Can you recommend a good vegetable gardening book?

By admin | April 13, 2010

One that contains advice on planting and harvesting times as well as general care? Thanks.

Topics: Vegetable Gardening | 6 Comments »

Making A Herb Garden

By admin | April 12, 2010

I am thinking about puttting together a herb garden and have bought all the seeds I want and am ready to go…but the problem is I don’t have anywhere sorted to plant them. As it is a small concreted garden I need to be fairly imaginative with what I am going to use to put them in….I am quite handy and would be prepared to make something for this but need inspiration and ideas???I want it to be fairly big as would like to plant around 20 different varieties of herbs…..Help me!!thanks

Organic container gardening is easy and gives good results as long as some simple rules are followed. Mint, oregano, sage, thyme, marjoram, and basil are ideal herbs for container gardening.

You can plant each herb in a separate terra cotta pot or plant a collection in a long window box.

You need to use containers that are food safe when choosing pots for herbs. Some glossy or brightly colored pots are made with lead or other materials that you won’t want in your food. Plastic pots are always safe, and most plain terra cotta is safe. Containers that are not safe for food should have a warning label, so it should be easy to find something decorative that will not be harmful to you.

Most herbs will do well in small pots or with three or four plants in one long window box. Large plants, such as an old rosemary bush, can be planted separately in larger containers.

It is preferable to plant only one variety per container. Different plants grow at different times, different rates, and to different heights. Inevitably one plant will take over the others or the foliage will be so mixed up you won’t know what you are cutting. Strawberry pots are the exception to this rule, just don’t plant a mint in one.

If you decide to mix herbs together in the same container, be careful not to grow the more invasive herbs together with slow growing herbs like sage. Mint is an example of an herb that should be grown in its own pot because it does eventually take over the space thus preventing the other plant from developing fully.

Popular herbs for use in cooking are:

All these herbs will grow well together in a large container 24 inches across the top. Plant the rosemary in the middle because it is a taller plant and quite hardy, then around the outside plant the other herbs. Of all the others herbs basil is also quite tall and this could be put beside the rosemary in the centre. All the other herbs grow to about 10 inches, and some will even spill out over the side of the container.

There are basically two kinds of herbs: those that need a lot of moisture and those that don’t.

Herbs that prefer moisture-rich soil include:

Herbs that don’t need as much water, or “Mediterranean herbs,” include:

Plant herbs with the same moisture needs together. For variety, try a tall, medium, and cascading plant together in the same pot.

Plant moisture-loving herbs in plastic containers, which retain water, and put Mediterranean herbs in terra cotta containers, which draw out water. Make sure there are drainage holes at the bottom otherwise, plants can rot from sitting in water.

When planting an herb pot, select a container that has at least a one gallon capacity. If you don’t have a gallon pot, use a milk jug or any gallon container to measure your soil. Each plant will need its own gallon of soil. So, if you plant several together, make sure they have enough space by measuring your soil.

Get a container that is at least 6-12 inches deep. You can plant multiple herbs in a wide or long container or use at least a 6″ pot for individual plants.

Mint is also a very popular herb but it does tend to take over a pot so plant it in a pot on its own.

Herbs ideally thrive in the ground, but with proper choices and the right precautions, they can flourish in the indoor garden. They have to be positioned inside the house where they can grow well.

You can combine herbs of different colors to create an atmosphere inside your house. For example, you can get calendula or lemon thyme, herbs with sunny colors for a brighter effect.

Let the herbs grow together. They can create a climate among them that will further encourage their growth. They also create a fuller and healthier appearance.

Limit the amount of herbs you will plant in a container. It should depend on the size of your container. There should at least be an allowance of four inches square in between each type of herb.

Topics: Herb Gardening | 6 Comments »

Organic Gardening for Beginners

By admin | April 1, 2010

Can anyone recommend a good gardening book for complete beginners – who want to use organic/environmentally friendly/chemical-free methods.

I want to try and grow some vegetables in pots and grow bags, but I know nothing at all about gardening.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Topics: Organic Gardening | 1 Comment »

Gardening – Natural Science NOT Rocket Science..

By admin | July 8, 2011

Don’t force yourself out of the most profitable hobby in the universe because you think it’s too hard to learn …It isn’t!

Gardening is fast becoming the world’s number one hobby, and with all the latest ‘alternative’ information we have to hand, gardening as a natural science is fun to learn about and rewarding in the extreme…

Produce your own fruit and veg – cut the shopping trips.

Keep it organic!- be nice to the planet, and your body.

Stay fit and healthy with exercise and fresh air.

Spend quality family time in the outdoors.

Turbo boost your creative spirit

And if that isn’t enough to be going on with, learn about plant-kind in all it’s glory. From trees through to fungi, there are millions of plants to research, grow and eat- no chance of getting bored!

First you have to take your first step.

Start gardening, be a gardener, enjoy your garden.

Starting from scratch? Let your imagination run wild. Stand in the centre (-ish) of your garden and imagine..close your eyes if you like.

Don’t hold back. Let your creative thoughts flow. How much can you do with your space? Don’t imagine for one minute that a simple lawn will let you off the hook here. A lawn needs maintaining, and mowing regularly – for EVER..and it can get kind of boring to look at as well! How about creating

a butterfly patch

a wildflowers corner

a vegetable plot

a herb garden

a water feature

Then you will need a shed to store your tools. Where would that be best placed in your garden? Don’t waste a sunny position with a garden structure. Sheds don’t need to be in full sun to survive!

Is there enough space to place garden furniture? Rather than going for the table-and-four-chairs-on-patio style, can you place benches and small tables in semi-shady spots near the honeysuckle or round the herbs?

When you think you have a reasonable idea of all you want from your garden, take some notes and think about it for a while. Don’t leap in too soon-more often than not you’ll land up doing the same job twice. Browse through garden catalogs, take a little time and do a little planning.

But not for too long! Don’t let the ideas wither into another was-gonna-do-one-day file.

If you have enough of a budget to buy your garden structures and furniture, do this first, and position them in your garden. Then create your flower beds, vegetable plots and wildlife patches around these structures.

If you don’t have cash up front, don’t worry. The things you need will come to you. For now, prepare the space as if you DID have the shed, or bench or whatever, and work around these areas.

Start all the patches and work on them as and when you can, or start one patch and get it finished before moving on to the next. How you work in your garden depends on a number of things…

size of land and budget

helping hands available

seasons and the weather

time slots and energy levels!

Treat gardening as an ongoing hobby rather than a project to be started and finished. Plants are growing life forms and will always be changing the shape and feel of your garden. Go with it where you can, and prune heavily where you have to!

Get the kids involved with quick-germinating seeds, and fast-growing plants. Many retailers offer special seed mixtures for kids. Pumpkins are great for getting the kids interested in gardening.

Learn about edible flowers and teach the children what can and can’t be eaten – and why.

Don’t let the grass grow under your feet. Get in on the action now. Turn off the TV, put your wellies on and leap into nature!

Linda Gray is a freelance writer and, with her partner. has spent ten years renovating a neglected acre of woodland. Find heaps of straight gardening advice and pots of inspiration at http://www.flower-and-garden-tips.com

Topics: Gardening News | No Comments »

Making Your Garden Bloom With Flower Gardening

By admin | July 7, 2011

Flower gardening is basically, adorning your garden with flowers. Most gardeners, old and new ones alike, want to go into flower gardening.

There are different forms of flower gardening, as long as it is a garden with flowers it can be considered flower gardening, regardless of what kind of flower it is.

A different, though very popular form of flower gardening is wild flower gardening. Wild flower gardening may be the easiest form of flower gardening there is out there. But it is not as easy at it looks. Many amateur gardeners believe that putting up a wild flower garden would only require you to buy those wild flower seeds from the supermarket, scatter them over your backyard and just let them grow. This is not actually true. As most flower gardens, wild flower gardening does involve a little bit of work. You just dont scatter some seeds and expect them to line up on their own, dont you?!

Before you go to the supermarket to buy those wild flower seed packets, you would have to first prepare the soil where you will plant them. Preparing the soil means that you have to water them regularly and till the soil completely. It is also advisable to your wild flower gardening in cooler climates, which are usually late fall or early summer. Late fall is the time that the soil is absolutely cool, this way, when you plant your wild flower seeds, they will not take root until spring, when they will be able to come in full bloom.

In wild flower gardening, a gardener can also consider planting perennials. Perennials are plants, or in this case flowers that can live their full life cycle in two years. (Annuals on the other hands, completes their life cycle in one year.) With this kind of flower gardening, perennials should be planted by early fall, ten to twelve weeks from frost, this way your seeds will have enough time to set up themselves before they can become dormant.

When needed moisture is absent from your soil , the best way to start your wild flower gardening is at late fall. This is also the best time to start planting your wild flower seeds. With this method, even if there is little water, the gardener can expect lots of rain to douse your thirsty soil and plants.

The most popular wild flowers today are single special meadows. Plant single special meadows in mass and close together (but not too close, leave space for their roots to grow and so that they will not compete for both sunrise and food found in the soil), because they look better this way. Dont worry if all your single special specie of wild flower would not bloom the entire period of spring to fall, this usually happens. Because of this, though planting single special meadows is the trend these days, some wild flower gardeners still opt to plant two or three species of wildflowers. By doing this, they are ensuring the complete bloom of all their wild flower species the entire spring to fall.

To ensure a better bloom rate from your wild flower garden, keep the seedling moist by watering them everyday. And although wild flowers are wild flowers, the gardener should still be patient enough to pull out the weeds from his flower garden, especially in the early stages of your wild flower garden.

In late fall or winter, keep the wild flower height to about six inches high. This process will prevent the other plants from invading your flower bed and will also help disperse the seeds of your wild flowers.

Topics: Flower Gardening | No Comments »

Organic Gardening: Going Back to the Basics

By admin | July 6, 2011

Because of an alarming condition of our atmosphere these days and the impact technological innovations have on our health, everything seems to be resorting to a more viable option – organics. From foods to even hobbies like gardening, organics have definitely taken the limelight.

Nowadays, one of the gradually emerging lucrative activities for hobbyist, and environmentalist for that matter, is organic gardening. It is slowly replaces the traditional type of gardening that involves harmful chemicals that speed up the destruction of our Ozone layer.

Organic gardening, basically, refers to one type of gardening that deviates from the customary use of chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides. Because of these, many agriculturists contend that engaging into organic gardening makes one in synchrony with nature.

The basic notion of organic gardening boils down to the fact that it is best to feed the soil and not the plant. Thus, we can hypothetically say that, in organic gardening, it is the soil that needs more nourishment than the plants, or simply because its from the soil that the plants obtain their nourishment. A healthy soil yields a healthy plant, so to speak.

In organic gardening, the basic concept of “fertilizing” the soil is to use organic materials like composts and manures. When fertilizing the soil, it doesnt necessarily mean that you use fertilizers. In fact, fertilizers were primarily denoted as anything that increases the soils fertility.

Hence, organic gardening is a way of going back to the basics, the traditional use of basic fertilizers that increases the soils capability to enrich the plant. In this manner, the grower uses minerals like calcium coming from the fossils of dead animals, nitrogen from legumes or manures, phosphorus from bones of dead animals, and potassium from wood ashes.

On the other hand, organic growers also consider composts of other living things like vegetables or plants when incorporating the idea of organic gardening. Its by-product is known as the humus, which is definitely good for the soil. In organic gardening, humus is an important element in plant production because it contains cellulose that performs like a sponge and retains moisture in the soil so that it will be made available for the plants as they grow.

Moreover, organic gardening incorporates the traditional way of controlling animal pests like physical removal of insects, crop rotation, interplanting, and the introduction of prey species. These methods lessen the growth of insects and curb the multiplication of pests. It also impedes the development of diseases that were emphasized by “agribusiness monocropping”.

In addition, organic gardening employs the typical suppression of weeds and vegetable pests without having to opt for herbicides. In this organic gardening method of removing weeds, “mulches” are placed on the weeds to prevent them from obtaining the amount of light they need in order to grow. These mulches act as barriers for weeds and vegetable pests. They come in different forms like leaves, stones, wood, or straw.

In general, the technique of organic gardening lies on two agricultural concepts: permaculture and biodynamic agriculture.

Permaculture or permanent culture refers to that area in agriculture wherein certain ecological principles, “shared ethics” like earth care and people care, and design tools are used so as to gain sustainable development in plants. On the other hand, biodynamics agriculture is composed of a biological at the same time sustainable system of agricultural assembly.

With these two concepts, we can safely derive the fundamental idea of organic gardening as a system based on environmental, sustainable, and ethical principles of man.

So, we now know for a fact that organic gardening is definitely a lot better than what science and technology teaches us these days.

The only drawback is that it is science that taught us the basic ways on how to care for the environment in the first place, and yet, it is also the same mentor who is teaching us how to employ concepts that eventually leads to natures destruction. Isnt it ironic?

Topics: Organic Gardening | No Comments »

Things You Should Know About Gardening

By admin | July 5, 2011

Gardens come in different varieties like the plants you find in them. There are several gardening tips that can be used for all type of gardens.

1. Mulching protects your garden topsoil from being blown away. It also provides nutrients as it decomposes and improves the appearance of your gardens. Mulching has other benefits and is one of the most recommended gardening tips by gardeners and farmers alike.

2.Healthy plants are more disease resistant. Plants are like people, a person with a strong immune system can combat diseases. A healthy plant does the same.

3. Pests can be eradicated by cleaning the plant with a watery solution of soap. Just make sure to rinse after. This gardening tip is best heeded for fruit bearing trees or edible plants.

4. Using compost fertilizers is a great way to have healthy plants. It is also a great way to save money on expensive fertilizers. Non-organic fertilizers also tend to leave chemical residues that can accumulate in garden soils and harm not only the plants but the gardeners as well. They cause toxins to go to the water supplies. Another gardening tip recommended not just by farmers and gardeners but also by environmentalists.

5. There are several plants that are only suitable for a specific climate, a certain kind of soil, or can only grow with certain plants. You have to know what plants grow in the conditions you have in your area, this is for you to avoid unnecessary purchases. This is a money saving gardening tip.

6. Landscaping is a good investment which can double the value of your home. This is one gardening tip that can earn you money.

7. Growing grass on bare ground is an easy way to make your home look better and appreciate in value. This is one gardening tip that promotes earning money while growing grass legally.

8. Aside from looking great in your home, trees also provide some sort of protection from direct sunlight exposure and strong winds.

9. Vines on the walls, fences and overhead structures also would offer some protection and would also look great.

10. Flowers are beautiful, but they are also expensive. Get one that is resistant to many elements. Flowers from your local community already have developed resistance to conditions present in your area.

11. For most gardens plants, their roots go only as deep as 6 inches. Putting fertilizer deeper than that would be a waste of money. Put them shallower as they seep down when the plants are being watered.

12. Earthworms are important to plants. They till and aerate the soil for the roots to breathe. Non-organic fertilizers can kill them. This gardening tip dates back to the old days of gardening.

13. Having several kinds of insects that are beneficial to your garden would be good. These insects can be encouraged to stay by having diverse plants in your garden.

14. Spot spraying weeds with household vinegar, instead of using commercial weed-killers, can eradicate them. This is another environmently  friendly gardening tip.

15. Avoid putting too much mulch on tree trunks, this would encourage unwanted pests to reside on them.

16. Use plant varieties that are common to your area or have been taken from an area with similar conditions.

17. Be sure to know the plants that are poisonous. If you are intent on growing them, make sure to have the necessary cure available in your household. Take note of this gardening tip, it can save your life.

18. The best time to water plants is during mornings.

19. Before planting a new plant in your garden, you must consider its height and size when it matures. This garden tip can help you save money in the future.

20. Newly transplanted plants may require special attention during their first week. This is to reduce the stress and shock they get during transplantation.

And last but not the least of the gardening tips…

21. Plants are living entities. If you want them to grow in your garden you have to treat them as such. They need to be taken care of. They are like your pets, you look out for them. In return you get that feeling of contentment watching them thrive.

A good way to take care of them is to consider that plants might have some feelings too.

Topics: Gardening Tip | No Comments »

Best Gardening Gifts for All Occasions

By admin | July 4, 2011

There is nothing nicer than giving one of the best gardening gifts for friends and relatives who love nature and all its beautiful aspects right on their own backyard. The problem you may encounter is choosing the best gift there is for your loved ones.

To ensure that your gift will be appreciated by the recipient and also your budget, here are some guidelines you should consider:

In choosing the type of gardening gift, consider your budget. When your budget is holding you back from buying the best gift, don’t fret. There are garden accessories and gardening wear that would suit your fund.

Gardening gloves, footwear and kneepads, may be bought in a variety of colors, textures, and materials. You could choose the perfect accessory for the person you’re giving the best gift to, which won’t cost you much. Simply do your homework – research either on the net or rummage through catalogs.

Common garden hand tools may be found in most hardware stores. The handiness of hand gears like pruning shear, secateurs, hoes and a watering can will never lose their magic touch.

Surely, with these hand tools, your friend will appreciate how much you know that he really is into gardening. What would be nicer than two or three tools gathered nicely in a watering can. This not only helps your budget but is also a nice way to give it.

If you have prepared a bigger budget, specialized gardening tools may steal the spotlight. Before choosing which tool to purchase, make sure to check which tool is missing from your gardener friend’s backyard. To prevent duplication, you may even stealthily ask your friend which gardening tool she is dreaming of having.

Digging tools like rakes, shovels, pitch forks and spade are some of the basic tools used by professional gardeners as well as beginners. These types of equipment may be expensive, but it surely will be money well spent.

The most extravagant gift you could give a friend is some type of heavy gardening equipment. These gardening machineries could serve well as a wedding present or a house-warming gift for a gardening enthusiast.

Automatic lawn mowers, electric cultivators, dirt diggers, hedge trimmers, brush cutters, or trolleys could provide so much ease to your gardener friend’s daily routine. These gardening gifts, which are considered the nature-lover’s dreams, may give your friend a reason to smile all year round.

Your gift could be as simple as water resistant garden gloves or a more expensive gift like an electric cultivator. When the recipient realizes you have given a gift that complements his passion, expensive or not, it would certainly become the best gardening gift your friend has ever received.

Remember, for the holidays or for that birthday gift, gardening utensils are always wonderful gardening gifts.

Bob Roy

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Topics: Gardening Gift | No Comments »

Fine Gardening Secrets Revealed

By admin | July 3, 2011

I hope you dont think I’m a bad person for admitting this to you. I was feeling a little bit jealous of my sister. Let me explain…

Every year, I visit my sister Joan in Houston — and every year, her garden just keeps getting even more beautiful. On my last visit, she had a dazzling display of fabulous cutting flowers that absolutely took my breath away.

When she saw how impressed I was — and how inquisitive I was about how she had created such a magnificent garden — Joan finally let me in on her secret. Its a secret that just a small number of avid gardeners had kept to themselves for years.

But the secret isnt a secret anymore.

Its Fine Gardening magazine!

Fine Gardening is the magazine dedicated to gardening enthusiasts like you and me who want to surround ourselves with beauty, but need some guidance to achieve our dream gardens! With the inspiration and information found only in Fine Gardening, your garden will thrive like never before with colorful, abundant spreads of your favorite flowers!

I want to share the secret and also tell you about Fine Gardening because its the perfect companion for every gardener — no matter where you live, no matter if your available gardening space is a window box or an acre of fertile ground! Heres why: The expert advice and techniques you get exclusively in Fine Gardening are brought to you by botanists, entomologists, nursery specialists, commercial growers, curators, landscape architects and groundskeepers, so you can be assured that you’re getting accurate, tested, reliable information that you can use to cultivate everything from the simple to the spectacular.

As you can see, Fine Gardening knows whats important to gardeners like you and me!

With well wishes for your own fabulous flowers,

Sally Summers is Editorial Director at www.BlueDolphin-Magazines.com and www.Magazine-Supermarket.com. You can read her weekly blog at http://sallysummers.blogspot.com where she talks about todays most popular magazines and how they can enrich your daily life.

Topics: Gardening Magazine | No Comments »

Container Gardening Indoors and Outdoors

By admin | July 2, 2011

For years people have been gardening in containers, mostly because they lacked space. For some it was because they lived in climates that wouldn’t allow them to grow year round. Container gardens afford you the option of planting outside until the cold forces the container inside, next to a sunny window.

Most container gardens were planted by people that lived in apartments but still wanted the addition of color and the feeling of accomplishment when seeing their plants grow. Big, beautiful showy flowers have a tranquil effect that soothes you at the end of a long day. Container gardening need not be limited to apartment gardening, everyone should have their own. Most certainly you don’t have to stick to flowers in containers. You can grow vegetables and herbs in pots.

By adding garden pots it allows you to put spots of color around green shrubs or trees to brighten any corner of your yard. Placing containers filled with your favorite flower adds loads of appeal to a walkway or paved patio. The fun part of that is you can rotate the pots to different locations adding  new looks or colors with every move. Putting autumnal colored Mums in pots or spring tulips in a container allows you to landscape by season keeping your garden bright and interesting.

Your container can become a mini garden. For example when we lived in Pennsylvania our front yard screened us from the road with 10 feet tall evergreens. Although it was good for privacy, it made it very hard for guests to find our house. To fix this problem I purchased a half of a whisky barrel painted our name and street number on it and placed on the lawn at the end of the driveway. Then I filled it with some organic matter, planted bright red geraniums in the center and placed trailing ivy along the outer edges. Not only did it help our friends find us but the whole neighborhood used it when giving directions to their friends and family. Everyone would come up to us and say, “Never move that pot of flowers, it’s our favorite landmark.”

Don’t limit yourself to a barrel, anything can be used, a watering can, an urn or big boldly colored ceramic pots, even a wheelbarrow. Use your imagination when it comes to the containers you will plant. A friend of mine would go to the Italian restaurants around town and ask them for their used large olive oil cans. She’d take them home and plant a bunch of mini gardens. This created an interesting and colorful spot unlike any in the neighborhood. She would plant herbs in some of them so this little garden had two uses.

For container gardening use a fast draining potting soil mixed with a little coarse sand. I always use pots with holes in the bottom to ensure good drainage. You may know exactly how much to water the plant but if you have a rainy spell it could be the demise of the mini garden that has no drainage system. Fertilize well and often, nutrients in a container can leech out.

Repotting will be necessary as the plants will become root bound as they thrive. Just go to the next size container and plant a new flower or herb in the original pot.

Go to your garden nursery center and look thru the selections. Choose plants that will harmonize and colors that go well together. Container Gardening is a fun and easy and a great way to show off your handiwork..

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and this resource box are unchanged. Copyright © Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2005 By Mary Hanna

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives full time in Central Florida which allows her to garden and grow flowers, vegetables and herbs inside and outside year round.

Topics: Container Gardening | No Comments »

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