Gardening Tips and
Ideas
Have you ever driven past someone’s home and thought
how magnificent their yard looks? Perfectly manicured with
incredibly gorgeous gardens – and that is just the front yard;
imagine what their back yard must look like!
Did they use professional landscapers or was it a
do-it-yourself project? It really doesn’t matter as you too can
create and maintain that “perfect” yard look and it won’t take all
that much more effort than you are currently doing (even if it is
none). Here are a few ideas for figuring out what “your” perfect
garden should look like:
Drive around – observe everyone’s yard, take pictures of your yard
before you start and take pictures of all the landscaping ideas you
like. Piece together your yard pictures with the neat landscaping
pictures in order to get a clearer sense of what you want.
Magazines – pick up a few gardening magazines to get an idea of the
latest trends and newest innovations.
Books – buy a gardening book that is specific to your geographic
region and climate zone.
Visit local nurseries – see what is in stock, learn terminology and
different plant names. Visit a few nurseries out of town to view a
greater variety of plants available (especially native ones).
Draw up your own plans – you don’t have to be an artist or architect
to do this and you really don’t need a professional doing it either.
You just have to try and draw your area to scale.
Get some rope/string and visualize – lay out the rope in the pattern
or flow you want your garden or landscaping to take shape of.
Soil testing – get a few soil samples and take them to a nursery for
soil testing to determine the ph factor of your soil. Then you can
adjust with compost or organic materials to achieve the best ph for
proper plant growth.
Here are a few gardening tips you may not know:
Do not water in the evening – this can create disease or
rot.
Always research your next gardening project – don’t jump in without
first, the knowledge and second, a plan.
Don’t buy plants impossible to maintain – it is a waste of money and
time.
Use mulch – it lessens your gardening maintenance, keeps moisture in
the soil, reduces weeds and enhances the beauty of your garden.
Weed barriers are a waste of time and money – and they don’t work.
Why? Because the weeds grow on top of the barrier.
Keep it real – go native with plants whenever possible. It will
lessen your costs, maintenance time and eliminate plant loss.
When planting – always put water into the hole before you insert the
plant and again after you have filled in the hole.
Pruning – stay ahead of the game; taking a few minutes each week to
trim is easier and faster than pruning back months of growth from
bushes and shrubs.
All these gardening ideas and tips are relatively simple and easy to
perform, you just have to do it.
