Archive for March, 2009
5 Steps to a Terrific Vegetable Garden
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Photo by Rae Allen, flickr
When growing a vegetable garden, you want to do all you can to get the most for your hard work and effort. Here are five steps that you can take to ensure that your vegetable garden this year is successful.
Location, Location, Location
You will want to choose an area that will offer a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight each day. If you are planning to plant near a building, be sure that you choose the south side of the building. And be careful to stay away from large trees that will cast shadows over your garden.
Amend the Soil
Be sure that you place organic material such as compost in your soil. This will help to increase the water retention capacity as well as offer aeration for the roots of your vegetable plants.
Choosing the Right Plants
You will want to make sure that you choose the right plants for your area. Know when it is safe to plant different vegetables and avoid the danger of frost damage. Your local garden center will be able to help you know when it is safe to plant each type of vegetable.
Proper Spacing of Plants or Seeds
Your vegetables will need room to grow. Be sure that you follow the recommended spacing guidelines for each vegetable in order to see the best results.
Proper Watering and Fertilization Techniques
Know how to avoid underwatering and overwatering your vegetable plants. Your plants will need more water at first in order to become established and then again when the sun is extremely hot. Watch them closely so that they do not wilt and become overly dry.
If your plants begin to turn yellow, then you are overwatering them. In that instance, you will want to back off on your watering schedule.
Feed your vegetables on a set schedule with a good quality fertilizer. You can choose a water soluble fertilizer or a slow release fertilizer. Remember that if you choose a water soluble one that it will dissipate each time you water and will leach out and away from the plant.
Understand what the numbers on the fertilizer actually mean. There are three different numbers on a package of fertilizer and they all stand for something different. Understanding what those numbers mean will help you to get the most out of the product as you use it in your garden.
The first number on the package always stands for the nitrogen content. This is what causes green growth in your plants. This is very beneficial in corn.
The second number always represents phosphorus. This is what encourages blossoms and fruit production. You will want a higher number of this for your tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and squash plants.
The third number always stands for potassium. This helps improve the overall health of the plant. You will want to use this in minimal amounts as not much is needed by your vegetable plants in order to be healthy.
By following these five steps, you will have a vegetable garden that is sure to bring you great yields and pleasure. What do you consider to be the most important thing when preparing your vegetable garden?
Planning Your Flower Garden
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Photo by Gavin Spencer, sxc.hu
Planting a flower garden should be more than just throwing a few flowers into the ground and hoping they will grow. A beautiful flower garden takes a little preparation and planning in advance. There are several things to take into consideration when you are planning your flower garden.
Location, Location, Location
Where will you plant your flower garden? Will you place it in the middle of the lawn or against a fence? Will you plant it in the sun or the shade? Will your flower garden have a little of both? Determining these things will help you to pick out the best plants for your flower garden.
Do You Have a Theme?
Do you know what purpose you want your flower garden to have? Are you going for a Cottage Garden theme with wispy flowers? Or perhaps you want a practical cut flower garden that provides continual blooms? Maybe you want a flower garden that is dedicated to wildflowers. Whichever you choose, it is sure to be a theme that will reflect your tastes and desires. You will be creating a place of enjoyment and pride.
How Often Do You Want to Plant?
Do you want to plant your flowers each year or would you rather that your flowers come back each year? Maybe you will decide that you would like a mix of annual and perennial flowers in your garden. You may even decide to mix your flowers in with other shrubbery.
Choosing Your Plants
You will need to decide if you plan on using flower seeds or flower starts. Both will provide remarkable results within your garden. Visit your garden center to get some good ideas. Seed will usually be cheaper than plant starts, but plant starts give you an instant gratification of seeing something growing in your flower beds.
Decide on your color choices. Do you want to attract birds or butterflies to your flower garden? If so, then choose plants that they will like.
Watch the heights of the flowers you plant. You will want to be sure that all of the low growing plants are in the front of your flower bed, with the taller plants in the back. There is nothing worse than getting those reversed and not being able to see the lower growing plants. Find a combination that appeals to your eye. Also be careful to allow enough spacing between each plant. Flowers need room to grow and breathe.
Growing a well planned flower garden will bring you lots of enjoyment throughout the year. What are your plans for your flower garden this year?
a gardening carnival – March 25, 2009
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to the March 25, 2009 edition of a gardening carnival.
Tiffany Washko presents Are You in Danger of Becoming Free? posted at Natural Family Living Blog.
Damian presents Funny Garden Shed Story posted at Garden Sheds Online.
Damian presents Discounted Garden Sheds posted at Garden Sheds Online.
Damian presents Cheap Garden Sheds posted at Garden Sheds Online.
Damian presents Garden Sheds and Outdoor Storage posted at Garden Sheds Online.
flowers
Liz Wright presents Nice Orchids, But Where Are the Rest of the Flowers? posted at Travelogged.
Gina presents 5 Tips to Keep Cut Flowers Fresh Longer posted at Flower Arranging Hobby.
Gina presents Spring flower arranging – with baskets and spring flowers posted at Flower Arranging Hobby.
gardening
Holly Eads presents The Garden Resources BLOG at A Gardener’s Journal ! posted at A Gardener’s Journal, saying, “A complete recordkeeping Journal for all gardeners – all ages. Easy to use 3 ring binder system. 20 different forms, 166 pages. Lots of writing space. Refill pages can be ordered. Made in the USA.”
Chris presents The Great Sunflower Project – free seeds! posted at Smith Family Garden, saying, “Free Sunflower seeds for your garden! The Great Sunflower Project wants to determine areas where bee numbers are critically low. You can help and get free seeds in the process.”
VikramKir presents How Create and Make a Garden! Tips to build your own garden! posted at Thoughtfully Vikram….
Sigrid Landau presents Adding Compost Into Your Garden Can Certainly Benefit The Soil posted at A1 How To, saying, “Choosing the right compost is a matter of opinion but all will benefit the garden.”
Suzanne Casamento presents Crunchy Organic Carrots posted at Suzie Foods – Healthy Eating, Cheap and Easy..
Carrie presents Gardening in a Townhouse posted at It’s Frugal Being Green.
Bobbie Whitehead presents New Growers Help posted at Bobbie Whitehead.
Stephanie presents The Greenhouse posted at Make It From Scratch, saying, “A project by Fiona.”
house plants
Sandy Wong presents Gardening on Cloud 9 · How to Pot a Plant with Crystal Soil posted at Gardening on Cloud 9, saying, “Besides using crystal soil as a soil additive, we can also use it as a growing medium, making it simple and easy to add some colors and life in our house.”
Mert Erkal presents Tips On How To Care For Your Plants | Hugepedia.com posted at Hugepedia.com, saying, “Many people are caring for their plants. Actually, when talking about house plants, you don’t need to worry. There are a few things you should consider:”
kids gardening
Mark Bartlett presents Kids Gardening: Garden Projects For Children posted at Garden Grower, saying, “Make gardening a fun, educational adventure for kids by attracting wildlife to your garden. Let your child help hang bird feeders, plant flowers proven to attract butterflies or place a bird bath.”
landscape
Lindsay presents How to Grow Bamboo for Privacy, Utility, and Food posted at Off the Urban Grid.
run4change presents Not all calorie burning activity is “Exercise” « My angle on weight loss posted at My Angle, saying, “Article about the simple pleasure of hardscaping and how it can bring health as well as joy.”
GrrlScientist presents Iäkäs Kivittää posted at Living the Scientific Life, saying, “[not sure if this is appropriate, but thought i'd send it to you nyway] Iäkäs kivittää. A clse look at the old stones that comprise the fortress at Suomenlinna. Photographed at Suomenlinna on Kalevalapaäivä (Kalevala Day). This is one of my favorite places to visit in Helsinki, Finland.”
Jack Clifton presents Do It Yourself Deck Construction posted at How to Build a Deck, saying, “The second problem with having a planter in the middle of a deck is that it completely chopped up the space and made the deck far less useful than it otherwise might have been. A six foot by six foot planter almost in the center of an otherwise flat wood deck that was about 20 feet by 28 feet in overall dimensions was little short of idiotic, but I guess that everything is in the eye of the beholder.”
organic gardening
Jason Logsdon presents Composting and Soil Managment posted at Vegetable Garden Planner, saying, “Discusses different facets of composting and soil management.”
Stephanie presents The Illustrated Guide to Gardening posted at Make It From Scratch.
patio furniture
oshkhar tiglao presents Pool Enclosure Buying Tips posted at Pool Enclosures.
oshkhar tiglao presents Pool Enclosures – What Exactly Is It? « Pool Enclosures posted at Pool Enclosures.
vegetables
Stephanie presents Save on Seeds posted at Stop the Ride!.
VegBox Recipes presents Growing Our Own: Update 3 from the New VegBox Garden posted at VegBox Recipes Blog, saying, “This latest dispatch from the veg-patch is a light-hearted review of the Spring ‘haps and mishaps of a newbie veggie-grower, who shares five key “lessons for novices” learned along the way.”
Vikki Lawrence-Williams presents Starting Tomato Seeds posted at Survival Cooking, Gardening and Emergency Preparedness Info, saying, “Good detailed information (with pictures) for a beginning gardener. Topic: starting tomato seeds in peat pellets. Written from an “urban homesteader” point of view.”
Nancy Muller presents A Ton of Garden, A Tiny Space: Vegetables for the 6″ Container posted at Recession Depression Therapy, saying, “Any sunny spot can grow a little food for the family. A sunny apartment window? Oh, the opportunities!”
Rani presents Lettuce, Tomatoes and chives posted at Indoor Garden Musings, saying, “Come see how my experiments have been working out. You can also see if we are eating our tomatoes yet.”
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of a gardening carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. The next issue of A Gardening Carnival will be published here on April 29, 2009.
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