Basic Techniques in Gardening

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Basic Techniques in Gardening: Basic Techniques in Gardening: Proper Care of Plants

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Proper Application of Fertilizer

Fertilizers are needed by the plants in order for them to get the right nutrients and to grow well. It will also ensure the best result of your plants. Fertilizer aid in replenishing and maintaining long-term soil fertility by providing optimal conditions for soil biological activity. Proper applying of the fertilizer should be observed because too much fertilizer will cause abnormalities in your plants. Here are some general tips to be followed:

1. All fertilizers should preferably be applied before sowing.
2. Fertilizer should preferably be broadcast uniformly and harrowed in.
3. All fertilizers that contain soluble phosphates should preferably be applied in wide bands of between 2.5 and 5 cm on each side of thee rows of seeds at a depth of 10 to 15 cm.
4. The super phosphate fertilizer should preferably be mixed with farmyard manure (in particular organic manure from dairy farms works excellent.)
5. Fertilizer types that include sulphate of ammonia can be used as a top dressing, but do not apply this type of fertilizer when the leaves of the plants are wet.
6. The application of fertilizer should preferably be followed by watering when applied to irrigated crops.
7. When fertilizing fruit trees, the fertilizer should preferably be applied to the soil under the crown. The crown is the area about a few meters away from the trunk. As the tree grows this crown area expands and then fertilizer should also be applied as per the crown of the fruit tree.

*****"If you're still hanging onto a dead dream of yesterday, laying flowers on its grave by the hour, you cannot be planting the seeds for a new dream to grow today"
~ Joyce Chapman

Raised - Bed Gardening

Raised bed gardening is a garden built on top of your native soil. It can be contained with soil amendments merely piled several inches high. It is also the savior of gardeners with poor soil. The basic idea of a raised bed is that instead of battling against poor soil conditions, you build above ground, where you have absolute control over the soil texture and ingredients.

Steps in making raised bed gardening:
1 Select the proper site of the garden in accordance of the variety of plants you are planting.
2 Decide the size and the shape of the garden you are planning.
3 Once you know the size and shape of your bed, you can get to work prepping the site.
4 Using rot-resistant lumber such as cedar or one of the newer composite lumbers, construct your bed.
5 Using a level, make sure your frame is level in all directions. This is a necessary step because if your bed is not level, you will have a situation where water runs off of one part of the garden and sits in another. If part of your frame is high, just remove some of the soil beneath it until you have a level frame.
6 The whole point of a raised bed garden is that it gives you the opportunity to garden in perfect soil. Take this opportunity to fill your bed with a good mixture of quality topsoil, compost, and rotted manure. Once they're filled and raked level, you're ready to plant or sow seeds.

Proper Way of Cultivating the Garden

When you have already a garden it should be cared through following the proper cultivation of the soil. Cultivating a garden is removing the weeds and rearranging the crust of the soil to promote nutrition, water and air penetration to the plant but most of the gardener consider as an unpleasant task in gardening. It is needed in order for the plant to grow well and healthy.
To control the spreading of the weeds that can cause the death of the plants proper cultivating should be applied. Instructions to be followed are given:
1 When working in the garden you should wear something that can protect you from the sun and dirt. Put on sunblock, a hat, long clothing, and gloves on before you go to the garden.
2 Use fork for smaller areas.
3 Use hoe when the area is bigger. Hold the hoe with sharp side on opposite side of you. Place your stronger hand on the middle of the hoe and the other hand on the top of the pole. Lift the hoe high in the air and swing it downwards.
4 You can also use claw in small garden. First, push the claw directly over the spot that you are cultivating. Take your hands and place them on the handle. Apply pressure. Twist from side to side until the soil becomes loose and the weeds uproot. Bend down and with your hands pick up the weeds.
5 The rake is a great way to just loosen the soil up around the areas. This cultivating tool is great with gardens that are in rows. Place the sharp side of the rake at the edge part of the garden. Stand 45 degrees to the rake with your stronger hand in the middle and the other hand near the top of the pole. Walk backwards with the rake. Move the rake in a backwards, forwards motion. Do this until you get to the exact opposite side of the garden. Repeat in next row. Repeat until you have done all the rows. This will promote better health for the plant and the absence of weeds.
6 An easy way of cultivating your slightly bigger gardens is with a mini garden tiller. The tillers come in gas and electric. These are very useful for cultivating an area that was once a garden. Check for gas and oil or if it was charged. Start the mini tiller. Proceed to push the garden cultivator over the desire areas, such as rows, that need to be cultivated. Usually they come with wheels so it will be easy to make sure that it doesn't double dig. Double dig is deeper then the top soil. Take the wheels off if you would like for the tiller to go deeper in the ground.

Lawn Maintenance

Lawn is a necessary part of garden. It is an area of land planted between gardens covered with grass and other low lying plants. It's usage should be understood before doing something. Select a tough kind of grass if you are planning to use your lawn for your kids and pet amusement but if you are going to use it as a decoration you should use a tender kind or grass.

There's also a need for maintenance of your lawn in order to maintain its nice appearance. The following lists will serve as a guide to maintain your healthy lawn:

1 Before planting any lawn grass in your lawn make sure that your lawn grass suits the season in which you are planting it as some grasses are meant for cool seasons and some are meant for warm season.
2 Keep proper care of the watering your lawns. Apart from regular sprinkles, make sure you properly water your lawns once in a week. Also make sure that you water your garden lawns when your lawn grass is dry enough to leave your footprints as you walk across it.
3 Early morning or late evening is the best time to irrigate your lawns.
4 Many lawn grasses are prone to pests and insects like chinch bugs, army worms and sod webworms. Make sure you use lawn fertilizers to keep them away. However avoid frequent usage of lawn fertilizer though. It is best to use organic fertilizer. Avoid using pesticides, insecticides or fungicides because they also kill the beneficial elements in the soil.
5 You should also frequently mow the grasses to keep them in shape. However make sure you do it with a sharp mower. Dull mowing leads to browning of grasses.

Basic Techniques in Gardening

Sunday, October 17, 2010