Horticulture is a relaxing, rewarding pastime for many and offers a long list of benefits. It does not matter if you grow vegetable or flowers, just the act of taking care of a garden and caring for your plants will offer many rewards. Learn how much water your vegetables and flowers need and be sure you plant them in the right kind of soil. Follow some of the advice contained in this article for further ideas of things you should know.
Use your tool handles as rulers in the garden. Large handled tools such as shovels, rakes, and hoes can be used as measuring sticks. Lay the tools down on the floor, then place a measuring tape along the handle. Mark your distances with a permanent marker. When the need arises to measure something while in your garden, the measuring tool you need will literally be “on hand,” sketched into the handles of your tools.
Use climbing vines or plants to cover fences and walls. Climbing plants can cover a wall after one growing season only. They can grow through shrubs and trees, or even cover an arbor. Some climbers you plant will have to be tied off and supported, but others have no problem attaching themselves to any surface using their tendrils or twining stems Some climbers that have proven to be reliable are honeysuckle, jasmine, wisteria, clematis, and climbing roses.
Be sure to weed your garden. A vibrant garden will be overrun with weeds if they are left alone. To help with the removal, you can use white vinegar. White vinegar can not only kill the weeds, it’s also a non-toxic spray that won’t harm pets or people. So, use a spray solution of white vinegar if you are tired of pulling those weeds by hand.
Be sure your garden is fertilized. Manure can be very helpful in growing plants, but it is essential to use a commercial product that has been composted, in order to minimize pathogen risk. There are numerous types of fertilizers available. What type you select is less of a concern; any kind of fertilizer is better than none.
Think about putting some berry-producing evergreens into your landscape. This will aid in giving your garden great color, even during the winter when other plants have lost their colors. A few examples that you could go with include the American Holly, the Winterberry, the American Cranberrybush, and the Common Snowberry.
Purchase a wheelbarrow, and a kneeling stool to use in your garden. Gardening can be very tough on the knees as you spend much time leaning near the ground, so a portable stool can make all the difference to your comfort. Also having a garden usually requires moving heavy dirt and objects, so investing in a wheelbarrow is a very sound investment.
Choose one stand-out plant to be a focal point. Gardens are like art; you need to give the piece (or garden) an initial focal point. You want to choose a plant that will stand out, as opposed to blending in with the other plants adjacent to it.
Protect yourself from sun overexposure while horticulture by wearing the proper clothing. Choose hats with overlapping brims, don those sunglasses and smear on the sunscreen. By protecting yourself from the sun’s rays, you lower your risk of getting sunburns or skin cancer.
Take care of your knees while working in the garden. Bending from a standing position for excessive amounts of time can be difficult for many people. Kneeling down on the ground is a more comfortable way for many people to tend to their gardening chores. Get knee pads or a small mat you can use to kneel on if the ground is too hard.
Have some plastic bags on hand that you can put over your gardening shoes if they are muddy. Doing this prevents lengthy work interruptions, and allows you to finish the job quickly.
Stay on top of your organic gardening to-do list, and don’t let the work pile up. While you may not be able to spend a lot of time every day in your garden, even little items done daily will stop the mountain of work from growing. For example, if your family is cooking out on the grill, you could clear a few bunches of weeds between checking on the burgers.
As was mentioned at the beginning of this article, horticulture may be an incredibly rewarding hobby. For flower horticulture, the beauty alone is rewarding. Vegetable gardening adds economic, culinary and health rewards. By incorporating some of the tips in the above article, you can take your love of horticulture to an entire new level.