Best Simple Garden Tips and Ideas
Best Simple Garden Tips and Ideas. How to start a new garden? Here are some gardening tips to help you start with you basic idea on how to garden.
What are the simple ways of gardening?
The first thing in garden making is the selection of a spot. Without an option, it means simply doing the best one can with conditions. With limited space it resolves itself into no garden, or a box garden. Certainly a box garden is better than other gardens.
But we will now suppose that it is possible to really choose just the right site for the garden. What shall be chosen? The greatest formative factor is the sun. No one would have a north corner, unless it was absolutely forced upon him; because, while north corners do for certain wild flowers, ferns, and begonias, they are of little use as spots for a general garden, especially if you intend to use garden furniture to relax in it.
Where is the best location for a vegetable garden?
Select the perfect spot a southern exposure. Here the sun lies warm all day long. When the garden is thus located the rows of vegetables and flowers should run north and south.
Thus placed, the plants receive the sun’s rays all the morning on the eastern side, and all the afternoon on the western side. One ought not to have any irregular plants with such an arrangement.
In order to get the best distribution of sunlight run the rows southeast and northwest. Suppose the garden faces southeast. In this case the western sun is out of the problem.
The idea is to get the most sunlight as evenly distributed as possible for the longest period of time. From the lopsided growth of window plants it is easy enough to see the effect on plants of poorly distributed light. So if you use a little diagram remembering that you wish the sun to shine part of the day on one side of the plants and part on the other, you can juggle out any situation.
Is Northern Exposure good for plants?
A northern exposure may mean an almost entire cut-off from sunlight; while northeastern and southwestern places always get uneven distribution of sun’s rays, no matter how carefully this is planned. The southern exposure gives the ideal case because the sun gives half time nearly too each side.
The garden, if possible, should be planned out on paper. The plan is a great help when the real planting time comes. It saves time and unnecessary buying of seed.
Garden spots have two conditions: grass or debris
New garden spots are likely to be found in two conditions: they are covered either with grass or with debris. In large garden areas the ground is ploughed and the sod turned. Small gardens remove the sod. How to take off the sod in the best manner is the next question. Wager and line off the garden spot. The line gives an accurate and straight course to follow.
Cut the edges with the spade all along the line. This is an easy matter, if the area is a small one; say four feet by eighteen or twenty. Such a narrow strip may be marked off like a checkerboard, the sod cut through with the spade, and easily removed. This could be done in two long strips cut lengthwise of the strip. When the turf is cut through, roll it right up like a roll of carpet.
Plan for garden furniture, garden tools and garden accessories with complete garden fencing. Suppose the garden plot is large. Then divide this up into strips a foot wide and take off the sod as before.
What shall be done with the sod? Do not throw it away for it is full of richness, although not quite in available form. So pack the sod grass side down one square on another. Leave it to rot and to weather.
When rotted it makes a fine fertilizer. Such a pile of rotting vegetable matter is called a compost pile. All through the summer add any old green vegetable matter to this. In the fall put the autumn leaves on. A fine lot of goodness is being fixed for another season.
How to remove weeds in your garden?
Even when the garden is large enough to plough, I would pick out the largest pieces of sod rather than have them turned under. Go over the ploughed space, pick out the pieces of sod, shake them well and pack them up in a compost heap.
Simple spading of the ground is not sufficient. The soil is still left in lumps. Always as one spades one should break up the big lumps. But even so the ground is in no shape for planting.
Ground must be very fine indeed to plant in, because seeds can get very close indeed to fine particles of soil. But the large lumps leave large spaces which no tiny root hair can penetrate.
A seed is left stranded in a perfect waste when planted in chunks of soil. A baby surrounded with great pieces of beefsteak would go hungry. A seed among large lumps of soil is in a similar situation. After lumps are broken use the rake to make the bed fine and smooth. Now the great piece of work is done.
The spade never can do this work of grinding the soil. But the rake can. That’s the value of the rake. It is a great lump breaker, but will not do for large lumps. If the soil still has large lumps in it take the weed.
Several people handle the weed gracelessly. The chief work of this implement is to free the soil of weeds and mix up the top surface. It is used in summer to form that mulch of dust so valuable in retaining moisture in the soil.
I often see people as if they were going to chop into atoms everything around. Hoeing should never be such energetic exercise as that. Spading is energetic, hard work, but not hoeing and raking.
How do I prepare my vegetable garden for winter tips
When the weather starts getting colder and the leaves start to fall, it is time to put away the gardening tools and wait until next spring to work on their garden again.
Winter is an important time to maintain your garden’s health and promise yourself a good crop for next year. You may think that might take to long to prepare your garden, but the truth is that it takes less than one day to prepare your garden for the upcoming winter.
When the nighttime temperatures fall to less than forty-five degrees Fahrenheit for more than four days in a line, or ice is forecasted for your area (generally around late November or October) you know its time to begin preparing your garden. You should begin by evaluating your garden design, check which plants grew well in the past season, and which plants did not do well. Fall is a good time to decide which plants will remain in you garden next year, and which ones should go.
It is also a good time to decide which new plants you want to grow. To make your garden more colorful and healthy, be sure only to plant the more hardy plants during the fall so that they can withstand the winter. Some plants that will do fine being planted in fall are: Aster Novi-belgii, rudbeckia, panicle hyandea, endive, Anemone Japonica, escarole, and Brussels sprouts. You can find all of these and more in your local nursery or gardening magazines.
After you have finished this you should begin cleaning up your garden. Begin by pulling out weeds that may have cropped up, and raking fallen leaves. Weeds and decayed leaves can carry insects and diseases that might be damaging to your garden.
You should also rid your garden of spent annual plants, and crop your vegetables and other plants that cannot withstand the winter weather. After fall has come and gone, the leaves will be off your trees and you can see the decayed branches. Trimming off the unwanted branches from your trees isn’t necessary to your gardens health, but may help later on by not dropping branches on your plants and not blocking too much of the sun.
If you have younger trees you should consider covering them and supporting them with stakes to help them survive the winter wind and cold.
Putting mulch over your garden for the winter can be a helpful way to protect plants from sudden temperature changes and heavy snow. For mulch you can use about five inches of pine needles, shredded bark, or a diversity of other materials. You have to be careful not to mulch too early, because some insects may still be alive and able to take protection in it for the winter.
What do I do with my garden in the winter?
Winter is an important time to maintain your garden’s health and promise yourself a good crop for next year. You should clean them and make sure they are in a safe place where they won’t corrosion and you know where they will be for next year, if you are finished with your gardening tools.
Before winter comes you should always set out slug disgusting, as slugs are one of the worst bugs to have in your garden. If you have a pond or fountain in your garden, be sure to take out any fish that you have in them and bring them inside. There’s nothing sadder than a fish frozen in a block of ice.
If you don’t like the look of a drab yellowing lawn in the winter months you could consider replacing your current grass with some Fake Grass that will stay green and lush looking all year round.
How do you install a drip irrigation system for a vegetable garden?
You’ve probably gone through a lot of options in your mind, if you’re looking for ways to keep your garden watered without wasting also. Much money and time, maybe you’ve considered a sprinkler, a hosepipe, or a good unfashionable watering can.
All of these methods might be suitable, but most of the time you will end up wasting water on plants that don’t need any more. If you live in a drought stricken area like I do, you know that every bit of water counts. I ended up getting a drip irrigation system. I haven’t regretted this decision at all.
Drip irrigation system in above grounds
When you put-in a drip irrigation system, you can select one of two varieties: above ground and below ground. The above ground version drips small amounts of water continuously onto the ground, and allows it to saturate in. It is all regulated from a pressure controller, which ensures that the water just comes out at a drip instead of a spray or a stream.
These pressure regulators are very inexpensive. The whole drip system can be set up with a pressure regulator and a garden hosepipe with holes poked in it (although it is ideal for you to get a pipe designed for this type of use, I’ve found that the hose method works acceptably).
Drip irrigation system in below grounds
The underground system is a bit more of a pain to install and maintain. But if you’re really into the aesthetic aspect of your garden and don’t want any observable watering system, then you might consider it worth it.
It’s essentially the same as the above ground version, only a small ditch is dug for the hose or pipe prior to any planting. This allows the water direct access to the roots for the most watering efficiency. Plus, you can impress your neighbors by having a beautiful garden without ever going outside to water it. They’ll be bemused.
To choose between the two systems, you need to take several things into account. Do you have the same plant layout year round? If it is always changing, you probably won’t want to bury your hose. It can be a pain to dig it up and re-align it with all your new plants every year or so.
Even if your plant layout never changes, you need to consider how much you really mind seeing a hose in your garden. If it really bothers you to the extent that you’re willing to work for a few hours to get rid of it, then by all means bury it. But otherwise I would suggest staying above ground if for nothing else than the convenience of repairing and rearranging.
Drip irrigation system advantage
One of the main advantages of the drip irrigation system is its competence. Instead of spraying large amounts of water willy-nilly like a hosepipe does, it makes the most of your precious water by putting it precisely where it is needed.
It can also provide your garden with constant watering, instead of just having to go thirsty whenever you’re not around to water it.So if you’re looking for a convenient, cheap, easy, and efficient alternative watering method, you should go out to the gardening store today and buy the essential items to put-in a drip irrigation system. I think you’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to maintain a garden after you have it.
How to use a Rain Barrels to Survive Droughts
Think yourself lucky, if you’re a gardener that has an unlimited supply of water. There are many of us who exist in drought zones, where the lawn and garden watering rules are very constrictive to the healthy growth of gardens and plants. Several people just give up when they find out how few gallons of water they are permitted to use, but some of us have just found ways to cope with less water. There are many ways to optimize ones garden to conserve water while still keeping it verdant.
Another alternative method is a drip irrigation (the use of a pipe or hose with small holes to slowly seep into the roots of the plant), the placement of plants in groups of equal watering needs (to stop wasting water on plants that don’t need it), and using compost or mulch to lag the water and stop drainage.
But one of the best ways to maintain your garden alive during a drought is to take pre-emptive measures. Infrequently a drought will be predicted far in advanced, or those already experiencing a drought will be given a few weeks of heavy rain. When this occurs, you should take the chance to set up several rain barrels. Several people think this would be a time consuming, silly thing to do. But it can save you many gallons of water, and hardly requires any work.
Finding the barrels will probably be the hardest part. You can use your own garbage cans, or head to your home improvement store to get a few 55 gallon plastic drums. These can be expensive and difficult to transport, so keep that in mind before you go to the store. You will probably want to cover the top of the barrel with a screen of some sort to filter out any unwanted leaves or wreckage that might fall off the roof of your house.
Once you have your barrels ready, you’re faced with the decision of where to place them. Usually during rainfall, there is one corner or segment of the house that rain tends to pour off of. If you are taking the simple approach to barrel placement, just place the barrel under all the places where you see large amounts of drips. However, while this might be the easiest way to place them, you won’t see very high volumes of rain in the barrels.
You can place a rain barrel at each corner in a garden
If you want to take a more complicated approach to placing the barrels, you should consider changing your drain system a bit. If you remove each individual segment and place it at a very slight slant so that all the water is diverted to the nearest corner of the house, you can place a rain barrel at each corner. So your entire house acts as a catcher for the rain, instead of just a few feet worth of shingles. This is how to maximize the amount of water your rain barrel will catch.
After a heavy rainfall, each individual barrel probably won’t see very much rain. If it looks like it won’t be raining more any time soon, it’s a good idea to empty each barrel into one main central barrel. Seal it and save it out of the way, for whenever you may need it. Then the next time it starts to rain, you’ll be able to quickly put all your catching barrels into place without having to lug around all the water you’ve accumulated so far.
The use of water barrels might sound like a very old idea. However, when you’re in the middle of a drought and you’re able to spare that extra couple of gallons for your garden in addition the city allotment, you’ll be grateful for every bit of time and money you spent on collecting all that rain. All it takes is a few trips out in the backyard every time it starts to sprinkle, and you’ll be a very happy gardener when water isn’t so abundant.
Optimizing Your Garden for Drought or Water Conservation
Living in Colorado and being a gardener has been quite stressful in the past few years, as this state has been undergoing a rather stern drought. The city is impressive watering restrictions which are not giving enough water to lawns and plants. I’ve had to renovate my garden to make it more water efficient.
Now, because of the techniques I’ve employed, I’m the only one in my neighborhood with a garden that isn’t completely brown. So if you live in an area that is going through a drought or if you just want to save water, I suggest you use some of these techniques as well.
First, I took out all my plants. The soil I was using didn’t maintain water very well, so I had to water twice as much as necessary in order to get it to actually soak-up into the roots. If you have this same problem, you can fix it by loading the soil up with lots of compost.
This not only prevents water from escaping, but encourages the plant’s roots to be healthy and able to survive more. Optimize the soil for low water consumption plan.
Once I was done optimizing the soil for my new low water consumption plan, I was ready to replace all my plants. I decided that the placement of all my plants would reflect the amount of water necessary to keep them alive.
All the plants that don’t require much water I placed in on one side of my garden, and then just progressed in the amount of compulsory water to the other side of the garden. As a result of my new arrangement, I don’t have to waste water on plants that don’t need it as much.
Drip irrigation system is reduced the amount of water
Drip irrigation system was another part that reduced the amount of water. I needed to fully water my garden. The great thing about these systems is that they constantly drip into your plants, so that every single drop is absorbed.
With traditional watering systems, usually the roots get too overwhelmed with the sheer amount of water in the soil. Thus, lots just seeps right past. This is all taken care of with the drip system.
You need more water than you can supply to your garden, you might consider which plants you could replace with less water dependent plants.
If you want a good plant that doesn’t use up more than its share of water, look for Heavenly Bamboo. It is not only tolerant of droughts, but looks rather ornamental in any garden. Herbs such as rosemary are useful in preparing meals, and are rarely thirsty.
If you’re trying to find some flowers that will still be verdant and beautiful despite the lower amounts of water, look for penstemon varieties like Apple Blossom, Moonbeam, Garnet, and Midnight. Also you can attract butterflies and hummingbirds with varieties like Yarrow and Cosmos.
The best part about all these plants is that they don’t look rugged and withstanding, but they sure are. Your neighbors wont be saying “Look at them, they downgraded their plants just to withstand the drought. Instead they will be marveling over how you keep your flowers so beautiful in the middle of the watering regulations.
A lavender plant is one of my favorite drought resistant plants. I could go on for pages about it. A big group of Lavender plants looks unbelievably attractive in your garden, and hardly requires any water to flourish. Another personal favorite is Pineapple sage. It is a Two+ foot bush that smells oddly of pineapple. It’s another major attracter of hummingbirds, and the leaves are also useful to add taste to munchies.
I suggest you try some of things are mentioned above, if you’re dealing with a drought. Even if you’re just trying to conserve water or be generally more efficient with it, I think you’ll still be able to benefit.
How to use Vines to Decorate your Garden
Use vines to decorate your garden. They are very low maintenance and look good on almost anything. Then growing a vine over it can be a quick and aesthetically pleasing solution, if you’ve got a fence or separator that really stands out in the field of green that is your garden. However, there are many types of vines for different situations, whether you are trying to grow it up the side of a house, up a tree or along the ground.
Vine: ground vines
There are many different ground vines are available. These types of ground vines grow fast and strong, and just inch their ways along the ground. So they can make a border around your garden, or just weave in and out of the plants. I propose to use these types of ground vines as a hardy ground cover if you just want some green on your dirt or mulch. Generally you can find a diversity that is resistant to being stepped on. It’s like a leafy, nice alternative to grass. Even if you have kids and a dog, it should have no problems staying alive.
Vine: Twining vines
One more type of vine that is available is a “twining” vine. This refers to their method of climbing. Twining vines require a lattice or equally absorbent surface to climb up, since they are not muggy at all. They just climb by sending out small tendrils to loop around whatever is nearby. I suggest using this type of vine for climbing up trees, or any type of mesh. Usually you have to guide them a lot more during their early stages, and after that they will go wherever you want them to.
Vines not only look good on the ground or on lattices, you can blend them in to the very architecture of your house. This is usually achieved through the use of vines with small tendrils that have glue tips. They extend from the vine and attach themselves to almost any surface.
If your garden is neighboring to your house and you want something to disguise the big unsightly wall, it’s a great idea to start out a few vines near the base. If you have a vine like the Virginia creeper growing, then your entire wall will be covered in a matter of months. However I have seen situations where the vine got out of control. After that, you have no choice but to watch the vine take over your entire house.
Vine: Ivy vines
One of the vines that you would probably recognize is Ivy. You see it around a lot, generally because it is so adaptable. Out of the types I mentioned above (ground, twining, and sticky pads), Ivy can fill in for pretty much anything. It makes a great ground cover, and will grow up about any surface you put it on. Ivy vine grows quick and strong, I wouldn’t suggest growing it up your house. This is because recently, buildings which have had ivy for many years have found that it has been failing the building.
Therefore no matter what you want to do with a vine, you should have no problem receiving it to grow. You should always do your investigate earlier and find out about any negative qualities the vine has (such as its ability to destroy buildings, in Ivy’s case.)
Another way to decorate your garden is by using furniture. There are so many options available these days you really can make an impressive impact on the look and feel of your garden, no matter what its size. If you where looking to find teak garden furniture – click here and you can view a great range thats available online.
Creating Microclimates to Facilitate Growth
Several gardeners live in some drought areas and almost anything can grow effortlessly. Just plant the seeds and water it for a few weeks, and you’ve got a beautifully verdant plant. But if you live in somewhere like Colorado, you’ll understand what its like to have a slim selection of plants that naturally grow. It can be quite a challenge to facilitate the growth of a large variety of plants, especially when the very world you live in seems to be rooting against you.
A number of people solve this problem by loading up their plants with every type of chemical and fertilizer known to man. This usually works, but to me it seems kind of unnatural to rely on man made materials to keep your plants alive. Also, if I’m growing fruits or vegetables, I don’t feel very comfortable eating something that is entirely composed of chemicals.
What is microclimate?
A gardening theory that I have relied on in the past to grow many types of plants is that of creating a “microclimate” for each type of plant. This is when you regulate the shade, moisture, sunlight, and wind factors for each separate plant. It sounds like a challenge, and it is.
But you can regulate these factors in such a way that the plant feels just like it is in the ideal growing conditions. This can be achieved by the use of wind barriers, umbrellas, extra water, shading or different types or amounts of compost.
If you’re ready to make an attempt at creating microclimates, you’ll need to make a detailed plan in advanced. You should start by finding a large shade providing bush or tree that will grow fast and naturally in your area. Just look at some undeveloped plots of land and see what is there.
Most likely it grew on its own without any planting or care. This is what you want to happen. Usually the growing of one plant can bring about the growing of another more desirable plant.
What is the use of microclimate
If you have a fence in your backyard (you would be surprised at how many people don’t) then you already have a good amount of shade to work with. You can start the microclimate process using just the shade of the fence, combined with (perhaps) a screen or large bush to shade your new plant for the other half of the day that the fence doesn’t take care of. The fence is also useful for shading against wind for very easily broken plants.
Once you have established the shade, be it unnatural or natural, you have created a slightly less harsh small environment.
You must memorize this is a gradual process, and find a new plant to put in the shade of the other one. Now your choices are a little more open. You don’t have to go with a rugged plant like the one you did before; you can now choose a plant that survives in cooler weather.
If the plant you are trying to grow next requires more moisture in the air than your area provides, installing a fountain or small pond can fix this problem due to the evaporation.
You may think you don’t want to waste water on a pond or fountain, but it’s all going toward the betterment of your garden. It’s just like the watering process, only indirect. As an added benefit, usually fountains are quite aesthetically attractive and a great addition to your garden.
I can’t explain every stage of process, because everyone’s goals and setups are slightly different. But to reach your goal, you should do research on every plant that you would like to have in your garden.
Find out everything you can about the region that it flourishes in, and ask yourself how you can imitate that region within your own backyard. Almost always you can take control of the environment and recreate whatever you wish. Generally all it takes is some planning and policy.
You could always just skip this process by using artificial plants and grass in your garden. You would be surprised how many people use fake plants, trees and grass to get the ideal garden with no upkeep.