Friday, January 6, 2012

Gardening Tricks That Can Work For Anyone!

By Beth Willis


Gardening offers numerous benefits for those that choose to take it up as a hobby. One of the more important of those benefits is that it makes us more self-sufficient. Even if we grow flowers, we learn skills that could be turned to producing our own food. The tips outlined in this article will help you toward that goal.

A great tip to consider when gardening is the fact that if you are going to rely on a compost pile, give it at least a year to turn into fertilizer. This is important so that you can plan accordingly for how much fertilizer you will need to purchase this current year.

One way to slowly-water your plant is by using a plastic bottle, such as a 2-liter soda bottle. Punch a few small holes in the bottom of the bottle, fill it to the neck with water and replace the cap. Place it in the soil and use the cap to regulate the flow of water.

When you are watering your garden you should use soaker hoses, instead of using a hose that produces a spray or a sprinkler. This is because when you water your plants, the water should reach a depth of about six inches, in order to fully irrigate your plants.

When starting to seed you can use empty toilet paper and paper towel rolls rather than buying expensive trays from the store. The tubes can be cut into smaller pieces and placed directly into the ground because they are biodegradable and will just disintegrate over time. This is a simple way to insure no damage is done to the root system as well.

For those new to gardening it is suggested to experiment with annuals. The following varieties are hardy, thrive in average soil, and take minimum care: sweet alyssum, marigold, zinnia, sunflower, nasturtium, petunia and verbena. Just remember to deadhead them frequently to encourage new flowers to grow.

Gardening does indeed go hand in hand with many benefits. There are numerous societal benefits to gardening. Whether we are growing food plants or purely decorative ones, they all add to the aesthetics and beauty of our world. Gardening provides even more important benefits to the gardener, by instilling a sense of self-sufficiency.




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