insed of the containers with plastic. This aids in keeping the water in the soil for your plants, instead of inside the clay pots. As you know, pots come in different sizes and that will restrict the growth of your plants.
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Using the internet, you can find how much root space the specific garden supplies and that gives you a fact, a measurement that you can use when buying your containers. A large plant can be limited in size by choosing a pot that isn't big enough for the plant to grow to his maximum. This can be very useful if you don't have enough space for it.

Make A Plan Before Starting With Square Foot Gardening

If all of these benefits sound great, if container gardening is something you want to do. Then you should start off today by planning it out and making a list of plants you want. Do the necessary research, so you can get the right sizes and shapes. When all of that is said and done, the only thing you'll need to do is arrange them in such a way that your home looks at its best.

Gardening Plants

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Gardening Plants - The Choice, The Variety, The Beauty!

Gardening plants are the main ingredient of your garden and it can mean anything. From shrubs, herbs, vegetables and flower to fruits and many many more. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes and different blooming seasons. Doesn't matter what type of gardening you go for, you'll still have lots and lots of gardening plants to choose from.

Many Gardening Plants To Choose From

For functional gardening plants instead of cosmetic plants, you'll need to take a look at vegetables, herbs and fruits. These can all be used and can give you sweet produce. This can provide the entire gardening process with more excitement, because now you'll get something you can actually eat. The usual vegetables people grow in their yards, whether it's a big one or a small one, are cucumbers, potatoes, peppers, peas, squash, corn, beets, carrots, spinach, onions and lettuce. When it comes to the fruits a lot of people choose, it's pears, tomatoes, blueberries, cherries, plums, apricots, strawberries and apples. In terms of herbs, most commonly home-grown are thyme, sage, dill, mint, lavender and chives. These herbs can give wonderful fragrances to your cooking and can spice up your salads.

Having a colorful flower garden in the spring and summertime can be rather easy, but trying to get this in the colder periods, like fall and winter, can become very hard. But even hard things can be accomplished, with some planning and extra care. There's a gardening plant that is called Rudbeckia and this gardening plant thrives in the cold periods of the year, like fall and winter. It's a wonderful yellow perennial. Some other beautiful perennial flowers that can grow during these months are the Christmas rose, Cosmos and the Japanese anemone.

When someone tells you to think about a flower, what kind of flower do you think of? Probably one that blooms in spring or summer. Since those are usually the prettiest ones and the most popular ones. And the ones that get homegrown the most during spring-times are daffodils, violets and tulips. For the summer there are roses, dahlias and lilies.
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Decorative Gardening Plants

Gardening enthusiasts often go for shrubs or decorative grasses, like monkey grass. They use these wild gardening plants as a border, a fence or for privacy or they can be for the looks of them. Shrubs are low-maintenance and can really give a defining look to your yard or garden, it also serves perfectly to give you more privacy.

As you know and can see, gardening plants come in a huge variety. Some come with a purpose (like eating them, providing shade or privacy) and some are purely there for their good looks.

What kind of plant you use is something you, and you alone, can decide. But always keep the following in the back of your mind.

Without the proper care for your garden it will end up looking like a garden filled with dirt.

Gardening Catalogs

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Gardening Catalogues: A Must Have Gardening Tool

These things are a must have for everybody. Gardening catalogs make a gardeners life very easy. You can order anything you want, or what your garden needs without leaving your home and without any hassles whatsoever. And above all you can have it delivered right to your door step and most of the time it's cheap as well!

Gardening Catalogs - The Most Important Source of Information

Gardening catalogs can be the greatest source of information you've got lying around at your green fingertips. Everything you need to know, like what types of flowers you can order, what seasons those plants grow and bloom in, how high the maintenance level lies and exactly which type of nutrients they need, as well as the exact time to feed them to your plants.

Catalogues can even provide you with gardening tips and techniques on how to get rid of weeds and pests which can infect your plants. Step by step instruction for planting your plants, as well as how much sunlight is needed and the best planting times. When thinking about all of that some catalogues will even wait and ship those plants and items on the right time, so that you receive them during the proper season or planting time, with the area you live in kept in the back of their minds.

You can find pretty much everything a gardener would ever need. Say for example you've started off with a hydroponic garden and you need a timed water pump or some sort of artificial lighting. Well you can find that right in one of those gardening catalogues!

You can order a lot of things, like pruning shears for shrubs or gas-operated tillers to help break up your soil. You can even find gardening gloves that are useful and trendy at the same time. You can find other tools as well, like for example sprinklers, shovels, water hoses, hoes, rakes and spades.
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Benefits of Gardening Catalogs

The bigger benefits of gardening catalogues is that you get a huge variety of seeds and plants to choose from and that you can look through them all at once, they're all within the reach of your fingertips. It also makes it easier for you to chose the plants based upon maintenance, climate needs and growth periods. The gardening catalogue, a piece of luxury!

Another huge benefit is that if you live in the middle of nowhere, or you just live in an area where there aren't any gardening stores or nurseries or any type of flower-shop you can still get your hands on your supplies. I know you've got supermarkets like walmart but those haven't got everything you need, hardly! Those gardening catalogues give you everything you need and then some, plus you don't have to get out of your chair to do so. Plants, seeds or gardening equipment everything you desire is in one of those catalogues.

Container Gardening

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Understanding Container Gardening

If you're a gardener by heart but you live in an apartment, or just don't have the space needed for gardening. It still isn't entirely out of reach. Inside of your house is enough space to garden. Like your deck, sunny windows, patio and your balcony. You can get started with container gardening, which not only brings fun and joy, but it can also bring you vegetables. Let's get started with container gardening then, shall we?

Container Gardens - Gardens Made Up of Special Containers

Gardening used to be exclusive to those people who have land, gardens, lawns. But these days even people who live in flats and apartments, can grow their own gardens without any troubles whatsoever. And they can do so by container gardening, which basically means that your garden will be made up of special containers. Container gardening can give you the landscaping delights without have to mow the lawn every few weeks. You can raise a lot of things in containers, like perennials, shrubs, trees and annuals.

Container gardening, as with any type of gardening, shouldn't be rushed into. It still requires some planning as with traditional home gardening. You'll need to plan your usda zone, which will aid in finding the suitable plants for your zone), the amount of sunlight they're receiving and you'll need to choose the different plants you'll be using as well.

You should try to buy your plants from the nearest nursery, unless you've got the optimal conditions to take the indoor seeding-route. Also don't keep your tender container gardening plants outside when the temperature drops below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Nor should you keep them in soaring winds. And when frosts may hit the night, keep the plants inside. They're tender and may not survive the frost.

Any Type of Plant Can Grow In A Container

There's a common thing a lot of container gardeners say and they say that a plant that grows in the ground, won't grow with container vertical gardening. Which is absolutely not true! If you do have any doubt, just experiment on it and you'll find out whether it worked out or not. On that same note, any kind of container can be used as long as there are holes in the bottom for drainage.

Container gardening’s main benefit is the fact that it doesn't cost that much. It has low maintenance and a great deal of satisfaction. A container or square foot garden requiers only a little bit of fertilizer and water, depending on the type of plant and its needs.

Container Vegetable Gardening

There are a lot of vegetables you can grow in containers as well. The only thing you need for the pot growing vegetables to grow is sunlight and water. If they get these things, you'll get fresh veggies to add to your meals and you'll get the added benefit of being able to serve them to your beloved ones.

If you lack balconies or decks you can ask your landlord for some window boxes. These can be ideal to grow annuals for an entire year of flowery goodness and you can use your sunny windows for some fresh indoor gardens. You can ofcourse opt for something called community gardens, which gives you a real garden to work in!

Container gardening doesn't have to stop when you've entered autumn, you can just continue your container gardening experience by picking plants that can endure frosts. The most common plants that can endure some frosts are Stonecrops, Jasmine, Lavender cottons and mexican feather grass and so on.

If you want to increase the life expectancy of your container garden from early spring to fall, you'll need to replant the plants to match the current conditions. You can even contact some of America's best gardeners through the internet to get some designs for you container gardening endeavor. They can offer you suggestions in terms of caring for your plants and help you to choose the right pots. They have great gardening tips on how to grow plants like roses and bulbs in containers.

Gardening Tools

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Gardening Tools, A Huge Variety And Choices

As you probably already know, gardening is more popular then ever and it is still growing in popularity. For that same reason gardening tools are popping up everywhere you look. You can find them literally everywhere, in stores, nurseries, catalogues and on the internet as well.
When we say gardening products, it can mean anything, from gardening tools to the fertilizer and compost you use and even the plants and the seeds fall under that broad name.

When starting out with gardening you'll obviously need the basic gardening tools, like a spade, a hoe, water hose and maybe even a sprinkler. You could also buy a shovel to make the digging part easier. Pots and potting soil may even be part of your basics-list, if you're going to pot plant that is.

You'll also need to buy mulch, compost or fertilizer at first to make the life of your plants a bit easier and more pleasant.

Gardening Tools Once You Have Planted

You've planted the plants, now what? Well, you'll need to put some nutrients in the soil. This will make your plants happy and it'll give them a better chance at being healthy. Something like "Miracle Gro" which is one of the most popular onces in terms of growth enhancements for plants. "Miracle Gro" comes in many different types, and the type you'll need will largely depend on the type of plant you're growing. Fertilizer is something you'll want to give to your gardening plants as well, triple 13 or 10-20-10 (if you know them) may help you out.

Of course you'll need other gardening equipment if you're growing herbs, vegetables or fruits. Take for example tomatoes, you'll need some type of tomato cage en some ties to protect the plants from the wind. Some of those herbs, fruits or vegetables are designed to grow onto something and if that's the case you'll need to buy a fence, ladder or some other type of object for them to climb up against.

It doesn't always have to be a hand tool or gardening powertool to use, it can be an object to look at and decorate your garden as well. Take for example plastic or stone figurines, like a little gnome. Flower pots with decorations on them, beautiful stones or bricks to make a little path throughout your garden. Wooden chairs or other furniture for in your garden can be classified under gardening products as well.
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Greenhouses Are Gardening Products Too!

Winter times can really put an end to most gardeners fun. But a greenhouse can really solve that problem for you and greenhouses are gardening products too! But if you don't have one, or don't intend to buy one. You can cover up your plants with a selfmade structure or tarp to keep them warm at night. You may also want to use a heating lamp, to give them warmth and extra light.

A lot of these gardening products aren't really needed, they just make the entire experience way easier and enjoyable for us, gardeners. And every day new and "improved" gardening tools pop up here and there. Every one of them claiming to be better then the next one. Just remember to do some due research before buying any type of gardening tool.

Advice on Gardening

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Gardening For Beginners

When you are first starting out it is of vital importance not to think too big in terms of square feet. I'm saying you should start out small and work your way up. Start for example with a small flower garden or plant bed that measures 25 to 30 square feet, which should be just enough for about 30 plants. With this approach you can see how green your fingers really are :-)
After choosing the size of the site, you'll need to choose where it will be. Don't rush in to this!
Remember that home gardening should be done in an area that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight every day. Also try and stay away from big trees that could take your plants nutrients and water away from them. Get some distance between the flowers and plants and your fences/buildings as well. 3 feet shout do nicely.

If you live in a hot climate you have to take into consideration that your plants need shade in the hottest times of the day. You can also have a beautiful indoor garden in areas where there are 10 -12 hours of sunlight, as long as you use plants that are adaptable or suitable for that amount of daylight. Keep the type of soil in mind as well, and try to avoid rocky soils, steep hills and areas where water stands regularly.

After all that planning; it's time to get dirty. Go pick up a shovel and start digging. You'll need to remove rocks, debris, grass, weeds, your garden furniture if it's in the way of your garden site and level up the dirt so that your flower bed will be nice and level. Add compost or minerals if you so desire and if you think it's needed

To get the best effect you should check your soil. If the soil you're working on is too acidic you'll need to add some lime. If on the other hand your soil is way too sandy, you'll need to add peat moss. Given the right circumstances, like a neutral to acidic soil with a little bit of fertilizer added to the mix, your plants will thrive.

So you've got your site all dug up, leveled out and made the soil a better home for your future plants. Next up you'll need to plant seeds and/or pick plants. When you do that make sure you follow the directions, as they come with the seeds when you buy them. And make sure that when you buy plants/flower or what have you that you choose the ones that have green and healthy looking leaves and healthy roots and stems.
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Also remember that when you plant your plants, that you put the small plants up front and the bigger ones at the back. You should also know that beginning successfully in the art of gardening is all about planting at the right time. Only plant when the frosts are over and read the labels that come with the seeds. They'll tell you when to plant them for maximum growth capacity.

Never forget that water is the essential ingredient of your plant's survival. At first you can do just fine with hand watering them, but when you start to expand the expansions you'll need to start thinking about sprinklers or sprinkler hoses. Do this during the cooler parts of the day, that way it'll be more effective.

There's another thing you can do to help your garden succeed. You can add a couple of inches of organic mulch to improve your soils fertility and to help your soil hold moisture. Mulch can be all kinds of things, like wood chips, pine needles, grass chippings, manure or even

Rose Gardening

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Tips on Starting Your Own Rose Garden

Roses are something pictured off as an annoyance to grow and maintain. But don't let that rumor put you off if you've been thinking of starting a rose garden. Rose gardening can be a bit challenging sometimes, but as soon as you get comfortable with it, you'll see it isn't hard at all!
Believe it or not there are actually quite a few types of roses. And no it's not white, red or any other color of rose. I'm talking about bare-root roses, pre-packaged roses and roses grown in containers. Bare-root roses are mostly being sold in the winter periods and in the early spring as well. They are planted when the frosts have just passed by and the ground has turned a bit warm and workable once again. Pre-packaged roses are basically bere-root roses which are sold in a box with something around it to keep the moisture-level steady. They sometimes use sawdust for this. Roses that are grown in containers, well, they are actually grown in containers. You weren't expecting that, where you? Mostly they'll be budding or are blooming when they're up for sale in the early springtimes.

Planting Your First Roses

When it comes to planting the roses it's not really that much different then with any other plant you've planted. The important thing, as always is to have a good and healthy soil for your roses. Wether you're planting bare-root roses or container-grown ones, planting them is basically the same as you would with any other shrub. Make sure the soil has good drainage, gets lots of sunlight and that your roses won't be overcrowded. First remove any dead plants, leaves and thin or decaying roots. Damaged and long roots need to be removed before you plant your roses. Bare-root roses need to be soaked for ten to twelve hours before you plant them to get the moisture-level in the roots up again. Make the planting site wet as well and dig a hole that big enough for the growth of the roots of the roses. Use compost mixer or mulch, because as with any plant, roses love the extra nutrients they can get.
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Fertilizers For Your Rose Garden

You must remember that roses are exactly the same like other plants. They have needs and even are a bit needier then other plants. Remember that roses are heavy feeders and they'll need several fertilizer applications. You should start fertilizing in the early spring and continue until early fall. Don't over-fertilize them though and read the instructions of the fertilizer carefully! Roses require to be watered twice a week, thoroughly and it should be done after each feeding.

We all know pruning is essential when it comes to flower gardening. It will increase the blooms and will encourage your plants to grow healthy. Do research before you start pruning, because different types of roses need different types of pruning done to them.

As always, the most important thing is to water your roses. Keep watering them. And with roses you need to remember using the right amount of fertilizer and nutrients. And keep on pruning those roses, to ensure a healthy and controlled growth. I know rose gardening is a bit more work and roses themselves require a bit more attention. But roses are by for one of the most beautiful and unique flowers, so they're definitely worth that extra bit of work!

Gardening Equipment

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A Review on Gardening Equipment

Close to every gardener has at least one type of gardening equipment. It's extremely hard and undesirable to take care of your garden without any gardening tools whatsoever. The type of gardening equipment you use is going to depend on the size of your garden, the shape, the size of your wallet, the time you want to spend gardening and wether or not you're able to use the tools.

Different Types of Gardening Equipment

Not every gardener can or wants to use the latest of the latest gardening equipment or expensive tools, but nearly every gardener does have some type of gardening tool made just for cultivating. Those tools can be both gardening hand tools and powertools. The choice you make totally depends on how serious you are in terms of gardening. Hand gardening equipment are things like rakes, trowels, spading forks, shovels and diggers. Their use is to get the garden ready to be planted and they're easy to work with and don't require you to be really strong. Some other equipment can be a pickaxe, a mattock and a wheel cultivator.

Power tools on the other hand are more expensive to buy and aren't for everybody. But they really do cut down on the hard labor you're putting in. If you're going to buy one gardening powertool only, let it be a tiller. It'll break up the soil, ready it for planting, mix the fertilizer or compost in really good and it will help you to chop up any debris. Spending that kind of money isn't for everybody and therefore you can just rent someone to do it for you with his gardening tools or you can hire a tiller for one day or a few hours. Other popular powertools are garden shredders, chain saws and chippers.

You may have hedges, trees (both small and large) and/ or shrubs in your yard. If so you'll need pruning tools. Pruning sheers for example, these things are vital in your gardening equipment arsenal. They can be used for branches of up to a quarter inch thick in diameter, for anything bigger you can use lopping shears, they can take branches of half an inch up to two inches.
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Pole pruners is almost the same, except it's attached to a pole, allowing you to work up to 15 feet up above the ground or platform you're standing on. There are hedge shears and pruning saw as well, which are both larger, heavier, more expensive and are pruning tools for the more serious gardener.

There's one thing every one of your plants need and that's water. And since rain dances don't always work the way they should, you are going to need some sort of gardening equipment to take care of that. A water hose for example will do just fine. But there are gardeners who have resorted to sprinklers and drip irrigation systems which are more effective and easier to use. Especially since there are timers available for both. The only downside is that it'll cost you a bit more.

Importance of Good Gardening Equipment

Whether you like it or not you'll need some type of gardening equipment. Sure you can use your hands to dig a whole and plant your flowers etc. But you'll still need basic tools to take care of your garden. Good gardening equipment is as important as the soil and the plants or seeds you'll be using.

Hydroponics Gardening

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Hydroponics Gardening - Completely Un-traditional Gardening Stores

A lot of gardeners are switching over or are getting more interested in hydroponics gardening for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is that they are small and are perfect for indoor growing and are usually ideal for growing herbs and vegetables. In particular, the red tomato. As far as equipment goes for this type of gardening, it's rather inexpensive and quite easy to manage.

What's Hydroponics Gardening?

If you haven't got a clue as to what "hydroponics gardening" really is. I'll explain it right away. In the truest sence it means growing plants without soil. Dirtless gardening, in fact. This type of gardening comes in a great deal of different ways, but most work better then regular gardening. Why you ask? With hydroponics gardening you can regulate exactly what you give to the plants and when they need them. You can chance the pH, the light, water and nutrients amount as well as the strength of the nutrients. This does mean that you'll have to do research on the plants you're going to grow.

This can become as simple or as difficult as you want it to be. From complete computers with sensors to control the water cycles, lighting amounts and nutrients for the plants, to a simple hand water bucket with only one plant in it. The usual hydroponics gardening system consists of a growing tray (obviously), some form of light, natural or artificial, a reservoir, waterpump (or something else to water the plants) and some kind of air pump to provide the nutrients with the oxygen they need.

The substance in which the plants are meant to grow can be a lot of things. Like perlite, coconut fibre, sand, gravel, vermiculite, air (yes, air!) and Rockwood. Instruction can usually be found in a gardening store. If not you can find it online or you can buy seperate parts and build your own growing medium. There are also ready made gardening kits available at gardening stores.

Micro-nutrients, however small they may be, are of utmost importance to growing a healthy plant. The more important ones are magnesium, sulfur, cobalt, calcium, iron, copper, boron, zinc and manganese. It is very, very important that you choose a high-quality fertilizer when it comes to hydroponics gardening.
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Another thing you MUST keep in mind is the pH balance of your plants. When the pH balance changes and varies, your plants will have difficulty absorbing nutrients that it so desperately needs. Hydroponics gardening however does make it very easy to check the ph balance of your plants, especially when compared to regular soil gardening.

Different Hydroponics Gardening Types

From the hundreds of different types of hydroponics gardening, Water culture, ebb and flow, Wick, Drip, and Aeroponic are the six basic ones. Gardening in this way is easy, affordable (read: Cheap) and you can have fresh produce, like flowers, spices, veggies and herbs the entire year round.

Gardening Books

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Gardening Books Can Provide Everything You Need!

Aah gardening books. They come with so many purposes. They serve as a guide we can refer to, a gift we can give to a fellow gardener, a weight to flatten out leaves as they dry, something to blame when your newest gardening project fails.
You can have a look through your local library and see how many books there are on gardening, each packed with valuable information. Every book you buy is a wise investment. Why?

Gardening Books For Beginners

There is always something valuable in each and every book and every penny you paid for the book was worth it. They are even more important for beginners! Remember first starting out and not knowing a whole lot about gardening? Now you probably know a whole lot more, don't you?

Beginners should seriously consider investing in a few books on gardening, since they almost always come with step by step instructions and pictures and easy to follow guidelines. As well as helpful facts and figures. Like the amounts of nutrients that go in to the soil.

When looking around to buy one, don't misjudge them. A lot of people judge a book by it's cover. How many pages a gardening book has isn't a reliable point of view. When in the bookstore, read the back of the book and the table of contents. A lot of times there are smaller books, more like pamflets, that contain a lot more useful tips and hints then those bigger gardening books.

A big generalization, I know but I have found this to be the case a lot of times. Also don't look for a gardening book on everything. Buy a few books with different subjects, like a book on the perfect soil for your plants, one on keeping your plants healthy etc. They are usually more specific then big books and it makes it easier to find the chapter you're looking for.

Getting Ideas From Gardening Books

Gardening books are also a wonderful place to get ideas. You can't possible know every plant, vegetable and fruit that exists on this planet and if you did. You probably don't know which of them can be grown in your own container garden. And that's the beauty of gardening books. They can show you new plants that you can grow in your garden, ones you didn't even know that existed. You can get ideas on growing fruit and vegetables, which you didn't consider before because you didn't know if it would work.
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And above all gardening books are always a great gift, even if the receiving party isn't a gardner. It's usually not expensive to buy and is something they can surely use. This can even be a way to convert people to become gardeners themselves! Combine the gardening book(s) with some sacks of seeds of different flowers and they're ready to go! Days, weeks, months or even years of fun can be had from your simple, yet personal, gift!

It also doesn't matter wether you're a veteran gardener or a mere beginner, everybody can find helpful tips, hints and ideas in gardening books. There will always be a gardening book with gardening tips you haven't read or heard somewhere. Doens't matter if it's about herb gardens, vegetables, weeds, flowers, indoor gardening or container gardening; you will find a book on it with brilliant information.

Herbs Gardening

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Tips on Growing Your Own Herbs

Gardening for produce can be a really enjoyable hobby, but a lot of people are put off by the amount of work that is needed for both fruit or vegetable gardening. And that may even be the case for you. If so, think about a herb garden for a second. What you get in return might not seem like a whole lot at first, you'll be able to take pleasure in the constantly available fresh and delicious herbs to bring added flavor to your meals. (What better way then with your own herbs, right?)

Choosing Your Garden Herbs

Before you rush out to the nearest garden store, you'll need to decide on what herbs you'll be planting. Which can prove difficult at first, since there's a huge variety of herbs currently available. But if you do a simple thing, you'll find the right herbs in an instant. Look in your kitchen as to what herbs you've got. Growing those garden herbs yourself will save you money and will be more pleasurable for you. Plus you've got the extra benefit of knowing that you're using fresh herbs. Rosemary, basil, dill, mint, parsley, chives and sage are among the popular ones to be grown.

Step By Step Herb Gardening

You've got your herbs, brilliant. Now you've got to find a spot ideal for the herbs to live in. Above all things, make sure that there's enough drainage for the water. If the soil stays saturated of water, your plants won't have a fighting chance of growing and staying healthy. A quick way of improving the water drainage is digging a foot deep into the ground and placing a layer of crushed rocks. Then replace the soil and you've just successfully improved the drainage of your soil. Congratulations!

You've picked which herbs, improved the soil's drainage capacity and you're ready to go out and get your herbs. Wonderful! But don't be tempted to get the pricier plants instead of the seeds. In fact it's easier with herbs to grow them from the seed up then with any other plant. By knowing this you can save yourself a bit of money by buying the seeds instead of the more mature herbs. Some herbs are know to grow at an enormous rate. Take for example a mint plant. You plant that in an open area and in a matter of days it will have taken over your entire garden. To prevent this, put the agressive herbs in plastic or earthen pots with holes in the bottom so the soil won't get saturated.

You've picked, bought, planted and grown the herbs, now you think it's time to harvest them!

Hold on! Not so fast. First you must know that it's harmful to the plant if you take away too many leaves. And especially when the plant is a rather young one. You should wait a few months before doing any harvesting whatsoever. This will make the herb stronger and it will make the possibillity of a healthy plant a lot better.
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After a few months (or by completely ignoring my advice, after a few weeks) you've harvested some home-grown herbs. Beautiful! Let's get them ready to be used in your dishes. First though we need to dry them. And the quickest way to do that is by putting them on a cookie sheet and baking them in the oven at 170 degrees Fahrenheit for about two to four hours. When they're dry enough you can use them in your dishes. And the best way to do so is by checking a cookbook for some great dishes you can use them in.

You've got too much herbs to use in your dish? Just store them, then! Store them in a glass or plastic container, but don't put them in a paper or cardboard one. These will rob the herbs from their taste. Also during the first few days, check the herbs regularly to see if any moisture has been piling up. If you see moisture, do the drying process once again. If you leave the moisture then you'll end up encouraging mildew and I don't know anybody that likes Mildew.

Last Advice on Herb Gardening

Right now, you're all set to start off with herb gardening. It's only an initial investment of effort, in terms of choosing which ones and improving the drainage of the soil. After that it's just a matter of harvesting them and drying them. Enjoy your homegrown herbs!

Gardening Gloves

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Your Hands Are Valuable, So Give Them Gardening Gloves!

Getting your hands dirty, feeling the earth on your skin, it can be one of the greatest things bout gardening. Unfortunately, you'll also end up with chopped and scraped skin, as well as blisters. And one common remedy for this problem are gardening gloves. If you spend little time in the dirt, you could cope without them. But if you're spending a lot of time in the garden you'll probably want to have them, they'll ease the pain a little bit. That way you get to spend a bit more time in the garden.

Finding The Perfect Gardening Gloves

Gardening gloves come in such high variety, it can become hard to find a good one. Picking the right set of gloves depends on your gardening needs. Those gloves give protection against a variety of things or substances. Take leather gloves, for example, they aren't a good set of gloves when working with chemicals of water. Most gloves however are specialized for their own little thing. Like for pruning thorns, using a chainsaw, refilling gas tanks. But there are gardening gloves that are more general, for things like digging and weeding and raking as well.
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If you've found the right pair, you'll need to find the right fit. We don't want to have gloves that are too big and would just slip of our hands. Or gloves that are too small and would cause cramps and aches in our hands. You could rather wear no gloves then gloves that don't fit becausethey can cause your hands to blister as well. When you're in the store, just put them on on both hands and make a fist, open your hand wiggle your fingers and do some movements you'd make when gardening. If it feels comfortable enough you can be sure you've found a good match.

Different Gardening Gloves For Different Gardening Needs

A lot of different companies manufacture a lot of different gardening gloves, which results in a big difference in both quality and pricetags. A lot of those gloves can just be washed in cold water and then hung up to dry in the wind. For any gardening need, you can find a fitting glove. Take cotton or cotton polyester gloves for example, which are for general purposes and are the most bought gloves when it comes to light chores in a cool and dry climate. Leather gardening gloves can do this as well but they are heavier then the two latter ones. There are gardening gloves that are chemical resistant and they'll help you to protect your hands from acids, oils, pesti and herbicides and a lot of other chemicals. You've got gloves with rubber dots which enhance the grip you've got and tough gloves that are cut and puncture resistant.

Gardening gloves are cheap and they will protect your hands. So no matter if you don't really like to use all kinds of gloves. You should really consider doing just the opposite. Buy specialized gardening gloves for all kinds of situations and you'll definitely be satisfied in the end. There are only upsides to gardening gloves, no downsides. Do it for your hands.

Flower Gardening

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Flower Gardening - Beautiful And Rich Colors Everywhere!

Flower gardening is getting huger and huger by the day. It's very popular at the moment and why shouldn't it be? It brings color and life to your home garden, it's inexpensive, smell wonderful, is a great hobby and above all, it can really brighten your day. You can use flower gardening to decorate your garden as a hobby or even as a profession.

Getting Started With Flower Gardening

Before getting your hand dirty though you'll need to take a few things into consideration.

Do you want to replant the plants every year, with annuals, or do you want plants who keep coming back every year? Also when buying plants make sure that they can thrive in the climate you're living in. And check the daily sunlight requirements as well.

Try to decide upfront what direction you want to go to with flower gardening. Mixing different colors, a variety of flowers of different heights will give you a garden that resembles a meadow. Which some people call "wild-plant style" and can be very charming. Or you can put short flower up front in your garden and as you go towards the back you continually go higher and higher untill you reach the back of the gardening site. Which will give you a "stepping stone style" garden.

Ordering the seeds is just as easy as opening a gardening catalogue and choosing from there or you can go to a nursery and buy them there. But most people who go to a nursery will end up buying plants instead of seeds and that's perfectly fine. After you've prepared the site and got your flowers ready you'll need to place them where you want them. Don't plant them just yet. Just arrange them and see if you like them that way and space them out so they've got plenty of room. Then comes the easy part, planting! With seeds you just need to sprinkle them around on the flower bed. Bought plants will need a whole that's bigger then the flower itself. Next you remove them from their container, put them in the hole and cover it with the dug up soil.. Only thing left to do is pressing down firmly and watering them.

Maintaining Your Flower Garden

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In terms of maintenance, a flower garden is quite easy to keep. Sometimes they can even thrive on their own, but a bag of fertilizer distributed during the early spring might be a good idea. Keep them watered and pinch back any bloom once they've started to fade. Try and save yourself some work by getting rid of debris in your garden and disparse organic nutrients like compost or peat moss. Remember to mix the fertilizer by flipping over the soil and raking it smoothly when you're finished. Be careful if you've got perennial flowers planted though, you wouldn't want to harm their roots now, would you?

Flower Gardening Is Very Easy

Everybody can start flower gardening, it's so easy you can teach your children. Just decide where to plant them and then do so. After that it's all about watering. Flower gardening is becoming more popular with every passing day and gives everybody a wonderful reason to spend time in their garden. Just go out there and put your 10 green fingers to use!

Garden Fountains

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Improving Your Garden By Adding A Garden Fountains

Water features can really give your garden something extra, something special. It can be relaxing, soothing and just plain beautiful. Imagine sitting on a bench in your garden, listening to your garden fountain while you're reading a good book or just enjoying the view. Adding a water feature is quite easily and usually it doesn't even cost that much. It will make your garden that much more pleasant and in terms of maintenance, that's minimal.

Enjoying Your Garden Fountains

A lot of people put a fountain in their garden because of the natural feel of it. I don't know why, but being in a place with a gorgeous display of falling water can really boost up your morale. If you practice yoga, meditation or Tai Chi, a fountain can really help. Also the constant and neverchanging sound of water splashing is something a lot of people actually need to concentrate and get things done. Even if that's not how you picture yourself, a fountain in your flower garden can realy bring about a meditative feel to it. I and many of my gardening friends would recommend a fountain to everybody.

Choosing The Perfect Fountain For Your Garden

Picking a garden fountain is something you simply cannot rush into. It's not wise and you'll regret it later. When shopping around, take someone else with you who you know has a great taste and a picture of your garden. That way you can see how it would fit in your garden. If it stands out like a sore thumb, you'll want to go to the next garden fountain. Untill you find one that is just meant to be there. One that fits with your entire gardening motive.
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A lot of people don't have any electricity wires running through their home gardens and therefore getting power to a garden fountain is usually a problem. One cheap and rather ugly looking way is to place an extension cord right on top of your garden. The other is doing the exact same, but going to a home depot and buying one that's meant to be buried. You'll just need to dig a little trench to your fountain and that's it! No visible wires and you've got a working fountain.

Last Tips on Garden Fountains

Your garden can become way more classy and simply more beautiful when you add the right wall garden fountain. I really hope you at least consider adding one to your garde, because I just know you won't feel sorry about it. It can add character and a very, very soothing feel to your garden. That way your herb garden will become the retreat you want it to be, stress-free and without any disturbances.

Fall Gardening

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An Introduction To Vegetable Fall Gardening

A lot of gardeners won't even consider fall gardening. They are afraid that the frosts of the winter might come early and ruin their gardens. However fall gardening results in excellent vegetables or herbs and is sure to extend the crops long after the plants, planted in spring, are done. Fall gardening produced vegetables can even be sweeter and softer than vegetables grown during the summer and can result in a brand new twist on the same everyday vegetables.

Differences Between Fall Gardning And Spring Gardening

With fall gardening everything relies on the space you have and what you like to eat. Pretty much like with spring plants. Crops that love heat, for example tomatoes, okra, peppers and sweet potatoes, can produce until the first frosts hit. In some southern areas that can be pretty late. There are also plants that die near the end of summer, like cucumbers, summer squash and snap-beans. But if yo plant these vegetables at the middle of the summer they can be harvested until the first frosts come by. Tough plants will grow until temperatures reaches 20 degrees, but there are also plants that aren't that strong that will only be capable of enduring light frosts. If you've got tuber and root plants, where the top has been killed by freezing weather, you can still save the edible part by using a large amount of mulch.

With fall gardening you've got to make sure to use seeds that will grow to maturity as fast as possible. Therefore vegetables with a short growing season are ideal, since they can become full grown and harvested before winter arrives. You can find all about that on the packages of the seeds, some are labeled "early season" or they boast the days it takes for them to grow mature. Go buy the seeds in spring or early summer, since by the end of the summer they probably won't have any more left in stock. Just keep them stored in a cool and dry spot and they'll be good to go when you want to plant them.
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Getting Ready For Fall Gardening

You'll need to know 2 things before you start off with fall gardening. One is to know when exactly the first frosts will hit, not the soft ones, but a hard frost. And one of the best ways to know this is to buy a farmer's almanac. You'll get exact dates and these things are rarely wrong. And the second thing you'll need to know is the exact time it takes for your plants to grow mature.

Getting ready for your fall gardening adventure you'll want to remove all of the summer or spring leftover crops and weeds. They can spread bacteria and disease if left alone in the garden, so remove them! Next you'll want to spread a few inches of mulch or compost over the area you'll use to garden to increase the amount of nutrients it'll have. Now if the plants from the spring or summer had been fertilized heavily, you probably won't need that much or none at all. Wet the soil until the top layer of it and let it set in for a half a day or a full day. After that you're ready to start fall gardening.

A lot of gardeners flee at the thought of fall gardening because they're afraid of the frosts. But if you plant tough vegetables that are capable of enduring a few frosts, you'll be getting beautiful and rich-tasting produce. With fall gardening you realy get to enjoy your home-grown vegetables.

Gardening Magazines

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A Gardening Magazine - A Resource, A Pleasure, A Gift!

Would you believe me if I said that those gardening professionals have questions once in a while about gardening? Do you know where they go to for the answers to those questions?

They Turn To Gardening Magazines
You've probably read a few gardening magazines yourself or even have a subscription to one or more of them. If those gardening magazines are useful to the pros, would you reckon they're useful for complete gardening beginners or hobbiests? Exactly! Gardening magazines give instructions and they'll keep you up to date on what's happening in the world of gardening.

If you just saw an infomercial about one of the newest blowers and you want to know more about that blower. Then open up a gardening magazine, chances are they've got that one covered. Whenever a new item hits the gardening market, those gardening magazines work their asses of to get you the latest news on the subject. You can find clubs, local classes and programs you can join through those gardening magazines. And when you see one of those new top of the knotch tillers and you really, really want one. Those gardening magazines will tell you where to find them and often times even for the lowest price possible!

Gardening Magazines Provide Many Tips And Advice

Besides giving the latest on new gardening tools, they provide you with tips and hints to help you get rid of garden pests, like insects etc. They can tell you about diseases that can cripple your plants or even hurt them and they then give you ways to recognize the disease and at the end they provide you with solution on how to arm yourself against those diseases. Gardening magazines can therefore be the number one savior of your garden!

From helping to save your garden to how to take care of your garden. Yep, they give advice and instructions on that one too. How to prune your plants, when to divide them and of course which kinds of fertilizer work best for your plants, as well as the amount of water they might need. All of their instructions and advice is laid out in a neat and understandable way.

Your entire garden could chance because of them, because they give you ideas on landscaping.

And if you follow through on that advice, your entire garden and therefore your home, could look completely different. And the ideas they give them make it easier for us, since it's often hard to come up with ideas for your garden. And you get to see the result of that idea right there in the magazine, that way you can check wether or not it would fit in your garden.
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Contacting Gardening Magazines

When you've gone through the magazine and you still haven't found exactly the right answer to your question, you can send them a letter or an e-mail with your question. Chances are that it'll get posted in the magazine along with the answer. And if you've got some great information or gardening tips on how to do something in your garden. You can submit your article(s) to them and they might decide to publish your article. You can also get featured in their magazine with your lawn, if it's a magnificent one. And if you do, I'll bet you be really proud about that and show it to everybody you know (or don't know)

So if you go to gardening magazines for the ideas, instructions, entertainment or to get inspiration, they will give you what you want. You can also find coupons in some magazines, so you'll save some money when you buy some items to improve, enhance or enlarge your garden. From gardening beginners to gardening pros, everybody can benefit from gardening magazines!

Compost Heap

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Maintaining A Compost Heap

A lot of gardeners will end up with large amounts of organic waste. Grass, leaves, dead plants. And a lot of gardeners spend money to get rid of those organic wastes. When they could have just as well transformed that into compost. And it makes a really good compost as well.
It can be used as a fertilizer which saves you money, because you don't have to buy anymore fertilizer. And when done correctly it will be nothing but benefits for your plants, and that's what we are all after, aren't we? Exactly! So next time you want to throw all of that organic waste away, don't! Instead turn it into a natural fertilizer for your yard.

How To Make A Compost Heap

The normal way to make compost is to dump everything in a pile in the back of your yard. This can bring some nasty images to mind and you may not want to think about leaving rotten garbage with the worst odor in the back of your garden. But if you maintain the compost heap correctly it will produce a wonderful compost without the nasty odors. When I first started a compost heap (which was to improve environmental health) I made a lot of mistakes. Like I prevented the pile from oxygen (which it REALLY needs!) and I kept it dry (which I shouldn't have). It all ended in a very non beneficial way and such a foul odor that the plants in my garden started holding their breaths!

When you choose a location for your compost heap, try to pick a spot with a larger amount of square footage. don't be tempted to but it all deep in the ground because it won't do you any good there and it won't get everything it needs. If you've got a shack or a shed of some kind, you can put borders on the roof and put the compost on top of the roof. i've seen it done a few times and it seems to work really well. And you're using a piece of land that you otherwise wouldn't have had! If you can't use the roof (or won't) then just spread the compost out over a larger square footage somewhere in the back of your garden.

Anything organic can be thrown on the compost heap. Stuff from in the kitchen, yard and garden like leaves, food that you couldn't finish, grass and you can even throw in newspapers. But keep it down to about one fifth of the pile (maximum) newspaper or the compost heap won't work very effectively. If you're using a barrel to put everything in it you'll find that it can fill up rather quickly in a matter of weeks. Getting compost isn't hard at all. But getting your garbage to compost is the hard part.
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When the heap has lots of bits of everything you should get the heap wet. The entire heap. This will encourage the entire compost-process. Also chop everything to pieces. Get every piece as small as you can. That way the materials will be composted a lot faster. Also keep aerating the pile as it starts to compost, keeping air in it is very beneficial for the decomposition of your compost heap.

If starting and maintaining a compost heap sounds like something you could and would like to do then you should start by finding a suitable location. That's basically the hardest thing about having a compost heap. Choosing the location with enough square footage that won't violate the rest of your garden. Even though you can erradicate the oder it sometimes has. Looking at it while you're walking through your beautiful garden isn't something to look forward to.