Plant Gardens 101

Preparing for the Winter Months: Gardening in October

When you feel that first solid bite in the breeze and you see the songbirds winging their way south, and the trees are bursting with fire-laden hues, you know you can’t be spending the weekend curled up by the fireplace with a good book. Not for long.

While the weather is still gardener-friendly, you must shorten your “to-do” lists for the coming of late fall and early winter. Now is the time to attack your lawn and garden by planting your spring bulbs, buying and maintaining your trees and shrubs, doing your late autumn lawn care, using common-sense watering strategies, building a compost bin and making your own compost, controlling the many common garden pests, and winning at the weed-whacking war before the sudden onset of the fickle, cold and all-enveloping winter season. (more…)

Many persons who read the below article about Gardening concurred that it increased their knowledge, not just about the main keyword, but also other specific Gardening terms, such as Scree Gardening How To, and Garden State Soundtrack Lyrics or Savage Garden.

Ornamental flora are normally impacted by powdery mildew which will envelop your plant’s leaves with a form of white film. This kind of white film isn’t pleasant one bit. Surely… there’re lots of solutions, such as- right gardening as well as spraying fungicide.

As a gardener who yearns for the finest results from his/her garden, it’s certainly truly effective for you to get your hands on some inches of natural mulch. The marvelous end result will truly be that your soil ‘s productiveness will surely be improved and be certainly better at holding in moisture. The better method to get fitting garden gloves is to wear them and make fists; it’s advantageous to mimic the typical gardening moves to ensure that you feel relaxed while wearing them. (more…)

Hands down (pardon the gardener’s pun), autumn is everyone’s favourite time to garden. Comfortably cool, often sunny, bug-free, these autumn days allow us to perform our gardening tasks with zest. Most of the chores required of you this time of year are of a housekeeping nature, although there is still important planting to be done. One or two days dedicated to your fall garden will reap you big time rewards next spring and summer. So grab your garden tools, put on your favourite old sweater, and get down and dirty.

1. Divide and conquer: Most perennials love to be divided in the fall, especially peony, iris, hosta, phlox, daylily, and black-eyed susan. Lift the roots carefully out of the ground, then divide into two or more sections. Each new clump should have some strong roots and several growing points. Some root systems can be pried apart with garden forks, others will need to be cut with a sharp clean spade. Dividing is a great way to start new plantings – or to renew an old favourite. As a general rule, you can divide a healthy plant every 3 or 4 years. Just be sure to water the newly planted divisions well and often before the first frost. (more…)

Early autumn is the best season for successful composting piles. To start, here are some points on how to build a compost pile:

* lay sheets of plastic on the ground.

* place a 6-inch layer of leaves or grass clippings on the plastic.

* shovel a 1-inch layer of beneficial garden loam over the leaves.

* exchange on a regular basis some loam and leaves.

* the pile needs to be at least 3 feet by 3-feet and 4 feet tall. (more…)

So, you worked hard all week, changed the oil in the SUV, took the kids to practice and dance, and went to the Friday night football game. Now the weekend is here and you still have a list, albeit a more leisurely one, of things to do. Well, double-check it and make sure that adding new plants to your garden is right up top. I know what you are thinking – “I planted everything back in the spring and I’m done until next year.” That’s what most people do, but an avid gardener like you should realize all of the benefits of planting in the fall. Let me explain:

First, and most importantly, is the mild weather. We love this time of year – not too hot, not too cold. And guess what, your plants love it too, and for the very same reason! If you take the time to plant hardy perennials during these pleasant temperatures they can focus all of their energy on root growth. Don’t be surprised when you don’t see much happening to the plant. The real work is going on underground. Down there the plant is busy developing feeder roots. Those are the roots that will be ready to bring water and nutrients up to the top of the plant in the spring and give your garden a big head start over the neighbor’s garden. Make sure you give your new additions a chance to get good and cozy before winter comes. You should allow six to eight weeks for trees and shrubs, and four to six weeks for perennials and ornamental grasses. A good rule of thumb is to plant by the end of August in the North and by the end of November in the South. (more…)

Well it is that time of year again and you are getting ready to plant your garden. As you dig your garden tiller out of the corner of the garage you notice it is full of cobwebs. Looks like you will have to perform some garden tiller maintenance.

So what sort of maintenance do you have to do before starting up your garden tiller for the first time? A lot has to do with the way you prepared your garden tiller for the winter storage. If you drained the fuel or added Sta-Bil to the gasoline you are in better shape than most people.

First it is always recommended that you follow the manufactures guidance. This procedure should be used as a general guideline.

The first thin I always do is give my garden tiller a good washing to get the dust off of it. Next for safety I pull the spark plug wire off. If you did not drain your fuel you will have to now. The best way is to remove the fuel line from the tank and let it drain outside away from anything electrical. Including your cell phone. (more…)

Preparing for the Winter Months: Gardening in October

When you feel that first solid bite in the breeze and you see the songbirds winging their way south, and the trees are bursting with fire-laden hues, you know you can’t be spending the weekend curled up by the fireplace with a good book. Not for long.

While the weather is still gardener-friendly, you must shorten your “to-do” lists for the coming of late fall and early winter. Now is the time to attack your lawn and garden by planting your spring bulbs, buying and maintaining your trees and shrubs, doing your late autumn lawn care, using common-sense watering strategies, building a compost bin and making your own compost, controlling the many common garden pests, and winning at the weed-whacking war before the sudden onset of the fickle, cold and all-enveloping winter season.  (more…)