Sunday, December 9, 2012
Monday, December 3, 2012
Create A Beautiful Garden With These Great Tips
Bees, like bumble bees, are very good assets to your garden. Keep in mind though that there are some bees that can harm your garden. Carpenter bees for example destroy the wood in trees to create their nests. Overall, bees are beneficial to your garden, and should be left to go about their merry way helping your garden grow.
The flesh of vegetables gets soft in the heat of the day, making them especially vulnerable to inadvertent damage with even the gentlest picking. Also ensure that you use a tool to cut the vegetables off at the vine. If you just yank or twist the whole plant, it may become damaged.
Mix ammonia with water and spray on snails to kill them. You won't hurt your plants with ammonia, and it will actually be converted into nitrogen that is beneficial later. It does kill snails in your garden, which will stop them from damaging your beds. Add this mixture to your everyday horticulture routine, and you will see amazing results in no time.
Add some powerful fertilizer to your future garden plot with the use of a chicken tractor. A chicken tractor means a moveable chicken coop that has an open floor, as well as a sheltered area. A chicken tractor protects your poultry and allows them to graze specific areas of your garden while also naturally fertilizing it. After fertilizing one spot, the tractor is moved to another.
Sometimes the soil you want to use for your garden has a high alkaline content. Combine coffee grounds with the soil to reduce this. Using coffee grounds is a less expensive way to make your soil more acidic than trying to replace your topsoil. Balanced soil will produce more flavorful, crisp vegetables and greens.
Turn the handles of your garden tools into measuring rulers. Tools that have long handles such as rakes, hoes and shovels can be used in place of a measuring stick. Place the handles on the ground and measure them. Use a bright permanent marker and label the distances. This will allow you to have a ruler at your fingertips when you are working out in the garden.
A handy trick is to turn the handle on a tool that you use often into a makeshift ruler. Tools that can be used for more than one task are quite handy to own. Lay the handles onto the floor and place a measuring tape beside them. Use a permanent marker to label distances. Now you will always possess a large ruler ready for your use in the garden.
Transplanting plants and bringing them indoors can protect them from harsh winters. Maybe you'd like to save the most expensive plants you have or the most resistant. Carefully loosen the dirt around the roots, then transfer the plant into a pot filled with the same soil.
A green garden needs to begin with seeds, not plants. Once the plant is healthy enough, replant it in your garden with the appropriate type of soil. The planters used to hold nursery plants are generally not made from eco-friendly materials, and thus get thrown into landfills. Starting from seeds, or buying from one of the few nurseries that use biodegradable planters, prevents this.
Get more profits from your property. Landscaping your yard will bring you a big return on your investment. A few select plants can raise your property value dramatically. You should purchase plants that are well-suited to your landscape and environmental conditions.
A great gardening tip: to remove salty deposits from pots made of clay, use rubbing alcohol and vinegar. You want to do this, because sometimes salt deposits can actually build up outside and on the clay pot over time. Use equal amounts of rubbing alcohol, water and white vinegar to spray on the pot. After you have completed the previous step, begin scrubbing the inside with a fairly common cleaning brush. Just rinse the pot out after this and you should be on your way.
Gardening can actually increase the value of your property! One of the best things you can do to increase property value is to have proper landscaping. Some plant investments can raise your resale value by 20% or more. Seek out plants and shrubbery that require limited maintenance and will adapt well to the natural climate that you live in.
Take the proper approach to laying sod. Start by preparing your soil with care. Eradicate any weeds and work the soil until it is very fine. Make sure your soil is flat and compacted. Dampen the soil completely. You want the sod laid down in staggered rows, and the joints to be offset from each other. Even out the surface of the sod by firming it down flat, filling any available gaps with a handful of dirt. After two weeks of daily watering, the sod should be rooted; at this time, it is now safe to walk on it.
Learn how to properly lay sod. Your soil should be prepared before you lay the sod. Get rid of weeds and tilth the soil finely. Using a light but firm touch, compact the soil until it is flat. Moisten the soil thoroughly. Sod should be staggered in rows, the joints offsetting from each other. The sod should form a flat and firm surface. Fill in gaps with soil. Water the sod each day for two weeks so it will become well-rooted and ready for foot traffic.
If you are going to be doing some gardening, watch out for stink bugs, especially in the fall! They enjoy tomatoes, peppers, beans, and many different varieties of fruits. If left unattended, your garden could be ravaged by these bugs, so you need to proactively keep their population under control.
Pest control is one of the hardest things about growing a vegetable garden. Avoid spraying harsh chemicals on fruits and vegetables destined for your table. Instead of resorting to these harmful chemicals, you can keep garden pests at bay simply by paying close attention. If you catch pests early, you can remove them by hand effectively.
Use a chicken tractor for fertilizing your garden project. When it comes to a chicken tractor, it is basically a chicken coop that is moveable with a sheltered area and an open floor. Your chickens can therefore eat foods found in nature, such as bugs or plants, rather than chicken feed, if you use a chicken tractor. When they eliminate waste after eating, it'll fertilize your soil. Since the area is portable, it can be moved around in different areas.
Vegetables should be planted in an area where they will get a minimum of six hours of daily sunlight. Almost all vegetables need this much sunlight, so that they can grow correctly and in a shorter amount of time. This also rings true for some of the flowers.
With these tips, you're better equipped to grow the most beautiful garden you can imagine. In learning how to create your dream garden, you'll also be growing as a person. That's because learning how to nurture your plants will not only help you reach the goal of having a great garden, but it will help you learn to nurture yourself.