Horticulture is something people have loved doing for centuries. It can be done for sheer pleasure or it can be done to feed a family. Read on for ways to find your own joy in horticulture adventures.
Using a shovel in clay soil is a lot of work, not only is the clay hard, but it will stick to the shovel and make it twice as hard to handle. Make your shoveling job easier by lightly coating a shovel with a layer of wax, then buffing the surface. Either car wax or floor wax will work just fine. This will make your task easier because the clay won’t stick to the shovel. It will also keep your garden tool from rusting.
Brighten up your flower beds with annuals and biennials. You can use biennial and annual flowers to brighten the bed, and let you change how it looks. They can be used to fill in gaps in your garden between the perennials or shrubs so your garden looks fuller. Notable biennials and annuals include marigold, sunflowers, hollyhock, petunia, and cosmos.
Before you plant anything in your garden, have the soil checked. An inexpensive soil report can be used to adjust soil nutrients to optimum levels, which will ensure your garden thrives. The cost of the analysis will be easily offset by the benefits of a healthy and vibrant crop.
Be sure to get rid of the weeds growing in your garden. Weeds can turn a beautiful garden into an eyesore. White vinegar is a pesticide-free way to battle weeds. White vinegar can kill weeds! By placing a white vinegar solution in a spray bottle, you can spray the weeds away instead of having to pull them out manually.
During fall, you should plant cold weather vegetables. This year, instead of using your regular clay pots to plant your kale and lettuce, use a pumpkin as the container instead! Scoop the insides out of the pumpkin, and don’t forget to spray the inside with Wilt-Pruf. This will prevent your pumpkin from rotting. After that, your pumpkin planter is ready to use!
Before you plant a garden you should plan it out. Doing this makes it easier to keep track of where you planted what when you first start to see sprouts. With a plan, you will also be less likely to lose track of small groups or individual plants within a large and ambitious garden.
Do you enjoy fresh mint leaves though hate how they grow so fast and take over your entire garden? Instead of planting mint in your garden, keep it in a large container or pot to prevent it from spreading. Plant the container in the ground, but its walls will hold those roots captive, and will prevent the plant from engulfing your garden!
Split up the irises. You can create additional irises by splitting up irises that are growing into each other’s space. Lift bulbous irises when the foliage is dead. The bulbs should automatically divide in your palm, and once you put them back into the earth, they will typically flower the following year. Make use of a knife to split up rhizomes. Cut new pieces from the outside and discard the old center. Divide your pieces carefully; they should each have one good quality offshoot apiece. Replant your new rhizome pieces as soon as you have finished the cuttings.
If you’re going to grow peas, start them indoors before putting them in the ground outside. Install your plants inside and wait for the seeds to germinate. You will also have hardy seedlings that will be able to resist disease and pests much better. Once the seedlings are sturdy enough, they can be transplanted to their rightful place in the garden.
An easy, inexpensive way to give them nutrients is to pour the leftover water from your steamed vegetables into the soil. Try adding used coffee grounds to the soil around plants that grow in acidic soil. If your garden has a fungus problem, a highly effective treatment method is to sprinkle it with chamomile tea.
Try to put an aspirin in the water to get rid of plant diseases. One and a half aspirin, dissolved in two gallons of water, can be a great addition to your plants. All you have to do is spray the plants with this solution and you should see good results. Apply at three week intervals.
Pine Needles
Pine needles should not be overlooked as a great source for mulch. A number of plants commonly grown in garden settings do best in an acidic soil. If you have acid loving plants, use pine needles as a mulch. Spread a few inches of pine needles on your organic beds so that it will put the acid into your soil.
Aim to increase your property’s value. Landscaping your yard will bring you a big return on your investment. When you invest into plants they can do a lot to your home, they can raise the resale value of your home by 20% and possibly more. Select plants that will adapt well to your regional area and require minimum maintenance.
When developing your compost pile, use equal measures of dried and green material. Green means plant cuttings including grass, produce and weeds. Dried plant material includes straw, sawdust, shredded paper, cardboard, and dried and cut-up woody material. Charcoal, meat, ashes or other diseased plants should not be included in a compost pile.
As discussed earlier, gardening is a pleasurable activity people have engaged in for centuries. At first, it was a necessary means of survival. These days, it fulfills many purposes, including simple enjoyment, a small business enterprise or a way of adding extra food to the table. The advice you learned here can help you get the most joy out of your garden. Appreciate the rewards of horticulture!