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Vegetable Gardening Tips

6:23 am by webmann in gardening tips, vegetable garden

Image via WikipediaThe idea of having your own backyard garden where you can grow your own vegetables is becoming more and more attractive as the cost of living just keeps going up. This is one way to save a bit of money and even make your family healthier by feeding them fresh produce and herbs right from your backyard garden.

My dad used to plan vegetables that would give us rewards early, like lettuce and radishes. He also planted for the middle and even late season. We even had stuff that he would dig out from under that snow, like Cale.

Sunlight and plenty of it is what most vegetables require, at least 6 hours of sunlight per day and for some others you might even need 8 hours of sunlight.

Short of garden space? Well the quick growers like lettuce and radish can be grown between the rows of plants that take longer to mature, like beet or corn, thus making full use of the area available.

Throughout dry periods, vegetable gardens need extra watering. Most vegetables benefit from an inch or more of water each week, especially when they are fruiting. Don’t slack of now after putting in so much planning. Just like you and me, not enough water causes dehydration, which makes for a bad crop.

During the growing season watch for insect pests. If you discover a bug problem early it will be much easier, but be careful to not use pesticides once the vegetable are close to being picked unless it becomes an absolute necessity. Organic gardening is one healthy and environment-friendly option. Once you have reaped your crop, put the vegetable waste into your compost pile so that it can be recycled for next spring.

It is important to protect your vegetable garden from wild animals looking for a tasty treat. Make sure your garden is surrounded by a fence that will keep out dogs, rabbits, and other animals. The harm done by wandering animals during one season can equal the cost of a fence. A fence also can serve as a frame for peas, beans, tomatoes, and other crops that need support.

Protection is needed in order for your vegetable garden to yield a bountiful harvest. Hard work will pay dividends if necessary precautions have been made.

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Planning Your Flower Gardening

9:19 am by webmann in Flower Gardening, gardening

Image via WikipediaHave you noticed how flower gardening seems to be even more popular today than in the past? They can brighten up your day and everyone’s day. Most flowers smell nice, and it makes for a great hobby.  Flower gardening is simple, inexpensive, loads of fun and very pleasing to the eyes.  Flower gardening isn’t just for the professionals, people like you and me can really enjoy it, on any level.

A little planning goes a long way in flower gardening. We like to start planning what flowers we will add to our garden just about the time the new year starts. You must decide if you want annuals that live for one season and must be replanted every year, or perennials that survive the winter and return again in the spring.  When buying and planting, pay attention to what kind of flowers thrive in your climate as well as the sun requirements.

When preparing for flowers in your backyard garden, you must decide what type of look you want before planting.  For instance, mixing different heights, colors, and varieties of flowers together in a “wild-plant style” will give your garden a meadow look and can be very charming.  If short flowers are planted in the front of your garden and work up to the tallest flowers in the back you will have a “stepping stone style”.

If for any reason you plant them in reverse order so that the tallest flowers are in the front you may not have given the smaller or short plants enough sun to survive.

Flower Gardening Catalogs

You can order seeds for flower gardening from catalogues or buy them from a nursery.  Most people will go to the nursery and buy actual flowers and then transplant them.  After you have prepared your garden area and bought flowers, it is a good idea to lay the flowers out in the bed to make sure you like the arrangement and that they will be spaced properly.
One of the easiest processes in flower gardening is the planting/ if you have seeds just sprinkle them around in the flower bed.  For planting transplants dig a hole just bigger than the flower, pull the container off, and set the flower in the hole right side up.  Cover it with the loose soil and press down firmly, then water.

Keep Up Maintenance on Your Flower Garden…

… is even easier than planting one.

Although they might make it on their own, a bag of fertilizer applied in the early spring is a good idea.  Pinch back any blooms after they start to fade and keep them good and watered.  To save yourself work during the next season of flower gardening, rid your garden of all debris and spread out organic nutrients like peat moss or compost.  Don’t forget to turn over the soil to properly mix in the fertilizer and rake smooth when finished.  If you have perennials planted be careful not to disturb their roots in this process.

Flower gardening is as easy as 1, 2, and 3: simply decide what to plant; plant it, and water, water, water!  Flower gardening is undoubtedly gaining in popularity and gives anyone excellent reason to spend some outdoors and test out their green thumb.

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Topiary- The Art of Shaping Trees and Shrubs

3:17 pm by webmann in backyard gardening, pruning plants

Topiary can be a lot of fun if you have an imagination and some patience. Topiary is the art of shaping trees and shrubs into shapes of all types and sizes.

There have been some quite outstanding topiary shapes created by garden artists over the years and many people get pleasure from practicing this art in home gardens across the country.

While it is not quite as popular as it once was it is still something that can create a focal point in any garden and is an alternative to other forms of garden sculpture.

If you decide to try your hand at topiary you will need to have the right plants for the job.

The best plants to use are those that are evergreen. The plants should also have small leaves and the foliage should be as dense as possible to make shaping easier and the final result will look more professional.

From there it is time to start shaping the plant using your cutting shears.

As this is generally done freehand it can take some time to get the experience needed to create even lines and curves.
Until you have the experience to do this, many people use shaped wires to assist as a guide.

You will need to be patient and only cut off small amounts while you let the shape develop, as a cut too large will result in delays while the plant grows back again.

There is an alternative method that some people use in their garden where the shape is already determined by the use of a wire cage and plants such as ivy are left to grow over the wire giving the impression that it is topiary.

This is the easy alternative but you will have to wait for the ivy to completely cover the cage before you have the desired effect. The benefit of using this method is the fact that you have a lot more control over the shape of the structure and there is less skill involved other than creating the wire cage.

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