Gardening is a relaxing hobby, and it does not cost a lot of money. If you plant a garden together it is a great activity for you and your family to do together to get some bonding time in. Children find the observation of growing plants utterly fascinating, and they will make a habit out of monitoring the evolution of seed to blooming. Gardening can also help appreciate outdoor life and nature. This article will make it simpler for you to love gardening, so that you may even have others help you.
Look for the variants of a plant that offer the highest yield. There are genetically modified plants that resist cold and/or disease. These often give higher yields due to higher survival rates.
When gardening, try not to use broad-spectrum pesticides. These kinds of pesticides kill the helpful insects that destroy the pests. Beneficial insects are more susceptible to toxic pesticides than their annoying counterparts, so a broad-spectrum pesticide could kill all of the good bugs first, allowing the population of bad pests to multiply. This may then lead to using even more pesticides to eliminate this new problem.
Use a mix of ammonia with water to keep the snails away. The ammonia won’t hurt the fragile plants, and it will later convert to useful nitrogen. You will get rid of the snails on your plants, and they will not cause any more damage to your garden. An ammonia and water mixture is safe enough for daily use.
Choose a specific plant to become your garden’s focal point. A solid focal point will draw peoples attention to your garden, leaving them to admire your unique design. You want to choose a plant that will stand out, as opposed to blending in with the other plants adjacent to it.
Sod should be laid correctly. Your soil should be prepared before you lay the sod. Pull any weeds and break up any clods of soil. Compress the soil lightly yet firmly, and make certain it’s flat. You then will want to thoroughly wet the soil. The optimum layout of sod rows is to stagger them with offset joints. Even out the surface of the sod by firming it down flat, filling any available gaps with a handful of dirt. According to your climate, you will likely need to water the new sod daily over a period of a couple of weeks. This will insure proper root formation and establishment.
To prevent shocking your plants, you must gradually introduce new temperatures and other conditions to them. Put the plants outside in the sun for one to two hours in the beginning. Over a period of several days, slowly increase the time they are allowed to stay outside. If you do this correctly, the plants should be able to make their final move at the end of a week’s time.
You don’t have to plant just for spring and summer. Consider what are often beautiful colors in the fall. It’s not necessary to think this way, however. Fall foliage provides for the most colorful season of the year. Maple, Beech and Dogwood trees are available in a number of fall colors, varying from bright yellow to rich crimson. Add even more color to your garden by planting shrubs such as hydrangea, barberry or cotoneaster.
Do your paperwork for your garden. Start by listing the veggies you wish to grow, and then draw a detailed picture of your plot, planning where to plant each item. Make sure you are giving consideration to required sunlight, plant maturity, height and width, and moisture control.
If you want to keep dogs our of your garden, take some aftershave, old perfume, or any other scented item and spray the grass around the area. Doing so shields the scents that your dog might pick up on and be drawn to, causing their potential interest in your garden to drop dramatically.
Your tool handles can easily be used as handy rulers. Tools that have long handles such as rakes, hoes and shovels can be used in place of a measuring stick. Lay the handles onto the floor and place a measuring tape beside them. Label the distances on the handle with a marker pen that will not smear or fade away. When you are at work in the garden, you will always have a handy measuring device on each and every tool.
Compost Pile
A simple way to raise up the plant material layers for the compost pile is to store the material in big plastic garbage bags. You can do this in the fall after you rake up all the leaves. Bag the leaves, then store them in a warm location. In the spring, you will have great soil material for your compost pile.
If you want to keep your garden free of pests, start with healthy soil! Healthy plants can better ward off pests and diseases. If you start with balanced soil, your garden will produce healthy plants with the best yield. Refrain from using chemicals since these will increase the salt content of the soil.
Shoveling soil that is mostly clay can be difficult because of the hardness of the soil, and because it sticks to the shovel. Coat and buff the digging end of the shovel with automobile wax to make digging easier. This will keep the soil from sticking, and prevent rusting of the tool.
As these tips show, gardening can be both fun as a solitary hobby or as a family project. If you use this information, you will find yourself enjoying gardening as a very rewarding pastime.