Plant Gardens 101

I planted my lettuce this year and it grew wonderfully, until I picked them and there were slugs insides. So I had to find a tried and true way to get rid of slugs in my garden naturally, without using harm chemicals and pesticides.

Slugs are those slimy creatures that come out at night and leave a trail of shiny slime behind them. Slugs will devour your vegetables, like my lettuce and they also like some plants.

There are some that like to keep slugs as pets, yes….well to each his own, right?

Getting rid of slugs can be as easy as crushing up egg shells and adding the crushed egg shells to your soil. Egg shells are also a great addition to help compost the soil. My mom used egg shells in all her house plants. (more…)

There is immense satisfaction in creating your own garden plan — the satisfaction derived from relaxing or entertaining in the garden as well as the satisfaction that comes from a job well done. The effort that you expend in planning and executing a design unique to you will add to the enjoyment your garden provides for years to come.

How do you begin to create a garden space that is unique to you? Here are ten simple steps that will help you move effortlessly through the process.

1. Identify WHY you want a garden.
How will you use it? Who else will enjoy the garden? Remember that you may not be the sole inhabitant, so get input from all family members on how your outdoor space will be used.

2. Do a little dreaming.
Now that you know why you want a garden and how you intend to use it, let your imagination play with all the possible features in your special space. A little dreaming will uncover those attributes that will put your personal imprint on the garden.

Also decide whether you want a formal or an informal garden. Formal gardens are highly structured, divided by a strong central axis and cross axes. Informal gardens have a more natural look with strong, flowing curves. (more…)

Want to know how to start gardening? Confused where to start? Let Fran help you with easy to follow tips and advice. This article gives practical suggestions on how to minimise slug and snail damage in your garden!

One of the most common problems faced by gardeners is the one of slugs and snails. Even experienced gardeners tear their collective hair out at the destruction these creatures can cause. So I thought I would give you a few tried and tested tips, and some others perhaps not so well known, to help you deal with them – you won’t get rid of them all together, but at least you will be able to keep them under some sort of control!

They may not all work for you – a lot depends on just how bad the problem is where you live – but it is certainly worth trying some if not all of them. (more…)

Have you ever gone out to admire your beautifully growing garden and found yourself horrified by holes covering the green leaves and a silver, tell-tale trail left behind? Of course, the silvery trail lets you know that your garden has been violated by the slimiest, most disgusting, plant-damaging pests around, slugs, and they will undoubtedly return now that they have found your amply set green table of garden foliage goodness to feed their repulsive bellies with. The question is, of course, how do you make sure the next visit is their very last? You are certainly not growing your beautiful garden for their benefit and need to make sure they do not continue wrecking havoc on your lovely green space.

Slugs do their worst at night, because their slimy wet skin is delicate and sunlight can dry them out easily. Because of this, waterings in the late evening, though assuring penetration into your garden by the water, are a “no-no” when it comes to slugs as it only attracts them more. Also, it is better that you attach a “soaker” hose nozzle to your hose reel as it allows you to have better control of exactly where your water goes. In this manner, you can be sure not to leave little puddles of water in unnoticed places where slugs tend to congregate. (more…)

HOW TO RID YOUR GARDEN OF SLUGS ORGANICALLY ARTICLE OF OVER 50 GREAT TIPS HOW TO RID YOURGARDEN OF SLUGS WITH OUT POISON By L P MARSHALL

Does your garden have slugs? If you find large damaged plants with leaf or plant damage and that annoying slime trail? Then you probably have an infestation of slugs. Slugs range from 6cms to 12cms long. They range in colour from gray or black, to bright yellow green and even white. They tend to become more active in spring when the soil is moist and plants are young. They can cause enormous damage and destroy fruit and vegetables. The main position to remember about slugs is that they although very destructive they can be also very useful in a garden there purpose in say a compost heap by breaking down ensigns in the soil so it can help speed up the breakdown of vegetable matter.

The following tips have been suggested and tried by many a frustrated gardener. this useful e-book contains over fifty great tips including.

• Slugs naturally like to hide beneath rocks, boards, garden refuse and compost heaps or sods of damp soil that usually affords them moist and dark conditions.

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If we could garden without any interference from the pests which attack plants, then indeed gardening would be a simple matter. But all the time we must watch out for these little foes little in size, but tremendous in the havoc they make.

As human illness may often be prevented by healthful conditions, so pests may be kept away by strict garden cleanliness. Heaps of waste are lodging places for the breeding of insects. I do not think a compost pile will do the harm, but unkempt, uncared-for spots seem to invite trouble.

There are certain helps to keeping pests down. The constant stirring up of the soil by earthworms is an aid in keeping the soil open to air and water. Many of our common birds feed upon insects. The sparrows, robins, chickadees, meadow larks and orioles are all examples of birds who help in this way. Some insects feed on other and harmful insects. Some kinds of ladybugs do this good deed. The ichneumon-fly helps too. And toads are wonders in the number of insects they can consume at one meal. The toad deserves very kind treatment from all of us. (more…)

There’s nothing like the glow of deep virtue that comes after the new organic gardener gives up poison sprays. You are increasing the health of your family, producing vegetables with a more delicious flavor, and making the planet a better place.

Then your tomatoes wilt, your cucumbers ditto, and large numbers of seeds you plant somehow never come up. For years I planted sunflower seeds, thinking of those golden-bronze-red beauties in August, but they didn’t seem to emerge. I learned that, in fact, they had emerged but were eaten in the night by slugs that seemed to find them more delicious than all other mealtime possibilities.

In California the snails ate my baby seedlings; in Virginia it was their relatives the slugs. It was agonizing to wake up in the morning, go out to admire my baby plants – some of which I had nurtured for months in little peat pots – and find that THEY HAD ALL BEEN EATEN IN THE NIGHT. My babies! Gone! Dead!    (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…)