Any gardening tips you might wanna share?
Posted on Aug 25, 2009 under Gardening Tips |I am asking this question again because I believe that when I asked it was a very inconvenient time, (very late at night) though I did get many wonderful answers I would still like to know from people who have not answered 
soil…. getting the soil the best it can be is key to a great garden…. whatever you have to do to get good soil is well worth the work in the end… a soil test tells you where to start…. most soils need and do really well if given LOTS of compost…. it’s wonderful stuff!!..
tools… have what you need…. digging is so much easier if you have the right tools…. my hubby’s helping son with a bed at son’s new house… they had a terrible time digging in the rocky soil of a new build…. but once they got their hands on my maddock/pick, the work went so much faster!!…. and that goes for any of the garden tools…. from wagons to pruners… get the best you can and take good care of them!!….
water…. after our drought, lots of us know that there’s water to be had in many places that we didn’t think about before…. I will save and store water often now… from rain barrels to soda bottles… water is a big deal…. more soaker hoses and drip irrigation systems are on the list for this year…
mulches…. this is one of the best things you can do for your garden, be it for flowers or for foods….. mulch inhibits weeds, cools the soil in the hot sun and keeps soil temperatures more even during spring’s early warm days…. it saves on watering, keeps the soil moist with what water it has already…. choose your mulch according to what you need it to do…. be pretty?… keep the weeds off the tomatoes?… hold up the strawberries?…. keep the weeds out of the flowers?…. each mulch we typically use has a distinct reason….. newspaper stops weeds …. landscape fabric lets air and water thru…. pine needles lets air thru…. pine bark is slow to decompose and keeps cats out pretty good…. hardwood looks special…. colored mulches have their place I guess, but they’re too much for this old gal… and rubber mulch?.. mmm… is your garden bed a playground for kiddies???…. straw over paper is great in the veggies…. shredded paper is, too…
research EVERYTHING…. get the names of your plants and look them up… this computer will tell you LOADS of stuff about plants…. don’t ever BUY a plant you don’t get a tag and a name with….. (unless you recognise it already)…. when you buy, pull that plant OUT of the pot and check the roots… are they white and healthy looking or black and soggy rot?…. do they spread out or go around the pot again and again?…. do they look big enuff to support the top of the plant?… then put it back in the pot!!…. don’t buy a sickly looking plant unless you’re prepared to isolate it from everything else till it’s ‘better’……
buy your plants from a neighbor hood nursery or grower…. someone in your area…. online shipping is nice but not all plants grown in PA can live thru summer in NC…. see?….
start small and expand as your knowledge base expands…. otherwise you get overwhelmed and give up too soon…. plan your garden with expansion in mind for later…. I started with one corner of the back fence…. now the only spot that’s NOT a part of the garden is the septic field!!….
whatever else I’d tell you isn’t enuff unless you love gardening… while it’s fun, it’s wonderful… but when it’s no longer fun, but a job, then you have too much and should cut back…. age and health sometimes decide when you have to do that…..
happy gardening!!
August 26th, 2009 at 4:12 am
A bit late for this tip for this year - but in the fall, when everyone puts their bags of leaves out to the curb - go "Leaf Rustling"! I haul ‘em all back, and pile them onto my garden for the winter. 1 to 2 feet high - then it all decomposes down to about 6 inches by spring.
The density of the cover keeps the weed from sprouting, and saves me a LOT of work in that department. Then I just pull some of the mulch aside, and plant my plants when the time comes. The leaves will eventually become part of the soil.
The no work/weed free garden…with soil that improves seemingly on its own, every year! (and did I mention free?)
References :
August 26th, 2009 at 4:43 am
Hire a gardener
References :
August 26th, 2009 at 4:57 am
I do not know or care much about a flower garden but I get excited about having another vegetable garden. Just like children and pets, I nuture a vegetable garden. The taste of vegetables from the garden will make you want to start your own.
References :
August 26th, 2009 at 5:25 am
I don’t really have a garden, but I have a porch with nice planters.
I have two big ones on the sides at the end of the walking trail to the porch. In each one there is a "sky pencil" plant in the back-middle area of these round planters.
Sky Pencils grow very slow and they stay the same great and classy columnar shape for many years. Meanwhile, you can plant any kind of colorful annual plants at the bottom of the Sky Pencil. Right now I have pansies, and in the spring I will plant many other different small annuals.
You therefore will never have the ugly view of an empty pot in front of your house year-long!
References :
August 26th, 2009 at 6:10 am
Here is a link for lots of gardening tips.
Enjoy! http://naturehills.com/gardening/tags/gardening+tips/garden+tips/default.aspx
References :
http://www.naturehills.com
August 26th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Try: "Gardens for Beginners"
http://www.geocities.com/mastergardener2k
References :
August 26th, 2009 at 7:14 am
soil…. getting the soil the best it can be is key to a great garden…. whatever you have to do to get good soil is well worth the work in the end… a soil test tells you where to start…. most soils need and do really well if given LOTS of compost…. it’s wonderful stuff!!..
tools… have what you need…. digging is so much easier if you have the right tools…. my hubby’s helping son with a bed at son’s new house… they had a terrible time digging in the rocky soil of a new build…. but once they got their hands on my maddock/pick, the work went so much faster!!…. and that goes for any of the garden tools…. from wagons to pruners… get the best you can and take good care of them!!….
water…. after our drought, lots of us know that there’s water to be had in many places that we didn’t think about before…. I will save and store water often now… from rain barrels to soda bottles… water is a big deal…. more soaker hoses and drip irrigation systems are on the list for this year…
mulches…. this is one of the best things you can do for your garden, be it for flowers or for foods….. mulch inhibits weeds, cools the soil in the hot sun and keeps soil temperatures more even during spring’s early warm days…. it saves on watering, keeps the soil moist with what water it has already…. choose your mulch according to what you need it to do…. be pretty?… keep the weeds off the tomatoes?… hold up the strawberries?…. keep the weeds out of the flowers?…. each mulch we typically use has a distinct reason….. newspaper stops weeds …. landscape fabric lets air and water thru…. pine needles lets air thru…. pine bark is slow to decompose and keeps cats out pretty good…. hardwood looks special…. colored mulches have their place I guess, but they’re too much for this old gal… and rubber mulch?.. mmm… is your garden bed a playground for kiddies???…. straw over paper is great in the veggies…. shredded paper is, too…
research EVERYTHING…. get the names of your plants and look them up… this computer will tell you LOADS of stuff about plants…. don’t ever BUY a plant you don’t get a tag and a name with….. (unless you recognise it already)…. when you buy, pull that plant OUT of the pot and check the roots… are they white and healthy looking or black and soggy rot?…. do they spread out or go around the pot again and again?…. do they look big enuff to support the top of the plant?… then put it back in the pot!!…. don’t buy a sickly looking plant unless you’re prepared to isolate it from everything else till it’s ‘better’……
buy your plants from a neighbor hood nursery or grower…. someone in your area…. online shipping is nice but not all plants grown in PA can live thru summer in NC…. see?….
start small and expand as your knowledge base expands…. otherwise you get overwhelmed and give up too soon…. plan your garden with expansion in mind for later…. I started with one corner of the back fence…. now the only spot that’s NOT a part of the garden is the septic field!!….
whatever else I’d tell you isn’t enuff unless you love gardening… while it’s fun, it’s wonderful… but when it’s no longer fun, but a job, then you have too much and should cut back…. age and health sometimes decide when you have to do that…..
happy gardening!!
References :