A lot of people think tending a garden is totally beyond them, but that’s true only for people who don’t do their research. The right information could help anyone be a master gardener. You can greatly increase your gardening skills by applying the suggestions you will read in this article.
Choose the varieties of plants that will produce a higher yield. Traditional strains are often out-performed by hybrids that have been bred for cold tolerance or disease resistance.
Get a slug-proof variety of perennials. Snails and slugs can quickly wreak havoc on a garden. These pests normally go after plants with thin little leaves and plants that have yet to fully mature. Some varieties of perennials are not preferred by snails and slugs, particularly perennials that have hairy, tough leaves or a taste that isn’t appetizing. Some of these plants include achillea, campanula, euphorbia, hellaborus, and heuchera.
When mowing your lawn, be careful not to cut the grass too far down. If you leave a bit more height, the grass roots will get deeper, making your lawn stronger. When grass is cut too low the roots will not grow as deep, and your lawn may suffer from brown patches.
Knee Pads
If your garden contains lots of short plants, purchase some gardening knee pads. Weeding, watering and picking through your vegetation can cause a lot of damage to your knees if left unprotected. Having a pair of excellent knee pads for horticulture can help cushion the knees to provide additional comfort.
You can keep pests away from your garden by using other plants or natural materials. A border of marigolds or onions around your veggies can prevent slugs. Wood ash, when used like mulch, can keep away pests after it is spread around a tree base and shrub seedlings. Natural materials and plants can be just as effective as chemical pesticides at keeping unwanted visitors out of your garden!
Learn the best harvesting time for each kind of vegetable you plant. For the optimum flavor, be sure to follow the guidelines for planting and picking. For example, some plants, such as zucchini and baby peas, have the most flavor when harvested while young. The opposite is true of tomatoes. They taste their best if you allow them to ripen on the vine as long as possible. So, it is good to learn about the best time to harvest your vegetables.
Pest control can present a challenge for successful vegetable horticulture. You want to avoid spraying harsh chemicals since the vegetables are meant for consumption. One way to control gardening pests is to be vigilant. Natural pest control depends on the type of soil in your garden and the variety of plants growing there.
Mix various plant heights and plants in the exact same bed for a unique English garden. If you use plants of similar heights, the result will be pretty boring and uniform.
Avoid getting an infection by not allowing dirt and other chemicals to get into open wounds. A cut or abrasion can become infected if it is not properly protected from dirt, pesticides and other irritants. There are now bandages available that will entirely seal off any cut they are applied over.
Try to keep plastic bags on hand to cover shoes that are muddy. This keeps your flow going, so you can get back out to the garden quickly and finish your work.
You can get rid of slugs with a simple beer trap. Dig a hole just deep enough for a glass jar to be placed in it while the jar still has its rim in line with the surface of the ground. Pour beer into the container to within an inch of the jar lip. Slugs are attracted to beer. They will crawl into the jar and be trapped.
Gardening isn’t hard to do if you understand what to do and how to use the tools you have. With solid information, like the information you learned here, you will be able to plant a master garden that will be the envy of everyone you know.
Originally posted 2013-05-28 09:38:38.
