More Mistakes in Gardening

We are adding another 10 elements to the previous list of most often mistakes made by gardening amateurs. The following article is a set of examples that might help the beginner gardeners in avoiding some serious problems. It is worth to know what to be careful with when gardening.

1. Hedges not cuted properly

Not cutting the hedge enough is a common occurrence amongst young gardeners – they feel bad for the pretty, small plants so they allow it to grow high. In the beginning the mistake is unnoticeable but after a few years, when it grows a bit, the bottom parts of the hedges become bald. It is far more difficult to make the plants cover these spots then cutting it a bit annually – the more regularly you cut the young sprouts, the more it prompts the plant to grow and propagate.

2. Taking plants for weeds

For an amateur all young plants look alike and in the beginning it is difficult to tell what will become, for example, a beautiful flower. That is why often in the spring those future flowers are brutally removed, mistaken for weeds.

3. Too much or not enough watering (especially for pot plants)

Pot plants are far more delicate than the flowerbed ones. It is caused by their environment being highly limited and artificial, the water evaporates faster, dooming the plant to wither and roots rot easily when soaked for too long a time. Not fertilized potted plants grow slower than the flowerbed ones, as the soil loses its nutritious value.

4. Planting invasive plants

Planting some plants may prove to become the last straw in killing the young gardener’s garden. When they start infesting the flowerbeds, it is very difficult to get rid of them. You need to know at least about these most popular: bistorts, poplar, various kinds of willows, raspberries, blackberries, wild strawberries, strawberries, maples, clematis, honeysuckles, lilies of the valley, anemones, violets, some kinds of pinks, cornflowers, poppies, ferns, daisies, eves, etc. Before planting them you need to think carefully if a good looking arrangement will be good for the garden.

More mistakes you can find in original post: Mistakes in gardening you wouldn't be proud off

Great Garden Gadgets You Can Do Yourself

If you are a fan of DIY, ecology and always looking for something original to your garden you surely would love these ideas. All are easy to make at affordable price or just without any founds at all, on eco style.

1. Suitcase Glasshouse

Check 4 more original garden gadgets

About Grass in the Garden

We are all happy that the spring is almost here. A bit of winter is still with us but we are more likely to think about warm, sunny days and green grass in our garden. But what do we know about the grass - do we know how to take care of it to make it look stunning? Let's find out.

The most important are beginnings. There are two times when it is good to start the grass growing - one is between April and May, and the second one is between August and September. Before we seed the grass we should prepare the soil. Mostly when the soil is with good pH and with enough of decay we can just dig it over and this will do.

Next thing is to choose seeds. It is worth to pay a bit of attention and time to think this matter trough - what will be the best type needed for us. The choice depends on the purpose that we have for our grassed yard. If we have children and animals the grass might be in worse condition this case we should choose a sport type of grass, if we only want the grass to look good we can decide on the park one mixture.

And not without a meaning there is a way of sowing. Popular method is to sow on the cross - first we split seeds on two parts and than we sow one part in one direction, till the end of the field and another part in different direction, crossed to the first one. After sowing we have to cover seed with soil. We can make using in example rake. In the end we water the soil checking if the flow is not to intense.

If we already have seeds sowed important is a good care. The biggest problem for all gardeners is the cutting part. There can be a lot to say on this subject. We have to have good methods, tools and spend a lot of time. The best time for cutting is in the morning and in the evening and using electrical lawn-mower and smaller, hand one that can be used in harder to get places.

First cutting should be when the grass is about 6-10 centimetres and not making it too short - the correct length should be about 4 cm. The next problem is how often the grass should be cut. It is commonly said that we should do it once a week. If we do it fewer there is a possibility that pests will appear. And we shouldn't cut the grass when it is wet - there is a more chance to make plants sick.

Your garden might also need garden buildings and garden sheds

[photo by: Dredrk aka Mr Sky]

Garden at the Balcony

July is a really good time to take care of ourselves, our home, garden and family. We have much more energy and the weather is getting better. It is worth to focus this power to make this space more luxury and relaxing, to make it peaceful place.

To do that we don't need too much money, we don't even need to have a big garden and outdoor space - just a balcony, a few hours of our time, an investment in accessories and plants on the balcony and willing to make a change. Making a balcony arrangement is pleasant task and bring us results in a really short time. The beginning of July is usually the best time to start the work.

Plants on the balcony
Choosing those plants on the balcony mostly depends on our preferences. We can either decide to use some regular plants like in example begonys, hydrangea, petunia or choose something more complicated to maintain like herbs or creeping plants. Making complicated arrangements of plants on our balcony is mostly for people with wide knowledge about gardening.

Whatever plants we choose we should remember that it is better to buy them in seedlings. This will save us time spend on putting plants to the soil in seeds. All items that we think of should be thought through wisely and should depend on time that we are willing to spend on on taking care of the balcony and how much money do we want spend.

Accessories

Second element that is needed to create a fabulous balcony area are accessories. We need something like planters and flower boxes. Those who love gardening might use big, heavy planters that will be suitable for all kind of plants and will secure their complicated plants arrangements. Creeping flowers would look especially good on the lattice hanging on the wall, near the window.

If we would be willing to spend some more time on the balcony and enjoy our work we can also buy ourselves a set of small furniture - table and chairs, and if we had enough space we can put there also a deckchair. Those improvements will definitely make our outdoor space more pleasant and guarantee us relaxing time.

By: michal costaminnego

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Wooden patio canopies and wooden summerhouses

[photo: suzettesuzette]

Everything Resistant Plants - they will grow if you like it or not

Are you one of those people that feel they are completely unable to keep a plant alive? All your flowers wither after a month since you brought them home? Maybe it is time to think of it that way: It is not you who is wrong for the plants, maybe you simply had the wrong plants?

There are many house flowers that actually require very little attention.

One of them is the Red Edged Dracena, which is an outstandingly resistant plant. It likes sunny places but without the light shinning directly on it. The best temperature for it is 20 C, 15-18 C during the winter. It can be watered moderately once a week, again, during the winter even less often. It likes moist air.

Another one can be bamboo. It should be kept directly in the water (it should reach about an inch above the roots) and out of direct sunlight. If you change the water every two weeks, it shouldn’t require much more, perhaps some fertilizer every now and then.

Another plant very resilient to it’s owner’s lack of attention is Cthenenthe oppenheimiana. There are several kinds of it but they all have long, striped leaves with red underside. It is a perfect plant for smokers, as it doesn’t mind smoke. An interesting think is that it actually lets its owner know when it needs to be watered – its leaves are folding when it really needs water. Definitely helps those prone to forgetting.

If you have trouble with remembering to water your plants, you can set an alarm in your mobile phone to go off periodically, in the mornings, before you leave for work or afternoons, when you are already back home when it starts ringing.

Agree with yourself about specific days of the week for plant watering, for example once a week on Monday for plants that prefer dry ground, 2 or 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) for plants that need more water. It is good to mark each plant with a stick that has one, two or three water drops drawn on it – it will save you time you would spend wondering which plant should be watered on what day. A bottle with stale water should always be standing in plain sight, refilled immediately with fresh water after it is all used up.

A word of advice for succulent plants cultivators (you can recognize them by their meaty leaves) – it is good to put them into a bowl of cold water once a week, for the soil in the flowerpot and the plant itself to regain its necessary moisture level.

Once a year all flowers should be replanted into slightly bigger flowerpots (about 1,20 inch wider in diameter than the previous one), with addition of some fresh soil.

To prevent forgetting to fertilize the plants, you can buy special long-lasting universal fertilizers in the form of sticks that are inserted in the soil. Usually they work for three to six months and then are simply exchanged for fresh ones.

You might grow these plants at home or in the garden at the wooden greenhouse - they will grow definitely.

[photo: delphaber]

Intercropping - your path to success in the garden

Intercropping is one of the most interesting modern trends in gardening – it is the cultivation of many kinds of plants on one big expanse, influencing vermin or upgrading some plant species by their proximity.

The most important ways of mixing plants are:

• Grouping slow-growing plants with the fast-growing ones

• Putting together plants with shallow roots with others that extract from deeper layers of soil

• Sharing of the space by plants of different heights

• Natural pest control achieved by carefully selecting neighbouring plants

• Fertilizing and strengthening the properties of one kind of plants by well planned neighbouring ones.

One of the biggest perks of intercropping is space-saving. It is especially convenient in small gardens, where it enables much better crops and adds some extra space for even more plants. It is almost as if the planting space was multiplied by two.

Neutralizing the danger of land impoverishment is another plus of this method – planting different species of plants together makes the distribution of minerals in the soil more even and diverse, as various species require them in different amounts. In a limited way, the garden starts to resemble a natural meadow, where many organisms co-exist and the soil is self-regenerating. Although it is not quite the same with intercropping, since the gardener has to fertilize his small field to gain rich crops, the situation resembles the natural state than demarcating straight, neat beds.

The best neighbors in intercropping are:

• Spinach – lettuce, carrot, strawberry, cabbage, radish, kohlrabi;
• Bean – potato, carrot, cabbage, cucumber;
• Lettuce – radish, carrot, onion, garlic, strawberry, cucumber, spinach;
• Radish – carrot, spinach, lettuce, parsley, chive, cabbage, bean;
• Carrot – lettuce, pea, radish, leek, fennel, garlic, onion, tomato;
• Onion – carrot (pest protection), leek, radish, celery, beet, strawberry, fennel, parsley;
• Garlic – carrot, cucumber, tomato, strawberry and flowers such as lilies, roses and tulips (pest protection)
• Pea – carrot, chicory, fennel, lettuce, cucumber, kohlrabi;
• Broad bean – carrot, chicory, fennel, lettuce, cucumber, kohlrabi;
• Strawberry – garlic, onion, spinach, lettuce;
• Corn – potato, pea, bean, cucumber, pumpkin, cucurbit, wheat;
• Cucumber – bean, corn, pea, radish, sunflower, broad bean, garlic, lettuce;
• Potato – bean, corn, cabbage, horseradish, flax.

You should not put together:

• Bean – onion, common garlic, gladiolus;
• Potato – pumpkin, cucurbit, cucumber, sunflower, tomato, corn-poppy, white pigweed;
• Beet – bean, white mustard;
• Carrot – fennel;
• Cabbage – strawberry, tomato, bean;
• Cucumber – potato, fragrant herbs.

While planning this year’s sowing and planting in vegetable gardens, it is good to consider how to match advantageous plants together. Practical aspect aside, the garden presents itself as much more charming when instead of big blocks of one species planted on adjoining beds we can see an intertwining pattern of many plants growing on neighboring beds or in a straight row. Now, before the beginning of the season, you can still plan bringing this improvement to life, as later on it might become logistically impossible. It is time to try out the advantages of intercropping!

Article source: Intercropping - your path to success in the garden

[Amandabhslater , ccharmon]

A Word About Flower Gardens

Spring is in full bloom and it is about time to do something nice in the garden. And what might emphasize the beautiful season more than a lovely flower garden? Creating a beautiful flowery space is not as difficult as one might think. Although it takes some careful planning, it pays off when everything is ready and blooming with colours.

The outline of an idea

Where to begin? Before you go on a frenzy of looking for specific flowers, think carefully what exactly is on your mind. Should the garden be neat and organized, or wild and natural? Look up some pictures of already existing gardens for inspiration. How much would you like to spend on the project? The budget might become a problem if you wish for your garden to look like an exotic oasis. And while spending thousands on expensive plants brings extraordinary effects, it might become problematic when a struggle to it them healthy and good looking whenever it gets too cold or too wet. More simple, natural ideas are not only much more favourable to the wallet, they are also easier to maintain and very natural.

A garden plan

When you have the idea formed in your head, it is good to visualize it. Use a chequered paper sheet to draw a plan of you garden. It is best to use a 1:40 scale, where 1 inch corresponds with 40 inches in reality. Even if the garden is small and you will not be dividing it into sections and the space will be filled with a flower mix, it is still good to create such plan. It will be a great help when it comes to estimating seeds and seedling quantities.

Useful tips

You should remember some simple rules, it is good to consider them while you’re still in the concept part of your garden-creating. Expansive flowers should not be planted next to the slowly growing ones. Also, many flowers virtually disappear after they shed blossom. They should be placed next to ones that have extensive leaves which will cover the empty spaces then or are in full bloom for a longer period, like annual flowers. If your garden is not very big, you shouldn’t plant big or high flowers, they will take a lot of space and make the whole garden look smaller. The short flowers should be planted in front, while the higher one should occupy the back – nothing will get covered and there will be a sense of harmony created that way.

It is always a good idea to have some decorative perennials planted around the garden, even if they have no inflorescence. They will provide color throughout the whole season and blend in nicely, giving your garden a natural look.

If you will keep that in mind when crating the plan and while planting, you will be able to create a wonderful garden. But remember that this is not the end. A nice garden is a well maintained garden. Remember to keep an eye on weeds, to fertilize and water. That way, you will enjoy your flowerbeds for many seasons.

From Liveoutside blog: A word about flower gardens

[photo by: Rosino]