Plant Gardens 101

Well it’s that time of year again to start busting up your garden soil and start your planting. How you do that is up to you. If you need the exercise or have a very small garden you could always do it by hand.

To save your back and knees you could go with a stand up manual garden till like the famous garden weasel. It is cheap and easy to use.

For medium or large gardens you are going to need a garden tiller with a little more power than your arms. So what type of tiller do you buy?

If you have a smaller or confined garden you will want to go with something maneuverable like an electric mini tiller or cultivator. Or maybe a small 2hp gas model. Most of them are lightweight and very easy to handle. Cost on them is reasonable too for the amount of work they will save you. (more…)

To penetrate hard seed coats by scratching or nicking the seeds or immersing them briefly scarecrow in hot water, acid, or bleach.

The bane of every gardener’s existence is clay soil. In addition to feeling like you are gardening in your driveway, clay soil makes ordinary tasks like watering and feeding plants a major problem. Soils with high clay content hold water and do not drain well, which causes root problems in plants. If the roots are in trouble, the whole plant will soon be in trouble. Clay particles also hold tightly to nutrient particles, which makes it more difficult for plants to take up the nutrients they need from the soil. There is a way to help your hard-packed, low organic matter clay soil: add a soil conditioner with humic acid.

Chemical Problems in Clay Soils
Humic acid benefits plants in numerous ways. The first is that it facilitates ion exchange. Humic acid has a higher cation exchange capacity, or CEC. That means it is easier for soil nutrient particles to move within the soil, and thus to be taken in by plants. Soils treated with humic acid have much better nutrient availability. Humic acid does not directly supply the plants with nutrients, but it does make what nutrients are in the soil easier for plants to access. Humic acid also influences the pH of the soil, which affects nutrient availability. Clay soils with very low humus levels can become overly acidic, resulting in poor conditions for plant growth. Humic acid increases the buffering capacity of the soil, and allows pH to remain steadier. (more…)

I think that ideas which China given to us, will be useful to those who want to reach high level in landscape gardening and designing. No one garden in China was not created without patience and sensation of harmony and you mast to like the Chinese philosophy.

The main idea – creation of the world of the nature in a miniature. Chineses speak: « The handful of the earth and water spoon are attract greatest thoughts ». The nature – is big source of inspiration. The garden should be« interosculation quiet and changeable, as moon reflexion on water». Listen attentively. Be adjusted.

« Look around, look in youself »– here a major guide principle. In a garden, as in any flower composition, all should be harmonious – plan and colour, form and volume, and lines. (more…)