Growing A Green Garden, Even If You Were Not Born With A Green Thumb

TIP! Make sure your soil is healthy enough before you start planting anything. Many nurseries offer a soil analysis service, which will tell you what nutrients your soil is lacking and what you can do about it.

A lot of people believe that horticulture is difficult. However, if you have the proper knowledge, it can actually be quite simple. With the right advice, anybody can become an award-winning gardener. You can greatly increase your horticulture skills by applying the suggestions you will read in this article.

TIP! See to it that you fertilize your garden. Manure is probably the best fertilizer.

Use slug-proof varieties of perennials wherever possible. These mollusks are capable of consuming an entire garden full of flowers in a single night. They often enjoy feeding on perennials with very smooth and tender leaves. Young plants are a special favorite of theirs. Some varieties of perennials are not preferred by snails and slugs, particularly perennials that have hairy, tough leaves or a taste that isn’t appetizing. Achillea, euphorbia, helleborus, heuchera and campanula are good choices that slugs don’t like.

TIP! Natural materials or some other plants can be used in your garden for keeping away pests. Onions and marigolds can get rid of pests in the garden.

Before you even start planting the garden, check the soil. A soil analysis report can be acquired for a nominal fee. You can then use the results of that report to determine if the soil needs to be modified before you begin planting. It can avoid ruined vegetables and flowers, so check with places, such as a cooperative extension department to see where you can obtain the analysis.

TIP! Place organic mulch as close to your vegetables as you can. The mulch will add beneficial moisture to your soil.

To grow properly, plants need adequate levels of CO2. In general, higher amounts of CO2 are related to better plant growth. The best way to expose your plants to a high level of carbon dioxide is by growing them in a greenhouse. A greenhouse will help maintain a high level of CO2 and cause the plants to grow faster.

TIP! Know when to harvest your vegetables at precisely the right time. Every veggie variety has an ideal time frame for picking, so it’s important to catch them when their flavors peak.

Grow some wheat grass or catnip for your cat to eat instead. Additionally, use your cat’s keen sense of smell to your advantage. Citrus fruit peels and mothballs both smell horrible to cats, so put them on the soil near the plants your cat likes to eat.

TIP! Pest control is one of the hardest things about growing a vegetable garden. Since you are growing the vegetables for your own consumption, you want to stay away from pesticides.

Protect your deciduous shrubs which are tender. Shrubs that are planted in containers are especially susceptible to frost and must be carefully protected. Tie together the tops. Once the canes are snugly together, put a sheet over the wigwam. This method is much better than wrapping the plant in plastic, as it allows air to circulate, which can prevent rotting.

TIP! To keep your dog out of your garden, spray old perfume, aftershave, or other scented items in the grass around it. This will mask the garden smell that is attracting your dog, and it will make it a less appealing place for your dog to visit.

To make a creative English garden, include many different kinds of plants and vary their height in the same garden bed. If you want a more organized look, select plants that will grow to the same height and put them in the same bed.

TIP! If you pick vegetables around high noon when it is very hot, you are likely to damage them. Cut them with a tool rather than pulling or twisting, otherwise you could damage the plant itself.

Using aspirin water will help your plants fight diseases. An aspirin and a half, dissolved in about two gallons of fresh water, is great for your plants. Spray this mixture onto your plants. Apply at three week intervals.

TIP! You can create the look and feel of an English garden by mixing different plants of varying heights throughout your flower bed. Using plants which grow to the same length or height will make your bed look uniform.

It is essential to keep your knees protected as you garden. Bending over for extended periods can be harmful to your joints and muscles. Due to this, most people choose to garden while on their knees, which also makes it easier to tend to plants. Knee pads will prevent any pain you may feel because of this position.

TIP! Always completely protect any cuts, or wait until they are healed before attempting any gardening, as this can introduce dirt or chemicals into the wound. Your cut could get infected if you’re dealing with grime and dirt when gardening.

It is important to keep the temperature set between 65 and 75 degrees, if you wish to raise plants in the home. Indoor plants grow best at these warm temperatures. If this is a little too warm for your house, grow your organic plants under a heat lamp.

TIP! To be most efficient in your gardening, always keep your tools close at hand. Large pockets or a sturdy bucket can be used to store tools.

Use approximately two or three inches of natural, organic material as some mulch in every single flower bed. Covering the beds with mulch serves multiple purposes; it helps the flowers by retaining moisture and adding nutrients, and it discourages the growth of unwanted plants. You will also have a gorgeous and finished organic flower bed.

TIP! When you’re making a compost pile, you should use fresh and dried plants to get it started. Green plant material includes grass clippings, spent flowers, vegetable and fruit waste, weeds and leaves.

Spend your time working efficiently in your organic garden. Don’t waste your time looking for missing tools. Prepare all the tools you need before you go out to work on your garden, and put them away nicely when you are done. You may also wish to invest in a tool belt to keep all of your tools within reach while horticulture.

TIP! When planting seeds in containers, remember that the planting depth should be around three times bigger than the seed size. Be aware that some seeds shouldn’t be covered, as they need sunlight.

Coffee grounds are a great addition to soil. Coffee beans are loaded with nitrogen, which offers nourishment for plants. This nutrient is often lacking in home gardens, and adding it will give you taller plants that bloom beautifully.

TIP! The simple beer trap is still one of the best methods of ridding your organic garden of slugs. Start by burying a wide-mouth jar in the soil, ensuring that the rim of the jar is just at the soil’s surface.

A good general rule when planting your seeds into containers is that the depth of the planting should be about three times the size of the seed. Some seeds need to be in direct sunlight, though, so you need to know information about each type of seed. Ageratum and petunias fall into this category. If you’re not sure if your seeds need sunlight, you can find out online or through the seeds’ package.

TIP! When planting tomatoes in your organic garden, a great tip is to plant another set of tomatoes after three weeks of planting the original ones. The reason for this is because it helps to prevent the entire harvest from producing all at once.

Try lightly ruffling the seedlings with your hands about twice a day. This probably sounds like an odd recommendation, but research has shown that this technique encourages more plant growth, than no petting at all.

TIP! Creating a new bed for your perennials is easy. Cut under the turf with a spade, flip it over, and cover the whole area with several inches of wood chips.

If slugs are disrupting the balance of your garden, you can diminish their population by using a beer trap. Dig a hole the size of a glass jar, and bury the jar with the top at ground level. After you have placed the jar in the soil, fill with beer to approximately one inch of the top. Slugs are attracted to beer. They will crawl into the jar and be trapped.

TIP! You need to mulch your flowerbed and garden using at least 3 inches worth of organic material. You will ensure your garden will be nourished by keeping moisture inside the soil, thus creating a neater appearance of your garden, and repelling weed growth.

Clearly, it isn’t hard to be a good gardener. You just have to know the tricks of the trade. These suggestions have given you a solid foundation in how to design and maintain a fabulous garden.