Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Many people would agree that one of the most rewarding endeavors is growing their own garden. There is nothing like the feeling of planting something, watching it grow, and then getting to enjoy the fruit of your labor. This article will share some useful gardening tips to help make your garden grow.



Consider using your car to dry your home-grown herbs. Simply lay a sheet of newspaper across the backseat and spread out your herbs on it, then roll up the windows. Your herbs will dry quickly in the low-humidity heat of your car, and the interior of your car will have a fresh, herbal scent.



Are you wondering if you need to water your lawn? One good way to tell is to simply walk across it. If you can see your footprints, you have a thirsty yard. Every week, your lawn should be receiving up to one inch of water. If you live in an area where it doesn't rain frequently, make sure to give your lawn the &footprint test& whenever you're not sure if it's had enough to drink.



When removing and replanting perennials, it is important to replenish the soil as well. If you remove https://www.sceg.com/for-my-home/manage-my-service/landscaping-tree-trimming of perennials, and then replant them without adding additional compost and soil, the bed will be lower, reducing drainage and air circulation. Also, the compost will replace nutrients that have been used up by previous growing seasons.



Do not spend your money on chemicals to fight mildew. Mix some baking soda and a very small amount of liquid soap into water. You just need to spray your plants with this solution once every five days until the mildew is no longer visible. This method is not going to cause any damages to your plants and the mildew will go away slowly.




<img src="http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/old-man-gardener-plant-tree-pensioner-garden-vector-illustration-shovel-43234961.jpg" />



A useful solution to keep pests like bugs and flying insects away from your garden is to put basil, garlic or parsley plants as trim plants around your garden. These plants have the ability to deter pests, while still being quite useful in your kitchen! If a splash of color is more your style, marigolds have a similar effect.



Divide large clumps of perennials. Some perennial plants lose vigor and flower less well if the clump becomes too large. Plants like Shasta daisies, bearded irises, phlox, chrysanthemum and coneflower benefit from being divided every three years. Without division they become congested, and the center of the clump will begin to die out. Simply dig the entire plant out, keeping the root ball intact, and divide it into pieces using a shovel. By doing this, you will have at least two or three new plants!



You must water your plants correctly, to achieve success with your garden. When watering your garden, always try to do it early in the morning or in the evening, when the sun has gone down. This gives the soil a chance to actually soak up the water without http://finance.yahoo.com/news/local-tree-pros-launches-website-160000974.html/ . Also, if you have pots, try to hand water them with a can, rather than using a hose. This way you can make sure that each pot gets enough water, since potted plants can dry out completely in a matter of hours, if they haven't had a deep watering.



To fight off weeds in a natural way, make your own homemade weedkiller. Simply mix water and white vinegar in a bottle, and spray it the same way you would a normal weedkiller. As an added bonus, the vinegar solution will also serve as a source of nutrients to your plants.



Use a nicely finished compost pile as fertilizer for your garden. Organic means that you don't use artificial fertilizers or herbicides to grow your plants, yet sometimes the soil isn't necessarily full of the proper nutrients for growth. Utilizing a compost pile can provide you with a rich, dark earthy soil that can provide your plants with plenty of nutrients.



To rid your plants of red spider mite, use old coffee grounds. Take the grounds and mix them with water in a spray bottle. Head over to your plants and spray all the infected areas. The caffeine in the grounds will help your plants fight off the spider mite, and unlike many other caffeinated beverage, there's nothing in coffee grounds that will harm your plants.



Is there a natural way to kill weeds? To control the growth of weeds, all you need is last week's Sunday paper. Without exposure to the sun, weeds cannot thrive. If you place sheets of newspaper over the weeds, they will die due to a lack of sunlight. The newspapers will break down over a period of time, and will become part of your compost. One way to enhance the appearance of your garden if you are using newspapers is to add an additional layer of mulch.



It may seem tempting to want to use chemicals on your organic garden, but these will do more harm than good, along with defeating the purpose of an &organic& garden. If you think about, all of these types of pollutants run off and contaminate whatever they touch. By keeping your soil healthy, you won't need any chemical fertilizers anyway.



These hints should have given you an idea on how to begin adding a garden to your property. Always remember that in order for the garden to always look its best, regular care and maintenance is required. However, with a little effort it is easy to produce an area that you can be truly proud of.