My Gardening Tips Site

Protect those Joints!:

Use tools with padded handles and easy spring loaded handles to minimize stiffness in the hands. If you are spending time on your knees, wear knee pads, use a knee cushion or a kneeler seat. These items will cushion the knee joint and reduce pressure.

Conserve your energy:

Think Ahead! Carry all the hand tools you may use in a bucket and your large tools in a cart. This will save you many trips to the shed or garage. Sitting or kneeling on a Kneeler Seat instead of bending over will save your back, hips and legs from tiredness and stress. A Kneeler Seat is a low seat, and turned upside down it’s perfect for kneeling and the handles will help you get back up. They are generally cushioned on both sides for comfort.

Lift Smart!:

Bags of Mulch, Stone and Soils can be awkward and heavy to carry. Try taking them from your vehicle to a garden cart or wheelbarrow. Move it where you need it, cut the bag open lengthwise and dump it. The material will come out of the bag easily. Or you can keep it in the wheelbarrow and shovel it out.

Heavy plants- if you are moving heavy plants or shrubs, try tipping a wheelbarrow forward as close to the plant as you can. Then gently rotate the pot or ball of the plant into the wheelbarrow. Slowly bring the wheelbarrow to a standing position, so as not to bang the plant around. move it to its destination and reverse the process. If you prepare the hole first, the plant can be easily installed. If its in a pot, set it next to the hole and remove the pot, then roll the ball into the hole. B&B plants can be rolled directly into the hole and then cut the burlap. If your plant has nylon burlap it must be removed completely. This process will minimize stress on your lower back and stress on the plant. Plants do not like to have their roots banged around.

If you must lift heavy items, squat down, get a firm grip and lift using your legs, not your Back! Lifting with your leg muscles will give you more lifting power and save you a trip to the Chiropractor. Asking for help is also a smart way to save yourself from injury. Call ahead to plan for a Family member or Friend to help. A neighbor will usually be happy to lend a quick hand.

One project at a time!:

If you want your yard to be picture perfect NOW… hire a professional. If you are willing to be patient and enjoy the fruits of your labor, start small. Prioritize your projects and complete them one at a time. This will keep you from over-doing it. It can also keep your frustration level down. You will be satisfied in having completed a project and it will keep your yard neat and clean. Too many projects started and none finished makes for a messy yard.

Lastly… Listen to your body:

Your body will tell you every time when its had enough. Drinking plenty of water will help keep your muscles hydrated and reduce cramping. Water can also reduce the chances of becoming over-heated. When your done working in the garden, STRETCH! Stretching will reduce muscle soreness and keep you more flexible. Treat your self to a nice bath or shower and get plenty of rest. Recovery is the key to happy gardening tomorrow!

Have you ever dreamed of producing your own fruits and vegetables from the comfort of your home, but gave up your dream because you live in a city apartment or only have a few square feet of space in front of your patio? Believe it or not, you can still enjoy fresh fruit and vegetables from your very own garden with vertical vegetable gardening. The key word in vertical vegetable gardening that separates it from what you may have come to associate with your average garden is “vertical.” Vertical vegetable gardening allows you to utilize ever vanishing space to produce pound upon pound of fresh produce, season after season. Here are some tips to get you started on the right foot.

First, you need to decide what fruits and veggies you would love to grow on your own as opposed to buying from your local market. Once you have chosen a list of prospects, you need to find out what type of soil and weather conditions are favorable. For example, if you live in Alaska, growing watermelon may not be a viable option. Many times the rules for vertical gardening are a bit different than conventional gardening rules because the soil and plants may be kept inside the house, which will always be a bit warmer than outside.

Second, you need to read up on vertical vegetable gardening. Vertical vegetable gardening is not difficult as long as you have built up the necessary back knowledge. Being well informed is priceless when embarking on growing your own vegetables at home, and the fact that vertical vegetable gardening relies on many unconventional techniques means that you need to be that much more knowledgeable. Gather as much information on gardening in your area, as well as general information on seedlings and soil conditioning.

Finally, if you intend on growing your own produce at home, you need to know what equipment and supplies are available locally. Also, you may be able to order seeds online, so if you happen to want to grow something that is not available at your local garden shop you should order the seeds online ahead of time to make everything roll smoother.

Always remember that gardening in general is a game of patience. If you are patient and persevere, you will soon be amazed at your very own vertical garden. Vertical vegetable gardening focuses on maximizing production potential from very small and constricted spaces. If you live in a city high rise, vertical vegetable gardening may be just the innovation you need to grow your own plants at home.

With the cost of living is rising, there is a way to save money and also increase your family’s health. The way is to grow your own vegetables in your backyard. With a vegetable garden you can grow vegetables so that you have different varieties of vegetable in early, middle and late in the season.

Here are some vegetable gardening tips that will help you develop your own vegetable patch.

• Most vegetables require around 6 hours of sunshine each day. There are others the require 8 hours. So choose the spot that receives ample sunlight. Make full use of the area by planting a variety of vegetables.

• In the dry period, your garden will require additional watering so be prepared for it. Most vegetables benefit if they get an inch or more of water, especially when they are fruiting.

• Watch out pests during the growing season. It will be much easier for you if you discover the bugs early. Do not use chemical pesticides on the vegetables especially when they are close to being picked. Organic gardening is healthy and environment friendly.

• Do not throw the vegetable waste in your garbage. Instead start a compost heap so that you can use the compost next spring.

• Learn to protect your garden from wild animals. Make a fence around your garden to keep out dogs, rabbits and other animals. The destruction a wandering animal does to your vegetable garden in one season is equal to the cost of a fence so do not think too much about fencing your garden. You can use the fence as a support or frame for vegetables like peas, beans and tomatoes.

A rose garden is an ideal getaway for you any time of the day. Relaxing in a well planned rose garden can help you to relieve the stresses of the day with its beauty. You can plant a beautiful and relaxing rose garden if you follow some easy steps in planning and in raising the rose bushes.

When you start to plan your rose garden, and begin planting the rose bushes, consider the color of the roses. If you plant roses of the same color next to each other, it will enhance the appearance of the rose garden. Too many varying colors mixed together will look like a random jumble of color, rather than a well thought out color scheme. So, plant roses of the same or similar colors next to each other, and then in another section of the garden, you can plant another color.

Roses love sunshine. You will want a full sun area to plant your roses, where you can be sure that they will receive at least six hours of sun every day. If the area that you’re planning for a rose garden is shaded, then you will need to reconsider. Making a sun map of your backyard will help you to find the areas that are in full sun. Simply go out into your yard early in the morning, around 6:00 AM. Note which areas are in the sun, and which areas are in the shade. Repeat this every hour throughout the day, noting where the sun and the shadows are. At the end of the day, take a look at your notes, and see what parts of your yard were in direct sunlight for 6 hours or more. These will be the places where you want to plant your roses.

You will also need to test your soil. You can find soil testers at your local garden shop. You’ll need to check the pH level of the soil. For a successful rose garden, you’ll want a pH level of between 5.5 and 6.6.

Water will be important when you plant a rose bush. Regular watering, about once a week, will help the rose bush to get established, and grow a healthy root system. The soil that you plant in needs to be well drained. Roses do need regular watering, but they will not do well if the soil is constantly moist. So, plant them in a well drained area.

You will need to dead head the roses as they grow. What this means is that you will need to pick off the flowers as they die off. This helps new flowers to bloom and thrive. You will also need to remove leaves that have black spots on them. This keeps disease from spreading to the rest of the plant. Taking care of this as soon as you see it will help to protect your plant from disease and insects.

Your rose bushes will need to be pruned in the spring. Any dead portions need to be trimmed off to allow new growth. While you’re pruning, pull up any weeds around the plant, so your rose bush will not be sharing water and nutrients with unwanted weeds.

Properly raised and cared for, your rose garden will provide you with beautiful, fragrant flowers, year after year.

The beauty of your roses can be easily overcome by diseases and fungi. As roses are more delicate when it is cold, they are more likely to fall to diseases when the seasons turn warmer.

Even if they get through winter relatively unscathed, their weaker immune systems will be more open to the heat and humidity that the spring rains and summer heat bring. So, your roses could still be afflicted with fungus although you have done all you could.

You will probably find some common types of illnesses associated with your roses:

Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is a fungus. As its name suggests, a white powder is produced along the stems as well as on both sides of the leaves. If you do not treat the mildew right away, the rose will not reach its full potential and the leaves will start to die and fall off the plant.

Rust

Rust on roses looks just like rust on metal will. It appears on the underside of the leaves and quickly spreads to other parts of the plant as well.

Blackspot

Hybrid teas are completely resistant to blackspot, but other roses have been known to get it. If there are circular black spots on the leaves of the plant that are 1/16 to ½ inch in diameter, you might have the disease. Treat the disease right away to avoid destroying your plant’s foliage.

Rose Mosaic

Unlike most of the rose diseases that are fungi, the Rose Mosaic disease is a virus. The signs of this disease have mosaic patterns of green and yellow that are discolored.

You can only stop the spread of disease completely by removing the plant. You must also clear all clippings and leaves of the diseased plant to make sure it doesn’t contaminate other plants. If you cannot stop the effects of this disease, you will need to bring in professional help and ask about commercial treatments that will solve the problem.

How can you avoid giving your plants these diseases? There are a few things you can do. Always water the soil around the rose and not the rose itself. Do take care not to let dead leaves pile up underneath, so clear the beds of roses often. Snip off the stricken blooms and discard them immediately. Prune regularly. Close all cuts in the plant with Elmer’s glue. Giving your rose nutrients often will make them stronger and less susceptible to diseases.

And you should know that you can opt to grow disease-resistant roses if possible to prevent the problems from arising. If you grown plants that are resistant to diseases and fungus, there is less threat of promoting threats to your plants.

Organic gardening can be one of the most rewarding hobbies of all. Growing organic definitely has some string rules that need to be abided for your own health. It is pretty obvious that growing organic requires no pesticides to be involved anywhere in the process. If you plan on growing vegetables or herbs that are to be consumed at a later date pesticides are your worst nightmare. Because no pesticides can be used in your garden, the organic garden is more prone to insect invasion. Although I can definitely say it is all worth it in the end.

As with any type of gardening, organic gardening soil preparation is very important.

It is not just the fact that pesticides need not be included but the correct organic mixture can really make a difference. Compost is bar none the best fertilizer for an organic garden. Making a compost bin and keeping up with the ingredients can seem like a daunting task, but once the bin is built and working correctly you will be developing your own free super fertilizer. You can recycle many things that you would normally throw away at the same time. If you are interested I would suggest researching the net for the compost setup that fits you best.

As I mentioned earlier insects are more prone to organic gardens. Although, they are not the only things you need to worry about. Weeds also attack faster in an organic garden. A few things you can do to prevent weeds from attacking is using the correct mulch and if possible burying a mesh layer underneath your soil a few inches down. These together can really help keep the weeds away for the entire season. For the ones that do get by, usually not many, you can pull them out by hand.

Insects can be a problem for the organic green thumb. The are many steps that are necessary to prevent the invasion. The first thing you should do is clear your garden of all the dead debree. Cleanliness can be your best friend in this. Making sure the entire growing area is free of debree and trash can go along way. Turning your soil is also a good idea. If you do come under attack there are items at your local nursery that can help rid the pesky varmints. Over watering can also cause insects to come forth, so keep this in mind. Also keeping a bowl of water nearby can help keep the insects off of your plants by inviting birds who prey on the insects.

With the proper soil mixture, a cleanly growing space, and the correct watering, a thriving organic garden can happen easily. Choosing the correct plants for your climate is also an obvious must. When you do choose your plants make sure to read the tags given at your local nursery and ask plenty of questions. There are also some less used measures that can help with your garden but are not necessary. These include items such as the ladybug. The ladybug eats the insects from your plants.

Following the guidelines above can help you on your way but there is nothing better than good Internet research. So if you want to know more, my suggestion would be to incorporate the Internet and take a trip to your local nursery for questions. This will help you get all the answers you need.

Water gardens are one of the most attractive kinds of gardens. Aside from the plants around it, the fishes swimming around a water garden’s pond makes it lively and unique.

Water garden landscaping is more complex than landscaping a normal garden. There are a lot of things that should be considered since it involves a lot of excavation and water treatment.

Since water garden landscaping presents special problems, it is important to plan the place out. First, the design and landscape of the garden should be drawn on paper. Furthermore, the design should include the dimensions of the garden, how deep the pond is and the layout of the entire area.

After the design is finalized, a flexible item such as a rope or a garden hose is used to establish the pond’s form. After marking the layout with spray paint, the excavation of the pond may begin. This is a tedious and exacting job so people may want to hire professionals or excavators to do the job.

When all of the soil is taken out, it is time for the second part of water garden landscaping, which is to install the plumbing. This is necessary to make decorative waterfalls or fountains work. When the plumbing is finished, the soil at the bottom and around the excavation should be covered up with a sort of liner to contain the water. Most liners are made out of waterproof cement.

At this stage, it is also important to make the pond’s lip extra sturdy by leveling that area out and filling it with cement. This perimeter is called a coping shelf and it provides support for the garden’s other features.

When the coping shelf is dry and covered with garden soil, boulders that serve as decorations for the pond’s perimeter should be installed. Lay them out according to the plan, installing the larger ones first. The boulders can also be used to conceal hoses, plumbing, tanks, wires and other functioning equipment. Nothing can spoil the natural beauty of a water garden than visible pipes sticking out of the landscape.

The next stage of water garden landscaping is planting the vegetation itself. For this purpose, low maintenance plants are usually favored. With the vegetation planted in the soil, mulch should be added to make the plants fertile.

While the perimeter is bristling with plants and rocks, the pond should not be left out. Rocks and aquatic plants should be carefully arranged at the bottom of the pond. When this is done, it is time to fill up the pond with water.

Adding the fishes is the final stage of water garden landscaping. Carps and goldfishes are popular choices because they are very colorful.

Water gardens add a lot of life to a place. Although it is complex and expensive, the spectacular beauty is well worth the cost.