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Living in Utah and wanting to get your home in the best shape possible? You can certainly landscape, and you can have a great time doing it! Mind you, though, there are many unique qualities to Utah soil and topography, so you will need to do a lot of your own research to find out what kind of soil you need, how much water you need, and what the weather will be like during the year in Utah, since this can change from time to time.

ornamental trees

Pruning: Use sharp tools, (ragged edges encourage disease) making clean cuts that angle away from the buds. Cut close to and parallel to other branches. Some species respond better to more severe pruning. When in doubt go easy! Deciduous shrubs that flower in summer and autumn are generally pruned in winter, while those that flower in spring are generally pruned immediately after flowering.

Of course the first stop is always the gardening books and magazines that are full of dreamy photographs of gardens in places where it (a) rains and (b) the owner invests the price of a college education in their landscaping. Sigh. But if the folks on that TV show that takes design inspiration from rooms done in the highest style and reinterprets them with items from yard sales and import stores could make a polyester satin purse out of a vinyl pig's ear, I could too!


<img src="http://www.pattayaflorist.com/images/12-red-roses-05.jpg" width="254" />

If your mom reminded you of gardening, put her favorite tools in your memorial garden and create a theme. When my mother passed away and we sold her house, I gathered up most of the plants and flowers she loved and hauled them over to my house. Then I carved a heart—shaped out of wood—painted it pink, and in red lettering I painted the words Amanda's Garden.” Suddenly, I had a memorial garden in memory of my mom. It was special because now I could tend the garden where she left off and keep the living plants alive.

Every gardener understands the value of putting compost in their gardens. And the best way to get good quality compost is of the home made variety. Unfortunately not everyone has the garden space for a compost heap. The gift of a compost tumbler might not seem to be a great present, but it is an invaluable gardening gift for the avid home gardener.

For centuries herb gardening has been popular. In addition most of the very popular herbs are disease resistant and can overcome very arid climates. There are two advantages to an herb garden hobby. One, they can be planted indoors at any time and if you want to plant outside they only take a few weeks to sprout giving your children a sense of wonderment quickly. So if the kids are bored during the cold months being cooped in side an indoor herb garden is perfect. Choose fragrant smelling herbs or herbs that will spice up your food. Imagine how much fun they will have when they sprinkle fresh basil from their garden on their pizza.