Grow Better Plants With These Great Tips
Many people would agree that one of the most rewarding endeavors is growing their own garden. There is nothing like the feeling of planting something, watching it grow, and then getting to enjoy the fruit of your labor. This article will share some useful gardening tips to help make your garden grow.
A tip to prevent dirt from accumulating under your fingernails while working in the garden, use a bar of soap before starting. Rake your fingernails across a bar of soap and it will seal the undersides of your nails so that dirt will not collect beneath them. When you are finished in the garden, just use a brush to scrape the soap from beneath them and your nails will still be sparkling clean.
Choosing colorful perennials for your garden will make a bold statement and will give you much satisfaction throughout the season. Some perennials with interesting foliage are the lungwort, Japanese painted fern, and the hosta. These plants are very attractive and thrive for many months. There are many varieties of perennials to choose from, just go online and search for perennial plants that remain beautiful for many months out of the year.
To discourage garden pests of the rodent variety from eating your beautiful perennial flowers and tasty vegetables, brush your dog or cat and use bits of the accumulated hair near the base of the plants being bothered. Garden rodents such as moles, gophers, rabbits and chipmunks can smell a predator and while your little Yorkie may not look like much of a threat, it only takes his scent to ward off the garden troublemakers. Don’t have a dog or cat to brush? Volunteer to brush a neighbor’s pet for the cause!
It is important to wear eye protection when you are gardening. Many people do not realize that chemicals can easily get splashed, fertilizer can be blown or dirt can land in their eyes. All of these things can cause major damage to the eye. If wearing eye protection the chances of having your eyes damaged are greatly decreased.
When gardening, you may want to consider using chamomile tea as a method to control fungus. This is a great natural way to prevent your plants from dying off. Always look to reuse your own home products as ways to take care of your garden.
Garden peas should be picked when pods are fairly well filled out and are still bright green. Pick a few peas and eat them raw. They should taste sweet and delicious. If you consistently pick garden peas as they mature, you will increase your production at harvest time, which is usually one to two weeks.
Layer your compost pile like lasagna. By having different layers interspersed throughout the whole pile you can best encourage proper decay and development of fresh fertilizer. Generally you want to have your dry leaves and sugary materials on the bottom, manure or already decomposing materials in the middle, and a nice layer of top soil leech the nutrients.
It is important to use a strong and quality sunscreen when gardening outdoors. It is very easy to get burnt on the back of your neck, tops of your arms or on your legs while you are gardening. Sun block will help to prevent sunburn and will lessen your chance of getting skin cancer through sun exposure.
Check for weeds often in your garden as they will leech nutrients from the soil. Weeds can grow at a high rate of speed and overwhelm the resources available to your plants. Take the time to check for weeds at least twice a week to catch them while they are new shoots.
Key to any garden activity is using the right tools. While having a shovel is essential, so are other tools that work best with your garden size. For smaller gardens, short handled tools work best, for larger gardens longer handled hoes and spades work better. Make sure you keep a sharp edge on your tools for easier work.
An important prerequisite for having a successful garden, is preparing the soil for your seeds or seedlings. Poor soil grows poor plants. One way to obtain rich soil is to buy or make organic compost and mix it into the soil that you plan to plant the garden. You can also add manure to the soil to make it more fertile. It is wise to refrain from using chemical fertilizers, since they can burn your crops and also be harmful to your health.
A great tip to consider in regards to gardening is that this is one of the greatest tests of patience. Not only do you have to wait for your plants to grow and ripen, but it may actually take years for your soil to provide the perfect growing environment.
When your summer blooms have bloomed and faded away, remember to dead-head the flowers. This means pinching off the flower heads. This will encourage new flowers to bloom longer next year, and it will also strengthen the plant. Since the flower heads have seeds, you can also save the flower heads that you have pinched off for planting at another time.
If the leaves on you plants curl and turn yellow, it may be aphid infestation. A sure sign that you have an infestation is by looking for ants around the plants. Ants are attracted to aphids by a sticky, sweet substance secreted by aphids. To rid yourself of aphids, spray the plants vigorously with water in the early morning until the aphids are under control.
A spicy solution to ridding your garden of pests is to spray your plants with a hot mustard or red pepper mixture (one tablespoon of hot mustard or red pepper to one quart water). The solution is safe to spray directly on your garden foliage and pests can’t stand the taste of it!
Although it is a most enjoyable pursuit, gardening is not always easy. There are a lot of factors involved in making a garden that is lovely and produces well. By following the pointers shared in this article, you will be well on your way to enjoying a beautiful garden that will bring you hours of enjoyment.
