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In fact, if you design your garden well then most of your gardening activities can be spent on enjoying the things you like to do - like planting, cutting flowers and trimming your plants to shape. To achieve this there are certain …
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Gardening service for all jobsBorder Mail, Australia - 17 minutes agoShe recently relocated from the Dandenongs in Victoria, where she ran a successful gardening business for 12 years and which she sold before moving to …
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Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Which Ones are the Weeds?
QUOTE: Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.
- Henry Ford
I have always wondered who ever determined what was a weed and what was a flower. There are some delightful looking weeds that grow in the garden even when we don't want them to be there.
I guess the best explanation of what represents a weed, and what represents a flower is, a weed is a plant that is growing somewhere that it shouldn't be.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/plants.html
I'm sure that if we started planting these plants that we call weeds, the ones that we call flowers now would start sprouting up everywhere.
I have known people who will happily leave weeds in the garden if they think their color and style will add to the variety of their garden.
More often than not however, we fight the never-ending battle to eradicate these unwanted residents from our gardens only to have them grow back faster than ever.
Adding a covering of mulch will help to reduce the return of weeds. Another method that helps is to lay dampened newspaper on the ground before covering it with mulch. This is very effective.
The problem with weeds is the fact that many of these plants are better at seeking out the nutrients in the soil and by doing so they are using the goodness that we want for the plants that we choose to have in the garden.
Many weeds also attract insects to the garden that can affect the condition of other plants.
No matter how diligent we are at removing weeds from the garden they will always reappear as their seeds are transported by insects, the wind, and even on the clothing and shoes that we wear.
Replanting from one garden to another can easily introduce new weeds so it is always important to check the soil and the roots of the plants that you are moving to ensure you aren't transplanting weeds also.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/plants.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Topiary
QUOTE: I don't know whether nice people tend to grow roses or growing roses makes people nice.
- Roland A Beowne
Topiary can be a lot of fun if you have an imagination and some patience.
Topiary is the art of shaping trees and shrubs into shapes of all types and sizes.
There have been some quite outstanding topiary shapes created by garden artists over the years and many people get pleasure from practicing this art in home gardens across the country.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
While it is not quite as popular as it once was it is still something that can create a focal point in any garden and is an alternative to other forms of garden sculpture.
If you decide to try your hand at topiary you will need to have the right plants for the job.
The best plants to use are those that are evergreen. The plants should also have small leaves and the foliage should be as dense as possible to make shaping easier and the final result will look more professional.
From there it is time to start shaping the plant using your cutting shears.
As this is generally done freehand it can take some time to get the experience needed to create even lines and curves. Until you have the experience to do this, many people use shaped wires to assist as a guide.
You will need to be patient and only cut off small amounts while you let the shape develop, as a cut too large will result in delays while the plant grows back again.
There is an alternative method that some people use in their garden where the shape is already determined by the use of a wire cage and plants such as ivy are left to grow over the wire giving the impression that it is topiary.
This is the easy alternative but you will have to wait for the ivy to completely cover the cage before you have the desired effect. The benefit of using this method is the fact that you have a lot more control over the shape of the structure and there is less skill involved other than creating the wire cage.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Moss
QUOTE: Gardening requires lots of water…
Most of it in the form of perspiration
- Lou Erickson
If you have moss on your lawn then this can be a sign of two main problems. Either you have a drainage problem or poor nutrition.
With moss on your lawn you will need to remove as much of the moss as possible before you start to take action to prevent it from coming back again.
Aerating the lawn will help to solve the problem. There are various ways that this can be done.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/lawncare.html
The best way to aerate your lawn is with a coring machine that actually pulls small plugs of approximately 2 inches from the lawn. It is possible to hire these machines or get a professional to do the job for you. Alternatively you can aerate your lawn by using a garden fork and punching holes throughout the affected area. This can be quite time consuming and tiring.
Another way to improve your lawn is to rake the lawn vigorously, and in doing so you will be removing the moss and any old grass clippings and other debris that is lying around. This procedure is called scarifying.
You can then use a lawn specific moss killer to kill off any moss that is left. It is important that you get a moss specifically formulated for lawns as ordinary moss killers can also kill your lawn.
As the moss dies it will turn black and the lawn might look unsightly for a while but once the moss has died you can scarify it again to remove the dead matter.
Scarifying the lawn will allow the water and fertilizer to reach the roots of the grass and improve the quality of your lawn.
In areas of your property where there is little or no sunlight and quite a lot of dampness, you might need to consider if it would be better to transform it into a garden that will cope better with the conditions than lawn.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/lawncare.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Getting Rid of Garden Pests
QUOTE: A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in
- Greek proverb
There are many different types of pests that can ruin your good work in the garden. The most common are insects and they can destroy a garden in a very short time if left to their own devices. Even the neighbor's cat can be a pest if it is always using your garden as a toilet. Birds can be another reason for concern if they are eating your plants and can become quite smelly if they are nesting in trees or hedges in abundance.
Pests will use your garden primarily for food and shelter. To reduce the amount of pests in your garden you need to create an environment that isn't as inviting.
By clearing leaves and waste from the base of your plants you will reduce the amount of shelter. This will allow you to work the soil better and eliminate the incidence of in-ground insects that can suck the nutrients out of the soil.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/soil.html
You can stop cats, rats and mice from digging in the soil by using effective ground cover in the form of mesh where it becomes too difficult for them to get through to the soil.
By keeping your compost in the correct composting containers there won't be any decaying matter lying around the yard that will attract rats and mice. Having a tidy garden and yard will not encourage them to make their home on your property. Traps might be needed as a final deterrent for rats and mice.
Spraying your plants with suitable insecticides will also reduce the unwanted insect population. There are some good natural applications on the market that will do the job of the commercial insecticides or you can make your own effective natural insecticide.
If you prune back trees and hedges you might make them less appealing to birds and this might help to reduce the population in your garden. Keep in mind that some insects do a good job of maintaining a balance in the garden by eating other insects and birds will also eat insects that could be causing damage to your plants.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/soil.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Gardening Tools
QUOTE: Plants give us oxygen for the lungs and for the soul.
- Linda Solegato
The range of gardening tools that are available now is quite outstanding. As gardening is one of the most popular hobbies, there is a huge demand for gardening tools that can do a better job in the garden while making that job easier to complete for people of all ages.
You will need to buy the tools that make life easy in your particular garden and that will be determined by the types of plants that you have growing. If your garden has predominantly large trees or hedges you will need tools that make the job of trimming at those heights easier.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
With the design of new garden implements concentrating on leverage for ease of use, it has become a lot easier for the home gardener to maintain plants at heights that would have normally required professional help.
Many of these garden implements have also been designed for ease of use for people who suffer from arthritis and the elderly who don't have the strength they once had. Not only are these tools popular with the elderly but they will make the job of maintaining your garden a lot easier and more enjoyable by reducing the effort required to use them.
You will be able to select from implements that can reach to places that would be difficult without getting down into the garden, and as well as making life easier, they can also make it safer. I recently had to clear the ground around some small palms and without the use of a long handled garden implement I had no alternative but to get down and do this by hand.
The ensuing pricks from the palm fronds made sure I went to the garden store at the earliest opportunity to ensure I wouldn't have to do that again. Fortunately I was wearing safety glasses as getting pricked in the eye from some of the sharp parts of plants can cause painful and permanent damage to your sight.
Safety glasses, or even sunglasses should be worn when working in the garden and breathing masks should always be worn when using poisons and insecticides.
We need to preserve our own health as well as that of our plants.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Last week I realized that I needed more gardening help, as my regular gal is taking some time off this spring and summer. But I never know if I can find anybody because I can't offer a full-time summer job. Since I'm an internet addict, …
Source: Yvonne
Seller: Sam Seiden, Added: 2007-05-14 23:54:27, Price: 10.00, Category: jobs.
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