Gardening Tips

FAQ Gardening

Green Grass and Pets
I have a beautiful lawn-and golden retriever. How can I minimize grass damage caused by dog urine?
Beautiful green grass and canines need not be mutually exclusive; just give your dog seperate space for play. Treat brown spots caused by dog urine with a sprinkling of garden lime. It neutralizes the uric acid and greens up affected areas if the grass can be revived. To discourage neighborhood dogs from marking your lawn, try one of the repellent products available at garden centers. Mothballs also repel cats and dogs.

Fall Rose Care
How should I put my roses to bed for the winter?
Continue to water your roses until the first hard frost. Clean up and carefully discard aby debris -leaves, branches, and flower petals- from around rosebushes to prevent diseases and pests. Then apply fungicide to dispel any lingering blackspot or mildew spores. For climbing roses, take down the canes and lay them in shallow trenches or pin them to the ground in preparation for mulching.

Move potted roses into an unheated garage or basement for the winter. Gather lightweight mulching materials, such as shredded bark, straw, or evergreen boughs and once the ground has frozen, apply 2 to 3 inches around the roots of the rosebush. Protect the crown by heaping soil over the area where the two parts of the plant have been grafted together.

The Hanging Chicken

This is one unique little idea that is attractive, useful, and quite a conversation piece. The idea is container in hanging chicken that made from egg holder made of wire, in the shape of chicken. The cover was taken off the holder and also the handles. There were replaced with non-rusting chain.

It looks best planted with one herb, possibly the one most used in the kitchen. I prefer the small leaved ones that droop, such as marjoram. To plant the chicken, stuff the head and tail first with sphagnum or wood moss. Now line the bottom and sides with the moss, being careful to overlap the moss so that the soil will not leak though.

Keep stuffing the moss until a little nest for a plant is all that is left. Plant the herb and add soil to about one inch from the top of the chicken framework. Make sure the soil is firmly pressed around the root of the plant. To water this little lady, simply dip her into a pan of water and allow her to drip before putting her back into flight.

Basic home gardening tips

Home gardening can be very rewarding and it really isn’t that hard! Here’s some tips for growing any kind of plant including flowers, herbs and vegetables that are sure to help you develop your green thumb.

There are 3 basic things that you need to know to succeed in home gardening and that is that plants need light, water and soil to survive. If any one of these 3 elements is not adequate, it will result in weak plants. Luckily, it is pretty easy to get enough of all for your plants and the plants themselves usually come with directions on what they need.

Light

In general, most plants need 6 to 8 hours of sunlight. Some more and some less so be sure to read the tags that come with your plants for best results! Study your yard or garden area throughout the day to figure out how much sun it really gets and be sure to place your plants where they will have the best chance of thriving. You can buy plants that like full sun,. partial sun and shade so there are plants that will be happy in every type of yard or garden.

Water

One of the most important home gardening tips has to do with water. Plants need water to survive but too much of it is a bad thing! You want to be sure they get enough water so that the soil is not hard and dry, but you never want to have standing water around your plant. Plants in containers will need to be watered more than those in the ground and more watering is necessary in summer months. When watering try not to splash water on the leaves and petals of your plants as this can promote disease - a garden soaker hose is ideal for this.

Soil

Plants need nutrient which they typically get from the soil. Be sure to use a rich soil that is fortified with fertilizer appropriate for what you are planting. You want your soil to be a bit loose so the roots can easily spread and grow. Nutrients can also be delivered to plants through water which is what hydroponic gardening is based on. With hydropinics you grow plants in a water solution - no soil needed!

So, you see, home gardening is not that difficult - just start off slowly and you’ll be growing lush, vibrant plants in not time

Source: http://various-useful-articles.blogspot.com/2008/02/basic-home-gardening-tips.html