By Claire J Patterson


Many people use gardening as a way to relieve stress and pass the time. Gardeners usually seek answers to questions involving topics such as soil types, necessary equipment, and different growing seasons. A great wealth of gardening advice is contained in this article.

Efficiently water your garden. Use a type of soaker hose so that you don't need to do individual waterings with the hose nozzle, or be refilling a watering can constantly. Keeping the water pressure low on your soaking hose will help avoid harm to tender plants. It can water the plants for two hours so that you can do other things.

Put sod down the right way. You will need to prepare your lawn soil before laying the sod. Get rid of weeds and tilth the soil finely. Lightly, but firmly compact the soil, making sure it is flat. Make sure the soil is moist all the way through. Sod must be arranged in staggered rows; each joint should offset one another. Pat your sod to form an even and flat surface, fill any gaps with some soil. Keep the sod moist and avoid walking on it until it is well-rooted, usually two to three weeks.

While working in your garden during the fall season, watch out for those stink bugs! Stink bugs prefer peppers, beans, tomatoes, and various varieties of fruits. If kept unchecked they can certainly do a ton of a damage to your garden so you should do what you need to to reduce their population.

Irises can be easily divided. Splitting up overgrown groups of irises will allow you to easily increase the number of irises in your garden. Pick up bulbous irises after the foliage dies. The bulbs will then split naturally in the palm of your hand and if they're re-planted, they can flower next year. Use a knife to divide the rhizomes. Cut healthy pieces from the root stalk and throw out the dead center. Each piece should have at least one strong offshoot. Replant your new rhizome pieces as soon as you have finished the cuttings.

Dress to protect your skin from sun damage when you garden. Clothing should keep your skin covered, and don't forget to wear a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen. Wearing sun protection is important to help ward off the unnecessary pain of sunburn, and it will help lessen your skin cancer risk, too.

Keeping your garden soil rich and healthy is the best way to discourage garden pests. Healthier plants are greater in strength and resistance to illness and insects. To increase your garden's likelihood of producing strong and healthy plants, use high-quality soil containing minuscule amounts of chemicals, which will eventually collect salts.

Annuals and biennials are an excellent way to add a splash of bright color to your flower gardens. Fast growing biennials and annuals will brighten a garden and permit you to change looks from one season to another. They can be used to fill in gaps in your garden between the perennials or shrubs so your garden looks fuller. There are plenty of varieties including petunia, marigold, cosmos, sunflower, hollyhock, and rudbeckia.

Pest control can be very difficult when dealing with a vegetable garden. Since you are growing the vegetables for your own consumption, you want to stay away from pesticides. So to help you control the pests that may invade your garden, you will want to stay vigilant. Taking the pests off of the plants by hand is one of the best fixes if you are able to catch the infestation in its early stages.

Before you plant seeds, pre-soak them for a night somewhere dark. Place some seeds into a small container, then fill it with water until it is almost to the top. This way, your seeds are well-hydrated and can start growing with a head start. Your seeds will then have the best chance possible to survive to maturity.

Try pouring water leftover from steamed vegetables onto your potted plants. It contains rich nutrients that come from the vegetables. Try adding used coffee grounds to the soil around plants that grow in acidic soil. If fungus is ravaging your potted plants, sprinkle a bit of Chamomile tea on them, and see if it helps.

One natural method of weed removal is called "boiling". One of the safest "herbicides" you can find is a pot of boiling water. Douse boiling water on the weeds and avoid nearby plants carefully. Boiling water kills weeds by destroying their roots. Weeds won't be able to survive, never mind grow, with damaged weeds.

Not as bad as you thought, correct? Like any other trade, the gardening field is vast and there is a huge amount of information about it available. Sometimes, you just need some advice about where to begin in order to start working in your garden. With any luck, you've received that from this article.




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