Horticulture can be therapeutic and stress relieving. Before planting your garden, research the proper type of soil, the garden tools you will need and what time of the year your seeds should be planted. Spend some time relaxing in the sun, tending your garden.
Trying to shovel through clay soil can be extremely difficult and tiresome. To make your digging project easier, apply a coat of automobile wax to your shovel first and then buff it lightly. This causes the clay to slide rather than stick, and prevents rust as a side effect.
Consider planting slug-proof perennials. These mollusks are capable of consuming an entire garden full of flowers in a single night. Snails and slugs have a good time destroying perennials that are young and have tender and smooth thin leaves. Perennials that have thick, furry leaves and unpleasant tastes are less likely to attract slugs and snails. Some of examples of these are achillea, heuchera, campanula, helleborus, and euphorbia.
Beginning your garden with healthy soil is your first defense against pests! Healthy plants can better ward off pests and diseases. High-quality soil that is low on chemicals is key. It’s the first thing you should think about when planning on growing your garden.
Baking Soda
You don’t need a costly chemical solution to deal with powdery mildew in your garden. All it takes is a liquid soap, water, and baking soda mixture. Once a week, spray this solution on your plants and your mildew should disappear in no time. Do not worry about your plants; the baking soda cannot harm them.
Be sure to do some weeding on a regular basis. Those nasty weeds can turn your beautiful garden into a scruffy version of its former self. White vinegar can be a good solution. White vinegar is a weed killer! If you’re annoyed with pulling up weeds manually, douse them with a white vinegar solution.
Grow some wheat grass or cat grass next to the plants your cat seems to prefer. In addition, you could put an item on the soil’s top around the plants which has a smell that cats hate, such as citrus peel or mothballs.
There is always a best time to pick your garden’s vegetables, and you should know them. Different vegetables and fruits have their ideal seasons and months where they flourish, survive, and are harvested at the highest quality. Peas, for instance, should be harvested rather young if you wish to obtain the best flavors and texture. The opposite is true of tomatoes. They taste their best if you allow them to ripen on the vine as long as possible. You should know the proper time to pick vegetables.
Just as when outside, plants kept inside need varying degrees of sunlight, which can be harder to obtain from indoors. Ideally, these plants should be kept in a room that offers natural light from a window or glass door. You could also consider using grow-lights for this exact purpose.
Do not plant your seeds in a rush. First, add moisture to the soil where you will be planting. Lay out your seeds, and make sure that they will have enough room to grow. Plant them depending on how big the seeds are. Also keep in mind that there are some seeds you should not bury, as light is essential for their growth.
You’ll save time and energy if you keep tools nearby while working in your garden. Keep the tools in a big bucket, or store them in strong pockets in your pants. Have gloves, shears, a trowel and anything else you need handy for quick use.
Pine Needles
Believe it or not, pine makes great mulch. Some plants are highly acidic, and like soil that is acidic too. Pine needles are an excellent form of mulch for these types of plants. If you spread a few inches of pine needles around your garden beds, when they break down, the acid they contain will leach into the soil.
If you are building a raised bed utilize stone, brick or wood that is untreated. Any wood you use needs to be untreated and resistant to rot. Good choices are cedar, locust and cypress. In order to avoid toxic substances from getting into the ground and perhaps into your vegetables, avoid using treated wood to enclose or demarcate different sections of your vegetable garden. If you have already used lumber that is treated, you can line it with plastic or another type of barrier.
Keep the soil healthy by adding mulch. The mulch will protect the soil underneath it. It will keep the soil cool in the summer, which protects the roots. Mulch also slows the rate at which water evaporates, which improves your soil’s ability to retain moisture. This also helps all the weeds you have stay under control, relieving stress from your shoulders.
As you have learned from this article, gardening can seem like quite the task, yet is manageable if you know what you’re doing. As long as you implement the tips and tricks that you learn, you will have great results. Simply use the advice presented here and wonderful garden will be growing from your land.