
A garden makes a home look great but does even more than that. It is more than just an activity for the green-thumbed hobbyist. It can give a gardener a feeling of peace. When one is good at gardening, the rewards are outstanding.
Start your plants in containers, and then transplant the seedlings into the garden later on. Doing this will increase the survival rate of all your outdoor plants. This also helps tighten time between plantings. As soon as you harvest the mature plants in your garden, your new seedlings will be large enough to plant outside!
If you have any mildew on the plants, do not go out and buy anything. All it takes is a liquid soap, water, and baking soda mixture. Spray this mix on your plants every week and the mildew should go away. No damage will occur to your plants, and the baking soda is mild and efficient.
Protect your delicate shrubs from harsh, wintry elements. If you have some tender shrubs that are in planters, you need to protect them from cold weather. Tie the tops together, and loosely cover the wigwam with a blanket or sheet. In contrast to wrapping the plant with plastic, this method promotes air circulation, which stops the plant from rotting.
Knee Pads
If you have many low-growing plants in your garden, get yourself a pair of gardening knee pads. The amount of time that you spend gardening on your knees can make your knees hurt by the time you are done. A pair of good horticulture knee pads can cushion your knees for more comfort.
A quality garden must be grown from seeds. Not only is this more of an effective method for horticulture, but it’s also more environmentally-friendly. Packaging materials for many plants utilize plastics that are not recyclable, so avoid these containers and choose instead to sow your garden with seeds or utilize organic pots.
Look for targeted pesticides instead of using popular but damaging broad-spectrum products. Broad-spectrum pesticides will kill insects that are helpful to your garden as well as the harmful ones. Many times good bugs will be more sensitive to harmful pesticides than the ones you are trying to get rid of. If your good bug population goes down, your problem will only get worse. If this happens, you just fuel an expanding cycle of needing even more pesticides.
Water containing some aspirin helps your plants fight illness. An aspirin and a half, dissolved in about two gallons of fresh water, is great for your plants. You simply have to spray the solution on your plants to assist them in warding off diseases. Use this method every three weeks.
Pay attention to how much light your indoor plants are getting. If your windows are small or receive little light due to their positioning, a plant that requires little sunlight will be more comfortable and healthy. If you still are unable to get enough light to your plants, consider purchasing grow-lights.
Having a garden of perennials can be an easy and quick process. Use your spade to slice chunks of turf up, then flip each piece over, and spread wood chips on top to a depth of four inches. Let the area sit for a fortnight, then turn the earth and set up your new perennial bed.
Once your seeds have germinated they will not need to be kept as warm as before. You should move your sprouted plants farther from the heat when they are past the sprouting stage. Make sure you remember to remove any plastic films that were on the plant containers to repel humidity and warmth. Watch your seeds closely to know how to go about this.
Use about two to three inches of organic material as mulch in all of your flower beds. This is a good way to keep weed growth at bay and add nutrients that you need in your garden. As an added bonus, a nice mulch can help make your garden look more finished.
Pine can make for a great type of mulch. Certain plants are acidic, and thrive in acidic soil. If you have acid loving plants, use pine needles as a mulch. Spread the needles over the beds in a layer that is approximately 2-inches deep. Over time, the needles will begin to decay, supplying the soil with acid as they do.
It is possible to control weeds with natural methods. Take newspapers and layer them for controlling weeds. Weeds must have sunlight in order to grow. When you cover weeds with newspaper layers, they suffocate due to lack of light. Because newspapers decompose well with the passage of time, they make great additions to compost. One way to enhance the appearance of your garden if you are using newspapers is to add an additional layer of mulch.
You can get rid of slugs with a simple beer trap. Start by burying a wide-mouth jar in the soil, ensuring that the rim of the jar is just at the soil’s surface. Fill it with beer to about one inch below the top of the jar. The beer attracts these slugs, but traps them in the jar.
To make a credible claim that your crops are organically grown, you should be certified as organic by a credible organization. This attracts customers who are willing to drive a little farther and pay a little more for products that are safe and healthy.
Use these tips to bring life back to your garden. Your plants and shrubs will thank you from the bottoms of their roots. Horticulture could become your new hobby and be a real source of happiness for you.